DISGUISED AS CLERGYMAN.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 72, 28 March 1921, Page 4

DISGUISED AS CLERGYMAN.

i MAN ARRESTED TOR TRAtTD. | CHEQUES AND LARGE PURCHASES. AN EASTER SWINDLE SUSPECTED. I What has every appearance of an ! attempt to bring off another Easter j swindle, on the strength of the banks , being closed for several days, resulted | in the arrest on Good Friday eve of a i young man in clerical garb, who had put ; up at the Star Hotel, and was travelling . under the name of Rev. W. F. Don, M.A. | : With handsome appearance, immaculate ; dressing and general manners, the young "cleric" had greatly impressed his fellow guests at the hotel within the few j hours of his residence there. He had j arrived early on Thursday morning, and 1 made it known that he was 6_ leave I from his charge in Christchurch, and was preparing for matrimony by obtain- j ing his furnishings in Auckland. This j was supported by his visits to drapery | establishments, where arrangements | were made for the purchase of house- j hold furnishings, and expensive fur ; goods to the value of £140, with an intimation that he would settle by I cheque when he called for the goods, j It is alleged that he made similar ( arrangements at a furniture establishment, and that at another shop he bought a £4 camera, tendering a cheque for £0, and getting the camera and £5 j change. It is alleged further that he j obtained a quantity of clothing in return for a cheque from another | drapery firm, and also entered into j negotiations for the purchase of a motor | car before calling in a car at the place of his original big purchase to hand over : j a cheque and get the goods. He was j s there met with a request for a guarantee on account of the banks being closed, and was unable to fully satisfy tbe drapery firm of his bona fides, with the I result that the goods were not delivered, j This latter incident came to the ear; of ! Detective Sergeants Hammond and' Ward, the latter an officer of Christ- , church experience, and they paid a call ,on "parson," and the interview resuited in the officers being satisfied that they had got a wolf clothed in lamb s j skm, for they identified him with a per- j son who was known to the police as | Claude Osmond Barker. The supposed cleric was arrested on a charge of having issued a valueless cheque for £0. j and under the name of Barker was brought before Justices of the Peace and | remanded till Wednesday. Subsequent inquiries have established that a young man believed to be the accused had rented a sample room in the city on Wednesday, and had several cases there , in readiness for packing with goods. =====