CANDID CONFESSION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 54, Issue 92, 29 January 1934, Page 6

CANDID CONFESSION.

“ ROTTER, LIAR, AND CAD.” Having expressed his sorrow for his offences and! admitted that lie had been “a rotter, liar and cad of the worst degree,” Charles Aubrey Steele, aged 33, insurance broker, was at the Old Bailey, London, lately, sentenced to four years’ penal' servitudg. Steele, who had been extradited from America, admitted having obtained more than £7OOO by representing that he was an underwriter and a partner in a well-known city firm. Prosecuting counsel stated tha_ Steele, a native of Vancouver, went to England in 1926. The frauds began m 1931, and the money was obtained on the representation that he could make a profit with it on short-term policies. In most cases Steele ingratiated himself by paying small sum as profit, and when the time was suitable lie took large sums of money. In January, 1933, he went to San Francisco, and commencing fraud there was ordered to six months’ suspended sentence of imprisonment for the offence. ■ On his return to Britaih Steele made a statement in which he mentioned that he “kept robbing Peter to pay Paul,” that his downfall was due to trying to help “so-called friends in need,” and that lie appreciated that lie had been a menace to society. A detective stated that one of Steele’s victims was a widow who lost £3oo—her all.