GIGANTIC STAMP FRAUD.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 252, 23 October 1926, Page 23

GIGANTIC STAMP FRAUD.

EXTENSIVE OPERATIONS. FORGERY FEARED. The most gigantic stamp fraud ever perpetrated in England has com* to light with the discovery that £300,000 worth of health Insurance and pottage stamps, which may be forgeries, are being hawked about the country In parcels of £80 worth and sold at a reduced figure. Nearly £260,009 worth of health fmenrance stamps, and between 140,000 and £80,000 worth of ordinary postage stamps art being hawked about malalj in London, "at reduced prices," and ■ Scotland Yard officials are looking for the gang which has perpetrated the fraud on the public. In the opinion of the authorities the stamps have been either stolen from a parcel of defective stamps which were stored prior to being destroyed, or els* they have Seen forged In large quantities. In the latter ease the Question of watermarking In the paper irises. - The face Value of the parcels of stamps being hawked Is lA the neighbourhood of £50 apiece. Members of the gang state that they have £40,000 worth to sell, and are not allowed to sell less than £50 worth at a time. They offer these parcels at prices which make a tempting bargain for the Buyers. At Somerset House It Iβ stated that theft from the 'store* , would be an Impossibility, which points to the conclusion that all these stamps are forgeries. The hawkers are operating mainly in the West End of London, but' some members of the gang have also appeared in the provinces. In the case of forgeries of rare stamps the forger's task is simplified by the fact that it is possible to prepare the bogus specimens In one country and dispose of them In another.

Firms interested In circularising, and mail-order business especially, are among those who have been offered stamps at a reduced price by the gang. As a rule, 10 per cent discount Is offered. Specimens of the stamps have been displayed in a club largely patronised by "Petting mfen, one of whom, after a brtef Inspection of the samples declared that they were rank forgeries.