BIG – SCALE STAMP FORGERIES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 147, 23 June 1934, Page 4 (Supplement)

BIG - SCALE STAMP FORGERIES.

PENAL' SERVITUDE FOR POLES

SCOTLAND YARD MEN COMB OUT EUROPEAN CAPITALS — SET A CROOK TO CATCH A CROOK —MAN WITH "RECORD- ACTS AS INFORMER — HUGE CONSPIRACY REVEALED — DECOY'S GREAT RISK,

The trial was concluded before Mr. Justice Macnaghtcn, at tlie Central Criminal Court, London, of Edward Popie]ec, 48, traveller; Benjamin Turefe, 42, traveller, and lsek Jakob Najmark, 42, traveller, all Poles, on bail, who pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging them with having in their possession 316,000 forged health and pensions stamps and 300,000 unemployed insurance stamps without lawful authority or excuse, ar;d knowing them to be forged.

Forgery Perfected,

The jury found all the prisoners guilty. Mr. L. A. Byrne prosecuted, and Mr. A. M. Lyons, K.C., and Mr. Frederick Levy were for the defence.

The prosecution's case was that the three men were concerned in bringing over the stamps concealed in the false bottoms of three trunks. Each of the defendants denied all knowledge of the forgery or of the existence of the stamps in the trunks. They alleged that the trunks were the property of a man named Markham, and that they were put in the train at Berlin. The prosecution had stated that Markham and another man named Mackay were acting in the matter on the instructions of the metropolitan police. Detective-Sergeant Greeno said that Markham was not the. original informer who told the pi lice. He was sent to Poland, acting on the instructions of. the police. He was on board the Prague when the prisoners arrived at Harwich from the Hook of Holland, and Mackay was waiting to receivc them. The Defence. Mr. Lyons, for the defence, suggested that the case might be a "frame-up" by Markham or a complete mistake. Markham could have been put into the witnessbox to tell his story. Why in the interests of justice was he not called? Was it because he and those behind him were frightened to face a proper investigation into the matter? He suggested that there was nothing to which Markham would not have stooped for his own ends. What could men who were strangers to Britain do with thousands of forged stamps, asked Mr. Lyons. There was no evidence of a gang in the case. But Markham lived in London, and it was stated that he was an Englishman. He could find a market for the stamps. After an absence of an hour., and a quarter the jury returned into Court, and the foreman said lie was afraid they were unable to agree on a verdict. The judge told them that if after discussion among themselves they came ultimately to the conclusion that it was impossible for them to agree all that would be left for him to do would be to discharge them from giving a verdict and the case would have to be tried again. The jury again retired and returned with a verdict of guilty against each of the three defendants. Arrests in Warsaw. Detective-Sergeant Greeno 6aid that Popielec had no ' previous convictions recorded against him as far as was known. He was 47 and was believed to be a single man. An officer had gone to Warsaw from Scotland Yard to investigate. the matter, and had got in contact with the associates of the three prisoners. " He traced the place, the Mercury Press, where the forgery of the stamps took place, and had brought back photographs of the building and various details connected with the forgeries and also plates and stamps. ■ The witness went on to state that a large number of people were arrested in Poland, and he believed ten were charged. There were simultaneous raids in various places. The building where the stamps were perforated and another where they were gummed were also visited. Detective-Sergeant Greeno said that Turek was a Polish citizen, aged 42,, married, and' carried on business in Warsaw as a butcher. Najmark was aged 43, married, and termed himself a horse dealer. According to information from the "Vienna Bureau of Criminal Records, it appeared that in July, 1912, he was arrested in Prague and convicted for picking pockets, but no sentence was shown on the records. It was also stated that in 1925 and 1926 he. belonged to a band of expert forgers, who forged shares of Lena Goldfields and other companies and sold them in Paris, Berlin and Cracow. In August of last year they first had news of Najmark being the forerunner of a gang of international forgers. Sergeant Salisbury and himself followed Najmark for some time and saw him hand over certain Polish bonds which were forged. After that he went to Warsaw and the police received specimens of forged postage stamps and a forged 100dollar bill of real expert workmanship. In this case a genuine one-dollar bill was converted into a 100-dollar bill.

Head of the Conspiracy. Inspector Hatherill said that he went to Warsaw on April 2 and investigated the forgeries o£ stamps and other documents in Warsaw. Soon after his arrival other persons were arrested as a result of the information he took with him. Among them were two Poles named Dravinlca and Chapnik. As a result of what took place in Court he received information of the activities of the three prisoners. Replying to Mr. Byrne, the witness said that he had come to the conclusion that Najmark was at the head of the conspiracy. Markham is the man whom the three Poles have chiefly to thank for their sentences of from two to four years. It was he who put the police on the track of the conspirators just when they thought they -were about to win a fortune by smuggling a vast consignment of forged stamps into England in three huge trunks. Markham and Najmark were the prime movers in the drama which was to lead Najmark to penal servitude. Markham was a police informer. It takes brave men to be* police informers these days, and especially to inform against a gang of such power and financial resource as the Warsaw • forgery gang, which .specialised in the printing of fake share scrip/ passports, and stock certificates. Markham did more than merely inform against the gang, as his amazing adventures while associated with them show. He met Najmark almost a year ago. The police informer had also a police record. He- had been in trouble, bnt he had decided that crime did not pay. At the same time, as crime had been his speciality, he decided to put his knowledge at the scrvice of the police. Soiling Horses. When he first came into contact with Najmark, the latter was in England from Poland, ostensibly in connection with his business as a horse and cattle dealer. He sold horses to English farmers in the north and imported them from Poland. Markham, however, was well aware that the Pole was" carrying on another game of much greater importance. The man from. Warsaw, when he got to know Markham better and learned of his police record, took liini into his confidence to a certain extent. He told him one day as they sat in a West End hotel lounge, that he knew a perfect way to smuggle things into England. It was by lueaus of his horses.

