GIGANTIC FRAUD.
NO COURT BIG ENOUGH,
LONDON, April 21.
A Berlin Court has again been engaged during the week, says the Berlin correspondent of "The Times," with the case of the ' 24-stone Frau Mickeleit, who for 10 years has defeated, by sheer weight, the efforts of the law to stop her defrauding manufacturers and shopkeepers.
When last she appeared in Court a door had to be removed from its hinges to squeeze her through, but she was slimmer then and the authorities this time could not convey her to Court. They accordingly allowed her to remain at home in a specially-constructed chair, while they considered her long list of frauds.
Frau Mickeleit is unable to move, a succession of beds having collapsed beneath her, and she relieves the tedium of an immobile existence by telephoning shops throughout Germany and ordering food, jewellery, underwear, silks and wines. Once she ordered toothbrushes to the value of £45. She paid for nothing and none of the articles has been recovered.
The Court ordered her two years' imprisonment, but the sentence may be regarded merely as an expression of the judge's view of the crime, as no cell in Berlin can accommodate her even if the door were removed.
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Bibliographic details
Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 97, 27 April 1933, Page 7
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205GIGANTIC FRAUD. Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 97, 27 April 1933, Page 7
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