CHARGES OF FRAUD

Press, Volume C, Issue 29509, 10 May 1961, Page 21

CHARGES OF FRAUD

Six Men In Melbourne

(N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) MELBOURNE, May 8. Six men appeared today in the Melbourne City Court on charges of conspiracy to cheat and defraud the public. The hearing was adjourned till June 5. Mr R. A. Gilbert, instructed by the Victorian Crown Solicitor, asking for the adjournment, said the case, which involved a great deal of complex work, necessitated more time for preparation. The six men are charged in connexion with the alleged activities of two companies— North American Vending Machine Company Pty. Ltd., and Vendrite Pty. Ltd.— between January, 1959, and January, 1961. The men are:—John Howard Kinnear, aged 50, a solicitor; Victor Jerome Varney, aged 31, a director; Stanley Welsh Kerr, aged 41, a salesman; George William Boyd, aged 41, a salesman; John Joseph Mohr, aged 31, a salesman; Ednek Kempny, aged 31, a salesman. Four of the men were granted bail of £AI 000. Two of them, Kempny and Mohr, were remanded in custody until May 16 on a charge of having intended to abscond from bail. Each of the six men is charged with “having conspired with the others to cheat and defraud such people as should be induced to enter into an agreement to buy vending machines from the North American Vending Machine Company, by falsely promising such people that the company or another company, the Vendrite Pty. would hire and operate such vending machines for specified periods, paying for the hire thereof to such people aforesaid certain specified sums, and would at the expiration of such periods, if so required, buy such vending machines at the prices paid for them to the North American Vending Machine Company."