A BRILLIANT SWINDLER.

Evening Star, Issue 7751, 24 October 1888, Page 3

A BRILLIANT SWINDLER.

THE CAREER OF A FRENCH HARRY BENSON.

[From Our Special Correspondent. |

London, September 7

The famous French swindler, Eugene Altmeyer, who has just been run to earth at Havre, might very well have sat to Major Arthur Griffiths for the character of " Leon Lantimeche" in that exciting novel 'Fast and Loose." He had not the consummate daring and address of our own dear Harry Benson, nor of that other swell-mobsman, the "King of the Forgers"; but for a frivolous Parisian, some of his achievements were —from a burglarious point of view—distinctly meritorious. He was arrested whilst driving in a carriage with his mistress. The judgments against him, with minute descriptions of his person, and photographs, were posted in all the police stations inFrance. Nevertheless he managed to be the social lion last season at Biarritz, and this summer at several watering places on the coast of Normandy. As the Comte de Maistre he mixed there in the best society, gave fine dinners and lunches, got up charity fitea, and negotiated bills for large sums jof money. Some of the titles he assumed were Marquis de Bonneville, Comte de Maupas, Comte de Matteville, Vicomte Mario Magnan, and Earl of Kingfurdy. He is a Parisian, and only thirty years old. His personal appearance was all in his favor. He is of medium height, with bright eyes, auburn hair, and a smiling, amiable countenance, which made him a great favorite with the ladies. His father was an honorable tradesman, living in the Boulevard Haussmann. When Altmeyer left school he could not be prevailed upon to embrace any profession, or enter into business, so at last his father, who was being ruined by the lad's prodigality, made him enlist, thinking military discipline might have beneficial results. For some months he conducted himself well, and acquired the confidence of his captain, with whom he was on visiting terms. One day, while alone in the captain's room, he appropriated a number of jewels, which he immediately sold. For this he was condemned to five years' imprisonment. He failed in an attempt to escape by getting his fellowprisoners to conceal him in a sack of old papers, but he obtained a commutation of his sentence, and after serving the rest of his time in the army returned to Paris. Here he led a gay life, and kept a carriage and mistresses, but in 1886 he was detected in a fraud effected by imitating a person's voice in the telephone, and was sentenced by default to hard labor for robbery and forgery. Shortly after this he was arrested in the Champs Elysees, by a police commissary, who handed him over to a sergent de ville, to take him to the station. On the way Altmeyer tripped up the policeman and made his escape. A little later he was arrested again, and incarcerated in Mazas Prison. One day the examining magistrate charged with his case had him brought to his office. The prisoner and magistrate were alone together for a long time, but at length the magistrate got up and went into an adjoining room. Altmeyer seized the opportunity, and filling up u legal form, signed his own release, imitating the magistrate's signature. Ho stamped the document, and then, leaving the apartment, presented himself with the spurious document to the soldiers who were keeping guard outside, and got these officials to take him to the proper office to have the release countersigned. This he succeeded in doing, without the forgery being suspected, and then quietly walked away. Biaving the police, he assumed another name, and continued to lead in Paris the same sort of extravagant living. In 1887 public attention was again drawn to his doings by a great forgery he committed. He had business relations with M. Alfassa, the financier, well known for having sold rifles to the Emperor of Morocco. On this occasion he put into number of forged bills, in the name of Madame Alfassa. Eight i persons implicated with him in this affair were arrested, while he continued to elude the police. He had even the audacity to address a letter to the Paris journals, proposing that he should be granted a safe conduct, in order that he might come to the office of the Public Prosecutor to exculpate his accomplices. During the whole of this summer Altmeyer had been enjoying himself, at the expense of others, at numerous seaside places in Normandy. At Veules, in July, he made the acquaintance of a rich denti-mondaine, who was so captivated by him that she lent him 14,000fr. After he left Veiiles she ascertained who he was, and, naturally, gave up all hope of ever seeing her money again. But a week ago an unknown individual spoke to her while she was out walking, and placed in her hand an envelope containing the 14,000fr. Previous to his tour in Normandy, Altmeyer had been stopping at Biarritz, where he negotiated a forged cheque for 17,000fr signed Etienne, Depute d'Oran. It was this crime which once more put tbe police on his track. Another charge against him is that when recently at Oran, Algeria, he stole a letter containing securities worth 20,000fr. Altmeyer's demeanor is astonishing everybody. He is perfectly calm and self-possessed, and when taken before the Police Commissary at Havre he made fun of the detectives, telling them that he had seen them a hundred times looking for him. He had recognised them, but the detectives had failed to identify him. Addressing one of them, be said "My poor fellow, I have keptyourunningaftermeforagopdlongtime, but now the chase is over," Altmeyer will be tried for an interminable list of offences, ranging from breach of trust to robbery and forgery.