ARRESTS MADE

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 180, 28 April 1931, Page 11

ARRESTS MADE

Counterfeit Banknotes TWO MEN CHARGED Third Held as Suspect SEARCH FOR OTHERS By Telegraph.—Press Association. Auckland, April 27. Two men were arrested in the city by detectives to-day in connection with the circulation of counterfeit Bank of New South Wales one pound notes in Auckland and provincial towns on Friday. A third mail, the son of one sof the others, is being held as a suspect. The police state that five men were concerned, in the passing of the notes, and an active, search for the remaining two is being conducted. ■ Almost the entire detective force was assigned to the case as soon as advice was received that notes were being passed. Valuable clues came to hand during the week-end, and the police ’. ?re in possession of a definite lead upon which to work. The first results appeared to-day, when a motor-car which, it is alleged, was used by the men .in travelling to Hamilton and uttering notes was recovered and the man who, it is stated, was the driver was arrested. Later in the day two other men wereTwo of the men will appear in the Police Court in the morning on charges of uttering counterfeit notes. . The men are aged 40. and 35 respectively. One, it is believed, arrived recently from Christchurch and the other is not known' to' the police in Auckland. • A charge of vagrancy has been preferred against the third man, who will appear .with the other two. About 40 of the spurious notes have come into the hands of the police, while others have been reported.

It is considered that about 100 were put into circulation in the city and at towns as far south as Hamilton. At Hamilton the local police have recovered nine notes. A few of the notes came into the possession to-day of the Queen Street branch of the Bank of New South Wales. An official at the bank said that the notes were a very fair imitation and would probably pass a bank teller under ordinary conditions. An Easy Trail. The trail left by the men in their journey to Hamilton was an easy one to follow oh account of the many notes passed at different towns. , However, at Hamilton the issue of. the notes ceased, and during the week-end the police could only surmise. the further movements of the men. Subsequent events have shown that they doubled back to Auckland on Friday evening and went into hiding in the city. On two occasions on Friday the men were within an ace of capture by the police. . At a shop in Newton in the afternoon a spurious note was detected and the person, presenting it was held while an investigation was made. . The police were sent for, but before their arrival the intending customer had offered to give his name and address, and on this condition was allowed to leave. Particulars were furnished to the police on their arrival, but an investigation showed that both name and address were bogus. ;' This incident may have been the cause of the men. leaving the city, and their next narrow escape occurred at Hamilton. There a warning had been sounded, and when a man presented a note at a shop he was detained. While detectives were on their way to the shop a woman customer vouched for the man, and he was given his liberty. Later the woman admitted the man was a stranger to her, and her naive explanation for her intervention was that “the man looked respectable.” An assistant in a small city shop can thank a hazy idea of banking and exchange for not accepting what was probably a spurious note. When,a Bank of New South Wales note was presented to him on Friday afternoon he told the customer that there was perhaps some exchange to pay. He was told to take it out of the note, but after some argument as to the-amount, the intending customer said it did not matter, and left the shop. Conjecture as to where the notes were manufactured has been aroused as a result of advice that spurious notes were passed in Wellington. The police have not found any plant in Auckland, and it is possible that the notes were printed in Wellington and a bundle was sent to Auckland for distribution. However, there is no definite evidence that the notes were printed in New Zealand at all. _ . . NOTES AT PALMERSTON By Telegraph—Press Association. Palmerston North.-April 27. i At least five Counterfeit Bank of New South Wales one pound notes were issued at Palmerston North yesterday morning. A ’ comparison . with a genuine note suggests that the number E 931585 is the safest way to distinguish them.