THEFT OF £910

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22345, 8 March 1938, Page 6

THEFT OF £9lO

CITY BANK OFFICE CHARGED PLEA OF GUILTY ENTERE SIMS I SED FOR GAMBLI> DEBTS Thomas Robert Stringer, a bat clerk. aged 36, admitted in the Magi tratc's Court yesterday the theft £9lO from the Bank of New Zealai at Christenurch, where he was er ployed. He .said that sums from tl amount stolen had been used to p£ gambling debts. After evidence < his manipulation of cheques had bee heard from other bank officers, he w committed to the Supreme Court f< sentence. A married man, with six childre Stringer was charged in four court with the theft of £3OO on February 2 1938. of £2lO on or about Decembi 22. 1936, of £4OO on January 13, 193 and witli forcing a cheque for £3l on February 22, 1938. purporting have been signed by J. E. Webster, < Christchurch. Detective-Sergeant T. E. Holmi prosecuted lor the police, and the ai cused was represented by Mr R. j Young. The charges were heard b< lore Mr E. C. Levvey, S.M. David Templcton, a teller at tl bank, said that on February 22 tr accused came to the back of the teller box with a cheque for £3OO. It pui ported to have been signed by J. J Webster, and bore the initials of tr. certifying that it was in orde The accused asked for the £3oo,in £ notes. Witness acted on the cnequ ys a genuine one. and paid over tr, mnnev. It was not unusual for a ban Officer to cash a cheque on behalf ( a ciunt. That evening, witness, said.. he oc came uneasy about the payment of th money, and next morning he reporfe the matter to the ledger examiner. Cheque for £4OO Roger Edwin Boucher Squire, ar other teller, produced a ledger show ing that on January 13 he cashed cheque for £400,-which purported t have been signed by a person name Webster. He had.made this entry hi;* self in the course of business. Th accused had presented ,the cheque fo payment, and as it appeared to be i order, witness had no hesitation J: cashing it. The'money' was paid t Stringer in £5 and £1 notes*, and wit ness was given *to understand th accused was collecting it on bfhalf o a person named ft. A.'Stringer-. Th accused was in the habit of cashin, wage cheques for. R. A. .Stringer. George Merle Clinch, assistant heai ledger keeper, said it was part of tb accused's duty to enter in the ledger all transactions relating to Mr Web ster's account. He produced the re cords of this account as 1 entefefd ii the ledger in the accused's handwrit ing. This showed amounts of £3O and £4OO charged against the accounl There was a' record of a cheque o £4OO made payable to a number, bit he had been unable to find this. Tner< were sufficient funds in Mr Webster' account to meet the cheques presentee Arthur Benjamin Patrick Ringei house teller, said he was in charge o cheque books issued at the bank. H compared cheques and their number; and said that one of those purportin, to have been signed by J. E. Webste had been one of a book sold hj Stringer. "Cheques a Forgery" John Edward Webster, a retire* farmer, of Spreydon, said he had hf>.< an account at the bank for about 4i years. He did not draw a cheque fo: £4OO on January 13, nor did he issui one for £3OO in February. A chequ< for £3OO, produced in Court, purport ing to have been signed by him, wa; a forgery. Henry Easton Garth, assistant marja ger of the bank, said the accused hat been employed at the bank perman ently, until February 24. His annua salary was £394. He-was £215 shor in his cash in 1935. Questioned abou the shortage, he eauld not give a sat isfactory account, but denied any sug gestion of theft on his part. A thorough investigation was made, without re suit, and the amount was charged tt a suspense account. After a lapse o. seven months, it was decided that the accused would have to pay the monej into the account at a monthly rate Up to the present day about £l6 o: this amount had been paid by th< accused out of his salary. With Mr Porter, manager of the bank, witness visited the home of Mi Webster on February 23, and on ruary 24 the manager taxed the ac cused, in his presence, with bavin: forged a cheque for £3OO an.d negotiated it. Stringer admitted that he hac been guilty of this. Witness was alsc present when the accused volunteerec the information that there was n further cheque for £4OO whicn he hac forged on the same person's bank account. The manager asked the accused what he had done with the cash h€ obtained on February 22, and Stringei said he had spent some of it, and still had some left. He produced money from his pockets, when asked for it, this amount totalling- £240 in .-Ff notes. Some of the remainder of £SC the accused said "had been paid to e bookmaker, and another amount to c relative. "Cash Frittered Away' Stringer said he had frittered away the cash he obtained from the- £4OO cheque in January. Some oi it had gone to bookmakers. At the same time he was questioned about the £215 which had gone short m 1936. He maintained that this shortage was no fault of his, but occurred in the ordinary course of business. Of the total of £9lO which Stringer was charged with having stolen from the bank, £2BO Is 4d had been recovered by th« bank, leaving £629 18s 8d outstanding. Witness, to Mr Young, said the bank would appropriate against the loss the amount of the accused's superannuation account, which was £176 lis 2d. Stringer had previously been a good clerk, working in the bank's service for nearly 18 years. - The Magistrate .asked the «vithoss whether it was the practice for bsnk officers to collect cash on behalf of clients. • " The witness said that occasionally bank officers cashed cheques for clients. ..'>'. "Surely." said the Magistrate, "that leaves open avenues of danger?" Witness said that this had been done only occasionally, when the bank ofifU cer knew the client. Detective J. Halcrow read a statement from the accused in which lie admitted the thefts, including that" V-f' £2lO of the £215 missing in 1936.' Some of this amount had been used to pay betting debts. On January 13 lie .arged a cheque for £4OO in. the name of J. E. Webster. He spent: all the money in betting debts and ac-. counts. On February 22 he forged another cheque on Webster's account, this time for £3OO. He paid £SO to a bookmaker and advanced £lO to a relative. It was his intention to resign frogirthfi-. bank in March and to make good the amount of the thefts. He intended to purchase a 1 house, do'; )t up and make about £2OO on Mt, to help repay the amount. When arrested, _the accused had two I'doubles" charts m his possession. ..S'-iF Yquiig Detective .Halcrow said the accused had previously borne

..a good character ; and was quite frank •in his admissions. • Stringer pleaded • guilty to all and was committed to the Supreme •'.Court' for sentence. f <