PRINCE OF ADVENTURERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 259, 1 November 1930, Page 3 (Supplement)

PRINCE OF ADVENTURERS.

SERIES OF BAD AND CRUEL FRAUDS.

,„rTIMS BROUGHT FROM AFFLUENCE TO RUIN-DWINDLES REACH IS-AMAZING GULLIBILITY OF SOCIETY FOLK-FIVE YEARS' £1 ° ' PENAL SERVITUDE FOR IMAGINARY OIL KING

Micbael Dennis Corrigan, prince of Venturers, heard unmoved at the Old m a sentence of five years' penal •'tilde. By stories that—in the words ■M Scotland Yard detective—rivalled f * of Hans Andersen, be brought his 51s to. ruin to the tune of over £100,000. ." With narrowed eyes and lips pressed firmly together, Corrigan heard the story ■f his oifn career of skilful fraud. Few ° torioj njore: astonishing can have been told in ; court of criminal law, and no prisonerias ever accepted his fate more might have been a waxen , a g e i: iyhen Detective-Sergeant Winter, J Scotland Yard, stepped into the witness box: A burly thick-set figure in his urey suit with' its neat pattern of close jLeg, lie stood as rigidly at attention '■■a a soldier on the parade ground, his heavy features turned towards the judge. When Sergeant Winter revealed that the former racehorse owner had gaind more than £100,000 by his greedy cunning, it m only by a scarcely perceptible flicker of the eyelids that Corrigan betrayed his interest,., • Around the crowded court men and Tomen.leaned forward eagerly in their teats as the man in the witness-box conticued, glancing from time to time at notes'on, the ledge before him. They heard how Corrigan deserted his wife and child in 1921 and went to live with another woman, how he once deifflbed:himself as.a general in the Mexican arinyrkow he had spent on himself the rich profits from frauds which financially ruined his victims.

"Tba Mexican authorities," said the detective, "stated that they had no knowledge of him or of any concessions granted to him They regard him as an impostor arid a swindler.". At those words Corri■cah'ilowdy shook his head. It was the only sign- he* gave of his thoughts as he itood'in the dock, watched by a .hundred eyes. A' second later his face tu once more inscrutable. • So .he remained, stiffly wooden, while the 'sergeant spoke of the wild stones .Corrigan told him on the way back from liance- , ''stories that even Hans Andersen'could, scarcely have ever fancied'; •wh2e Mi. Eddy, counsel for the defence, made a final plea in mitigation; while the level-clear tones of the judge began ,to pronounce sentence. ' . i When Judge Holman Gregory entered the courtfless.than a quarter.of an hour previously; ho had carried in his hand a small.houguel of flowers. Now they lay onthedesk J ;inifront;of ;him, a gay patch of colour-red, ibhie and yellow—amid the ; panelled" 'severity, 'of ,' the courtroom. Michael -GoSigari's .gaze shifted to,, that hunch;of bright flowers as he heard the rads whiclb,;.aeiit* :him to penal eervitude. - "Grcfel&fra'uda* ; . . . You-, had no mercy . . '."Allthis that you might-lead a luxurious life .in leading hotels" ■'"The"hlackrobed judge's quiet phrases, reached every corner of the ;;.kshed court...,-., . : Then■ came the sentence. Five years. •Corrigan did not wince. He. squared his 'shoulders, and turned sharply on his hceMike a soldier in the barrack . square—and ■ marched swiftly to the head of the staircase, leading to . the cells below,'.'- ■■..;.-,' ' • Vv A Life of. Deception. Corrigan was found guilty of fraudu- ■ lentlycoriverting.money entrusted to him for. tlie purchase of oil shares. The .. aniount alleged in the indictment to have been converted by Corrigan was nearly ; £18,000. By/direction of Judge Gregory : the jury "found him not guilty on one .count.relating to a sum of £4000 alleged to. have-.been, obtained from Mr. Derek ..Cannon.', Other sums were obtained from Mrs;: Mary :'Lbuise Harrold and Mr. Thomas 'Oswald. Noad. ' 'In opening! the case against Corrigan, :;Mr.(J.B;McClure said that the £18,000 ' mentioned 1 in the"-charges of fraudulent conversion' was only a part of the total i amount. .Corrigan was alleged to have I obtained. Broadly speaking, the case 'against-Corrigan was that he- posed as »?. oil king. "He said that he held a high:;position: in. an oil company, and ™,irai.in Europe concerned with some ' ■ Mr.?McClure said that Mrs. Harrold's daughter became engaged to Corrigan, N,be told ; Mrs. Harrold that he was president "of the European > group of the , °Moffljpany,/and was in receipt of a "liryjof £56,000 a year. He laughed at wyieli'of five to six per cent on her j persuaded her to sell .ouUnd"cntrußt him with the proceeds ;.w,mye»t;in oil shares. He told her that :■ m would get £60.000 to £200.000, and ; she parted, with £10,700, for which she got nothing, '.'■ ■ ;,: .%Noad, then a partner in a firm :■ w insurance brokers, was introduced to , wfigan, ■ whose name was given as .wssidy.; .Corrigan said that this was ■a, name-hp; had used in the Secret Ser-,js-:H? was really General Corrigan, of Wm Mexican Army. Mr. Noad was induced;, to' part with £10.000. Mr. IMweMid that Mr. Noad had lost I something 'like. £80,000. .'if- the judge passed sentence Detec- : I *«geant Winter, of Scotland Yard, career siory o£ ~ Corrigan's mil j*W.one previous conviction re.2™ gainst Corrigan. He was sen- : ™«d at ftjß Palais de Justice, Brussels, ; 1926, to one month's imPspnment'and ordered to leave Belgian S S,„ # lin 10 days after serving the tarap C A* P assin .g under an assumed ' tnlii- ■ >' tne time lie was living and $E™*. with a woman not his wife. ,'i? a .married man, having married fJ as /rowse,at the register office, Rom-, IfcL sex; on '"April-29. 1916. He gave ' a„ d %***£& Kitterihg Edward Cassidy, . m- n . ° Kc " be d.;:liimself as a munition. en : iipillSfe..is:;one child by the maraud ui B^ '' Corri gan deserted his wife tv ]iv™ .?? me 4 ime in 1921, and went tnroir'-)• n "the same woman he was ■ tv, ?&*.*»«!. The first knowledge ■itol > ce: ' ha vc about him—with any . we of.certainty-is that he joined'the a'ii ai ) Wa>: "i ! .August, 1915, as a secondly " T e ste ward/ : stating that he was born jyuerseyi and scvv.ed' as such on the Aar,» ar ! e -;, Ij?onha " lt - taking his dist>tttt- !, T ; f yne oil .October 13, 1915. bw! ■ rae il e was employed bv Messrs. fgpng, Wliitvyorth, of Shields, as a p™S n «- workei-:. ' WuLi i "'Gained•employment at the MS'.Arsenal on October 18. 1916. and il!iA eha !8 Ed f rom there on August 29, ■wfS- 0 !? ho "'onger required. He *m»i„iJ, n 1? tlle M"istry of Munitions, .December, 1919. m L *?•'- e ' fr «l"enfciy described him-. ; lpea7 : tw ]0 v Cassidy.. It would ;then llfy «>.»- ' h ?became a partner in a •' a « nd tllat a complaint was -Wttf*v Au W B t. 1921, from the Monas he was then Wk?m taitun " a larsc sum of money ; H CSS 6 '- 80 " liyin 8 at that town, in f^the ! S JlAV ? s tbe subject of inquiries H^£olS> ction Adth ' pass "

