"GHOST PRIZES."

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 126, 30 May 1934, Page 8

"GHOST PRIZES."

EUROPEANS DUPED.

PAKAPOO TICKETS SOLD.

GAOL FOR YOUNG CHINESE.

A story of how a young Chinese obtained a number of sums of money from Europeans by falsely representing that they had won a prize in a pakapoo bank was told before Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M., in the Police Court this morning, when Fong Slice (21), a gardener, pleaded guilty to eight charges of obtaining money by false pretences.

During the past six weeks, said Senior Detective Hall, Fong Sliee had been going round the suburbs and obtaining money by false pretences. His method was to go to a house and sell a pakapoo ticket for Gd and to return later in the day and inform the purchaser of the ticket that he had won a prize and that a sum of money was required to pay into the bank as commission. The prizes that accused said had been won varied from £20 to £130. Fong Slice had been working on his own and did not represent any "bank." He had rather a bad reputation among his own race and apparently was not trusted. One of the men whom accused had taken down was a hawker in poor circumstances, who had saved up enough money to relicense his motor truck. When arrested accused had £7 0/9J on him. Five charges of theft and one charge of receiving had been preferred against accused previously. It was stated that the various sums obtained by Fong Slice from persons who had' been told that they had won prizes in the pakapoo bank were £"-j £4, £2 10/, £1 14/, £2 10/, £1 14/, £1 10/ and £1 14/. Appearing for accused, Mr. Sullivan said that Fong.Slice had been working for his uncle at Panmure. He could gp back there, and as. long as he was there he would bo. all right. He could hardly speak the King's English and it was somewhat difficult to understand how lie had gc.t the money so easily. He had already been in gaol for two weeks. "This has been a good lesson to him and also to those people who have been victimised," added Mr. Sullivan. Remarking that accused had only come out of gaol in February, the trate sentenced him to six mont.iimprisonment.