Woman Accused Weeps In Court

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31123, 28 July 1966, Page 3

Woman Accused Weeps In Court

(New Zealand Press Association* AUCKLAND, July 27. A blonde Australian secretary 7 , accused of obtaining and I attempting to obtain a total of £62,272 by false pretences, broke [ down and wept during the taking of depositions in the Magistrate’s Court at Auckland today.

The secretary, Patricia Amelda Keane, aged 28, is jointly charged with Noel James McGurgan, aged 35, a company representative, with 18 charges of false pretences, involving £29,808, 17 charges of attempted false pretences, involving £32,464, one charge of attempting to destroy company documents and one charge of conspiring to destroy documents.

The Crown alleges that J Keane and McGurgan comI mitted the offences while : principals in a company ! known as Leidrum and Hartnell, Ltd., in Auckland, and that they involved the sale of agencies to various people for the sale of cosmetics from milk bars and dairies, throughout the country. ' Both have elected trial byjury. Mr C. W. Nicholson appears for the Crown. Keane is represented by Mr A. B. Lawson, and McGurgan byMr L. W. Brown. A Sydney barrister, Mr L. C. Gruzman, is keeping a watching brief on behalf of other Australians. The hearing is before Mr J. H. Luxford, S.M. The Crown intends calling 78 witnesses. A number of North Island witnesses were called today, and those from the South Island will be called tomorrow. Keane, who had been sitting on a side bench in the! courtroom all the morning; and part of the afternoon. 1 began to weep shortly before' the afternoon adjournment j She recovered after being given a more comfortable; chair and a constable had brought her a glass of water. McGurgan, who occupied the side bench with Keane during the morning, moved to a chair beside his counsel when the Court resumed after lunch. Deposit Paid Brian lan Currie, a buildI ing contractor, of Gisborne, isaid he had read an adver- ; tisement in the “Gisborne Herald” on May 25. He had! written to Leidrum and Hart-j ,nell in Auckland. McGurgan j I had asked him to come to; see him in Parnell. McGurgan told him thatNew Zealand was to be divided into zones with a distributing agent for the pro-1 ducts in each zone. Currie said he was told the agent was to be responsible for the distribution of Modeletet cosmetics in his area. Currie said the total cost ,of the Gisborne district agency for which he applied : was to be £1634. • He said the cosmetics were Ito be sold through dairies lon a spinning stand. Each ! stand would contain eight varieties of cosmetics . McGurgan had then told Currie the firm proposed to spend £lB,OOO in an advertising campaign. Currie said he was also told that Leidrum and Hartnell (N.Z.), Ltd., was a subsidiary of an Australian firm with the same name, which was, in turn, itself a sub-, sidiary of the U.N.I. group, with a capital backing ofi £500,000. There were to be 42 zones in New Zealand. His agency was to cover Gisborne. ' Wairoa and Opotiki. Currie said he was told an, agent called Jacobs had originally taken the district, but had died and this necessitated a big rush in the district before the campaign started on June 23. When he returned to Gisborne he paid the £331 deposit to Leidrum and Hartnell. McGurgan had told him that his hotel and air fare expenses to and from Gisborne would be paid by the company, but to date he had received no cheque. A few days after meeting ! McGurgan on June 1. Currie said. McGurgan had tele-

phoned him in Gisborne and said he wanted the balance of the £1634 as he was railing the cosmetics to Napier and Waipukurau and the products for his area would also be on this train. When Currie did not send: the money, McGurgan wanted! .to know why, and in reply ! Currie said he asked McGurgan why Leidrum and Hart-! nell (Australia), Ltd., had gone bankrupt. Currie said McGurgan appeared to be taken aback with this question, but said it was because the company had broken franchise with Australian chemists and the business liquidation had been arranged by Leidrum and Hartnell (Australia), Ltd., itself. He asked McGurgan for his deposit back, but McGurgan said there would be a meeting of the board and Currie 'would receive his money. I Currie said he had not had I his money refunded nor had ;he ever received any stands | or cosmetics. Chemists’ Reaction I John Mackie, manager of the Waterfront Industry Commission in Gisborne, said he answered an advertisement in the “Gisborne Herald” on May 28. He was asked to go to Leidrum and Hartnell’s offices in Parnell urgently because of ‘'other applicants.” On June 4 he saw Keane who said the agency he was , applying for covered Wairoa, Gisborne and the east coast area. The firm was to market , a new brand of cosmetic. 'Modelette. Keane had told Jhim chemists were not very 'interested to market their I products, so they would be -sold through dairies. The itotal cost of his agency was [£1656. Keane told Mackie that he; (would have to obtain refer-; ences and he supplied these! -when he returned to Gis- 1 borne. Later, when he received a letter from Keane with copies of the agreement for distribution rights in the Gisborne and Wairoa areas, the deposit of £331 was asked for. Mackie said that he then wrote to Leidrum and Hartnell, saying he was not in- ' terested. Profit Claim i Barry Gillespie, a shop pro- • prietor, of Palmerston North. - described how he was I L -

I appointed agent for the : southern half of Palmerston (North distribution zone. Reading a letter received [from Leidrum and Hartnell [in Auckland, he told how an (agent’s profit would remain a constant 3s 6d for each i cosmetic item sold. The letter quoted an item (as.an example for which the cost price was 4s 3d. The agent’s profit would be 3s 6d, making 7s 9d altogether. Of this 7s 9d, the 20 per cent sales tax on the item worked out at Is 7d. The sales tax (and the original total made 9s 4d—the retailer’s price (The item would then be sold : for 14s, giving a little less jthan 5s profit for the shop (and ensuring 3s 6d for the : agent. John Gordon Young, an insurance agent, of Palmerston North, said he saw McGurgan in Auckland and they had discussed the agency which covered half of Palmerston North and other areas nearby. Young said he later sent cheques covering the deposit and the balance owing to the company for the agency. He later saw McGurgan in Auckland and told him he was suspicious. Unless he was reassured regarding production and delivery of the product and television advertising, he would withdraw. McGurgan tried to reassure him that everything was al! right and arranged for Young to visit a factory. Saw Police Young said he would make his own investigations. He visited a factory and saw invoices indicating some deliveries had been made. He also spoke to the manager of the National Bank and made inquiries at the police station. Some time later he wrote to the company saying he was withdrawing and asking that his money be refunded. No reply was received. Young said he received 20 display stands about June 24, but the only cosmetics he received were two or three sample bottles given to him by McGurgan. [ The hearing will continue [tomorrow.