At tins point Mr. Fulton, prosecuting, asked Detective-Sergeant Winter to come c Jr e r , esult of inquiries made in respect of the class of offences' before the. Court. " Imposter and Swindler." Detective-Sergeant Winter, resuming his statement, said: "Inquiries were made about his statements concerning the concessions in Mexico and his statement that he was a general in the Mexican army. The Mexican authorities stated they had no knowledge of him or of any concessions granted to him. They regard him as an impostor and a swindler. During the past five years at least lie has exploited his supposed concessions in Mexico and his connections , with various oil companies to such a degree that he has obtained to my knowledge oyer £100,009 by his fraudulent representations from various persons. He has been responsible for the ruination financially of his victims. There is no doubt he is a most plausible swindler and adventurer of the worst type. "So far as this inquiry is concerned, I have traced over £15,000 worth of.Bank of England notes, handed to Corrigan by the prosecutors at various' times, and have traced the sources through which they have passed. The money lias been traced to hotels, tailors, and stores. There is no doubt it has been spent absolutely on his own welfare. "About December 13, 1927, Corrigan changed his name of Cassidy by deed poll .to Corrigan. This coincided with the death of an American of that name of some repute. I think he has told the story so many times about concessions in oil in Yucatan, and things like that, that he has come to believe it himself. During the time I was bringing him from France to England he told me some of the wildest 1 stories that even Hans . Andersen can scarcely, have ever fancied." Case for Corrigan. Mr. J. P. Eddy, addressing the judge in mitigation, said that if it was to be said that Corrigan was a man without any regard for his liabilities it should be pointed out that in 1923 he went back to the Bankruptcy Court and paid 20/ in'the pound. Was there no basis for his story about his oil concessions? When he was under_ examination in bankruptcy in 1923 he said he was engaged in obtaining oil concessions. There was little doubt that, large as were the funds he had obtained, considerable sums had also been paid back. If it were said that he was living lavishly, so were the people from whom he had obtained the money. . " It was stated by Mr. Fulton that I dare not put Miss Muriel Harrold, to whom Corrigan was ' married,' in the box. It is due to Corrigan to say that he was anxious that she should give evidence, but he left it entirely to.her. He preferred' that his own. case should suffer rather than that she should go into the box and give evidence contradicting her own mother.'' . Judge Gregory, passing sentence, said: "The jury have found you guilty of a series of bad and cruel frauds, involving sums amounting in the aggregate to tens of thousands of pounds. .You had no mercy on your victims. / ," One, a woman, left by her husband in comfortable circumstances, you have reduced to a state of penury; the other, a man who was in. comparatively affluent circumstances, you have caused to become a bankrupt and lose his business, and he has been compelled to start his business life over again as a. clerk in an insurance office. . All this in order that you might live a luxurious life in some leading hotels in London and France."