‘Plates, pads used for dockets’

Press, 15 May 1981, Page 7

‘Plates, pads used for dockets’

A man facing 143 fraudrelated charges involving more than $29,000 in motor spirits refunds was alleged in evidence in the District Court yesterday to have used rubber stamp pads, and commercially-made printing plates to prepare petrol cash sales dockets in the names of various service stations and oil companies. Yesterday was the second day of the hearing of depositions of evidence of prosecution witnesses in the charges against the defendant, Harold Stephen Heperi, aged 41, a woodyard proprietor. The case, which is being heard before Messrs C. A. Pilgrim and D. F. Prestney, Justices of the Peace, will conclude today. Sergeant G. C. Jones is prosecuting, and Mr J. J. Brandts-Giesen appears for the defendant. The defendant has electedtrial by jury on all 143 charges which comprise forgery, fraud, and using documents to obtain a pecuniary advantage.

In evidence yesterday John Alexander West, chief document examiner of the Police Department in Wellington, said he examined 4293 sales dockets to compare handwriting with that in two diaries and on cheques drawn on the defendant's account.

Generally, the dockets fell into six categories. Of the 4293 dockets, he considered 812 to be probably genuine. Another category appeared to be on genuinely printed sales vouchers which bore figures and handwriting matching the defendant’s. A third category comprised altered dockets, invariably by increasing the amounts of petrol sold by either changing existing figures or by adding figures before or after the figures already written. There were 124 alterations noted.

The fourth category in-

volved documents which had figures in writing consistent with the defendant’s, but which in addition had the printed names of the garages or service stations printed by either of two stamp outfits. The fifth Category comprised dockets printed from two printing plates. There were 2170 dockets and they involved four wellknown oil companies. Inspector West said the sixth category comprised photo-copies of an Atlantic company oil voucher. He said that of the 4293 dockets, 3481 were suspect for various reasons.

He referred to “malalignments” in the lines of words of service stations on the printed vouchers, and obvious common denominators in the printing of the dockets bearing in mind that they were purported to come from different garages in the Christchurch area.

Inspector West cited a spelling error, “gararge,” appearing frequently on the

various dockets, and said it was also the spelling used from time to time in the diary, and in the cheques issued on the defendant’s account.

Robert Ernest Emms, a company director, said his printing firm was asked by the defendant to print petrol cash sales dockets for a company, “West Coast Supplies.”

The defendant said he had four trucks and wanted a docket book for each.

These were duly printed and purchased by the defendant, and a fortnight later he returned and asked for the plates. Mr Emms said that as printing plates really belonged to the customer the defendant was given them. However, it was usual foi customers to leave plates with his. firm for future printing orders to be done He could not remember ir his experience anybody othei than the defendant having asked for printing plates.