INGENIOUS ROBBERIES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3156, 7 August 1917, Page 7

INGENIOUS ROBBERIES

TAXPAYERS VICTIMISED. • i ■

Sums of money aggregating hot less than <£1000 have been stolen, as the re- ?? * * a se " es robberies, either at the Sydney Post Office, or the State Income lax Office. It has been the practice fox* many taxpayers to forward money through Jjjp pose'to satisfy income tax claims.. Bast experience has shown that wherever checxues have gone astray, some days have elapsed before the department-has been notified of the iact. It is evident that the thieves had ?? knowledge of the working of the Income -Tax Department, and had been at work for perhaps two weeks before suspicions were aroused. Investigation lias now shown that scores of cheques, postal notes, money orders, and bank notes, which, had been posted to the Department, have never reached their destination. '

It is not clear how., the thefts we're the police are of opinion from certain facts elicited by their inquiries, that tlie money.was stolen after the letters left the post office. The Department has been able to establish the fact that at least ,£ISOO has been stolen. This is represented, by traceable tifoney, such as cheques, but it is considered likely that the loss will run into several hundred pounds more. The thieves, in order to realise upon the stolen cheques, opened accounts in three city banks under different names, and the cheques and ?i wei> o paid into accounts in the ordinary business way, and tho credits were subsequently operated on by means of cheques. Several days ago operations were suspended, showing that the thieves know liow far it was safe to proceed, and possibly that they had knowledge of th© inquiries which were i fc&ing made. Following the discovery of tho robberies, they paid no further visits to the bank» abandoning their amounts, with small balances aggregating less than ,£3O.