CONFIDENCE TRICK

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 215, 11 September 1931, Page 9

CONFIDENCE TRICK

FARMER SWINDLED.

BOUGHT LAND IN PONSONBY.

£1200 CHEQUE CASHED

FOUR MEN NOW "WANTED."

A North Auckland farmer Ims informed the police that he was relieved of £1200 by a confidence trick worked by four men, and detectives are busy gathering evidence which it is hoped will lead to the arrest of the..gang. The four, suspects are now out of New Zealand, having lost no time in getting away once they had secured the farmer's £1200. The story told the police opens when, about eight weeks ago, the farmer was staying at a boardinghouse in Helensville. There were others at the house, and with one of them, a man who gave his name as Thomas (although this is almost certainly not his real name), the farmer became friendly, and they enjoyed manly conversations. Later the farmer left and went to his home in a district near Whangarel. About the middle of, last month the man whom i the farmer knew as Thomas called at the farm with a companion. Prior to this, and while the farmer at Helensville, he had several little "flutters" at cards, and. lost a substantial sum of money.

Prospect of Profit. Upon the arrival of Thomas and his companion the farmer became interested in a proposition put forth by Thomas concerning the purchase of some blocks of land situated at Ponsonby. Thomas informed the farmer that a company intended to set up glassworks at Ponsonby, and that part of the necessary site had been purchased, but there were still four sections adjacent which it was necessary to secure. These sections were owned, so Thomas said, hj a woman who had gone to- England. Thomas is alleged to have said he had been given authority to sell on behalf of the woman, or her agents, and as thev could be purchased at £1000 each, a matter, of £4000 all told, within a week they could be sold to the glassworks company, at a profit of £300 or £400. ,2 Two days later Thomas and his companion brought their car and took the farmer to Whangarei, where he wae intrdouced to two other men one of whom gave the name of Hooper (probably a fictitious name, also) and another who was said to be a Belgian, and who, it was understood, could speak little or jno English- There were discussions over the purchase of sections at Ponsonby, ; and the farmer was asked to purchase the whole block at £4000. This amount he would not invest, and then, according to the storv being investigated bv the detectives, Thomas offered to find £2800 if the farmer would find £1200. Handed Over Both Cheques. Hooper, so the farmer understood, was the representative of the glassworks company, and would purchase the land from the farmer for £5400. Hooper wrote out a cheque for £5400, and handed ii to the farmer, who- passed over his own cheque for £1200. Thomas then asked for the cheque for £5400, which he said he would post ta the farmer's bank" at DargaVille. The farmer handed it over to Thomas, who then possessed both cheques. . While two of the four.men remained with the farmer at Whangarei, the two others took car to Dargaville, and there presented the farmer's cheque for £1200 at a bank. From, the bank they received £400, and a cheque ' for £800 on an Auckland bank. Within a few days the whole amount had been drawn. That was the last the farmer heard of his £1200, the blocks of land, or the glassworks.