"SPANISH PRISONER"

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 102, 4 May 1929, Page 21

"SPANISH PRISONER"

OLD SWINDLE IN NEW FORM

The "Spanish Prisoner" swindle is cropping up again in a new form, and a serious warning to the public was given recently from a high official quarter in Whitehall.

It seems that a gang in Spain, in spite of the laws passed to put a stop to the practice, have been having no little success recently by playing on the sympathies of people in this country, usually those with small means. The hero of the romance put forward by the swindlers has changed from a participator in a Carlist plot, who had fallen into the hands of the Government, to a colonel, who had taken part hi one of the recent military revolts. He, of course, is a prisoner, and has been sentenced to be shot. ' His only daughter has sought refuge in a nunnery. ' The colonel, who has a hidden store of wealth, pleads, through the usual kindly and secret chaplain, for a remittance lo convey his daughter to liner, land, "the laud of liberty." A portion of his hidden fortune is promised for (he help that is given. _ "There really is a band of rogues in Spam who in some extraordinary way manage to get hold of the names and addresses of people in England who at some time or another have had relatives who have actually been in Spain," said an official. "Wo know of one case where people parted with money. Such wily means of defrauding people has led to laws being framed in Spain lo stop the frauds, but the difficulty is (o trace the rogues. Gullible people will not confess that they have been deceived. Our attention has been drawn to the-matter; and the advice we give is that people who get such tempting and romantic epistles should forward them to the authorities in EnsrJaud."