Honesty Prevails In Solution Of Wrong Dividend Pay-out Problem

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28157, 21 December 1956, Page 12

Honesty Prevails In Solution Of Wrong Dividend Pay-out Problem

"The Press’ Special Service

INVERCARGILL, December 20. When a wrong doubles payout was made by the totalisator at the Wyndham Trotting Club’s spring meeting on November 24, there were 41 claimants for the 36 short-paid dividends. On the course, the Fiona-Scotch Glen winning combination was wrongly calculated at £4O 18s for £l, instead of £Bl 16s, and 36 ticketholders

were paid the wrong amount before the mistake was notified. The remaining ticketholders oncourse were paid the correct dividend, and the surplus of the pool was impounded by the Southland totalisator committee. Those who had not been paid the correct dividend were asked to apply to the committee. Forty-one applications—five more than the number of tickets on which the short dividend had been paid—were received..

A letter was sent by the Southland Totalisator Committee to each of the 41 applicants explaining the position, and requesting them to make a statutory declaration before a Justice of the Peace that they had been paid the wrong dividend, and that they were entitled to further payment. Thirty six of the claimants returned the statutory declaration—the other five did not.

“The committee is satisfied it has sorted out the 36 genuine claimants and has paid them the additional dividend.” said Mr W. Young, manager of the Southland Totalisator Committee. “As far as the totalisator committee is concerned the matter is closed.”