Markham thought at first lie meant to kill the horses and insert the smuggled goods in their carcases. Then he remembered that England does not import dead horses, so he came to the conclusion that' that plan' was not feasible.

A little more tactful conversation and Najmark revealed that , the secret hiding places were the saddle baskets of the animals in which their feed for the journey was stored.

By "this time, however, Najmark had completed the importation of his batch of animals, and there was no way of.catching him in the act.

The Pole, nevertheless, gave Markham an indication of the kind of smuggled goods in which ho specialised. He produced a hundred-dollar American note. It was a perfect specimen of the forger's art. Then Najmark told him how it had been done. It had been a one-dollar bill originally and the dollar markings had been washed out by a special process, leaving the paper with its specially prepared inserts of silk threads which had hitherto deiied reproduction. Then, on this real paper the new hundred-dollar markings had been printed. It was a clever idea, cleverly carried out. Najmark said he could get scores like it. It would be a nice sideline to the smuggling if there were an agent in England who could dispose of them. The same agent, he said,_ could act for other business, the real business of the forgery gang. He told of a great factory in Warsaw where forgery on a. colossal scale was being planned. Would Markham come in?

Markham informed Scotland Yard. Faced with the chances of laying the entire gang by the heels, the police decided net to take action over the forged hundred-dollar lb ill. Najmark would land himself in the net if he was allowed to go "• his own way. Najmark returned to Warsaw, where he developed the insurance stamp forgery scheme. " Given More Rope." He kept in touch with Markham, and at last, when the time was considered ripe, Markham was told by Scotland Yard to suggest visiting Warsaw. He did so, and received an invitation from Najmark to "come and talk it over."

As a matter of fact, the Pole was desperately anxious to fix up Markham as receiver of the forged stamps in London. So far, the informer had no knowledge that the forgeries related to insurance. Najm&rk met him with a number of other men and drove him out to his luxurious house in one of the best districts of the Polish capital. For nearly two weeks Markham lived there. He was absolutely alone in this game with the crooks, and lie had no means of claiming any protection if he were caught. He was like a spy in an enemy's camp. He could hot communicate direct with Scotland Yard, for the slightest suspicious move on his part would mean the end of his career. Yet Markham spent nearly a fortnight at Naj mark's liome. He met the other principals in the great plot. He listened to them plan the details. He learned that a certain great factory in Warsaw was printing fake English insurance stamps on a large scale. He learned that forged passports were manufactured by the hundred and sold for as much as £500 each.

He learned that there were agents in France, Germany, Russia, Belgium, Holland, and now —himself—in England. Immense Profits. He was told of the immense profits that would accrue to them, and particularly to him, as lie was .the man who would he taking a lot of risk in England. He was told that the stamps would be delivered and that he would not run any rislc at the Customs. By this time he knew that he must get Najmark to conic to England. He was. determined to have him dealt with there. He learned, too, that there were at least two other factories at the service of the gang. At one the stamps were gummed and at another tlicy were perforated. _ Dozens of persons were in the "racket, but ouly a few at the top knew all the ramifications and reaped the big profits. At last Markham left Najmark's house. As soon as he felt lie was safe, and he took no chances, he got into touch by telephone with the Yard.' It was'arranged that the stamps should be taken to England in three big trunks. Turek and Popielec were selected as the "carriers," the reason for this choice being that they were known as respectable business men, against whom no suspicion could be entertained. If they were suspceted they were told to dump the trunks and pretend that they knew nothing about thcm.». ' - Nevor Left Them. Najmark was to follow them to England, and, in'; case anything happened whereby they were separated from the trunks, they were to note where they had left them and he would pick them up later. In order to make sure that the forgers did not escape from the trap which ho had set for them, Markham accompanied them , to England. He never left them for a moment. He was determined to get them safely there.

.The rest is known. The roles were under observation from the moment they landed. Thev were followed from Harwich by two Yard men and they tried to fret rid of the trunks, disclaiming responsibility for them. A key, however, was found wrapped in a £1 note in the lining of Turek's hat. A little later Najmai'k arrived in England and was immediately arrestod. Ho, too. had a key for the trunks. Everything had worked like clockwork.

That night inspector Hatherill, who is an expert linguist, loft for Warsaw. His job was to clean up the headquarters of the gang. Within u couple of days lightning raids by the Warsaw police, based 011 Markhanl's information, landed most of the forgers in the net. Ket'ore the examining magistrate they revealed the whole scheme.