Jail term for $63,000 fraud

Press, 15 July 1978, Page 4

Jail term for $63,000 fraud

An Englishman who obtained $63,000 by the mani- ■ pulation of cheque accounts in false names, after he had ! received two stolen cheque (fonns and then fled to Australia, was jailed for two years and a half by Mr Justice Roper in the Supreme Court yesterday. Paul Anthony Powell, aged 30, an unemployed waiter, ■ had pleaded guilty in the Magistrate’s Court to two charges of using a document to pecuniary advantage, and had been committed to the Supreme Court for sentence. The method used to obtain the money was suppressed by the Magistrate. The police statement said that late in December, 1976, Powell came into possession of two stolen cheque forms, the property of Transport Comer, Ltd,' and drawn on the Sydenham branch of the Australia and New Zealand Bank, Ltd. The stolen cheque forms were filled out for $38,000

and $25,000. As the forgery of the signatures on the cheques was not picked up, the account of Transport Comer, Ltd, was debited with $63,000. After a series cf manipulations of bank accounts the money ended up in accounts which Powell was able to use. Powell withdrew $32,000 in cash, usually in $2O notes, in three stages. On January 19 the bank manager advised Barry Harold Boyd, a director of Transport Comer. Ltd, that his cheque account was considerably overdrawn. It was then that the theft of the two cheque forms was discovered.

Transport Corner, Ltd, which was buying and selling trucks, had cheques for big sums passing through its account, and that was one reason the forgery of the two stolen cheques went unnoticed. The police said that Powell had struck up a friend-

ship with a man who at one time worked for Transport Corner, Ltd. An international investigation followed and 1 Powell was arrested in Melbourne on June 7. Powell was extradited to New Zealand. When questioned by the police, Powell refused to say anything about the offences. The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Ltd, had lost $32,200 because of Powell’s actions, the police statement said. Counsel, Mr D. H. Hicks, said that Powell accepted that these were serious ■charges involving substantial [sums of money which were obtained by a clever scheme. But Powell did not initiate the offence and nobody else had yet been charged. Powell’s weakness was gambling: he had committed the offences because he was in the clutches of bookmakers and their associates. Ihis Honour: But he refused to make any ex-

planation to the police. Mr Hicks said that Powell had become involved because of the necessity to obtain a large sum of money. He was subjected to considerable pressure and was to a large degree acting under instructions. The fact that Powell left more than $30,000 in a bank account when he went to Australia indicated that he did not intend to use the money for his own gain, said counsel. Mr Hicks asked his Honour to take into account that until these offences Powell had a blameless record, that the probation officer said he was unlikely to reoffend, and that he had pleaded guilty. Mr G. K. Panckhurst, for the Crown, said that a person who had been employed by Transport Corner, Ltd, was still to be traced and interviewed. The officer in charge of the case, Detective Sergeant N. T. Higgison,

who was in Court, said that [this was the first time he had heard the allegation about Powell’s being in [debt to bookmakers. I His Honour said that PowI ell’s counsel had realistically 'accepted that these were : serious charges and that a ■ term of imprisonment was [ inevitable. [ “I must admit, Powell, ; that the curious feature was that there was still over; $30,000 left in the various: accounts which you could; have drawn if you wished to. That certainly adds ere-; dence to your story that someone else was involved in this,” his Honour said. Powell had asserted that) he owed $17,000 to bookmakers and that was why he had committed the offences, but there was still another $15,000 unaccounted for. His Honour said that he would make no recommendation for Powell’s deportation as that could be left to the Minister.