SOCIETY BURGLAR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 103, 3 May 1930, Page 3 (Supplement)

SOCIETY BURGLAR.

WIFE OF GOVERNOR. ROBBERIES STAGED AT OWN HOUSE. A dramatic confession by tlie wife of Dr. Momm. Governor of the Potsdam district, has led to the latter's resignation. After cross-examination by Berlin detectives she confessed that burglaries which had recently taken place at her house were committed by herself. In 1927 Fran Momm informed the insurance company that household linen had been stolen from the official residence, and obtaned nearly £10 as compensation. In .June last she again reported to the insurance company that other articles had been stolen, and received £25. Last December the woman informed the insurance company that valuable silver ornaments, candlesticks, etc., had been stolen from her house and received £235. Face At Panel. On March 10 Frau Momm reported a fresh robbery, but her story was so strange that suspicion was aroused. She declared that she had taken a strong sleeping draught owing to her shattered nerves, but had nevertheless been awakened in the middle of the night by a noise. She was startled to see a masked face framed where a panel of her bedroom door had been taken out. She discovered, she said, that £100, belonging to a charitable fund, had disappeared. The police found that 30 holes had been bored round the sides of the door panel, which had then been sawn out. * They calculated that the operation must have occupied at least an hour and a hall, and must have made a considerable noise. Later, Berlin detectives found the greater part of the valuable silver buried in the cellar of Dr. Momm s official residence. and discovered that the rest had been bought by dealers. Dr. Momm was Informed, and spoke to his wife, who made a full confession. Frau Momm, who is known as a fanatically religious woman, fainted when she finished her confession. Dr. Momm returned to the insurance company all the money paid to his wife, and has banded in his resignation to the Government. His position corresponds almost to that of a Lord-Lieutenant of an English county, though more actual power attaches to it. It has not yet been decided if any action will be taken against Frau Momm.