CONFIDENCE TRICKSTERS

Evening Star, Issue 19004, 28 July 1925, Page 2

CONFIDENCE TRICKSTERS

A SYDNEY INCIDENT An experience which befell Mr Leslie Thomas, n young man visiting Sydney from New Zealand, resulted in the arrest here last Friday of three men on a charge of conspiracy (writes the Sydney correspondent of the' Auckland ‘Star’ under date July 17).

Mr Thomas arrived hero from Sow Zealand some days ago with a .substantial amount of capital. Accordin' l ' to the story lie told to the police, ho met an elderly man and two others in his quest in Sydney for a (arm or station. The elderly man (it was reported to the police) told Air Thomas that ho was a squatter, and * owned two stations in Queensland and cno in New Zealand. It is further alleged that ho represented himself as a man of means, and that in order to entice Mr Thomas to take a share in one of his farms ho put what seemed a very reasonable proposition to him, and said that for every £lO Mr Thomas put into the farm ho (tho owner) would put in £IOO. Further, his .statements were substantiated by two others. Mr Thomas immediately subscribed £lO, and promised to take further shares. Arrangements were made, and Air Thomas then visited the detective office, where he had a conversation with the superintendent of the department. As a result of the conversation detectives took up a position outside the head office of the A.B.C. Bank. Soon afterwards Air Thomas emerged from the bank with tho alleged owner. Tho detectives immediately arrested , tho latter. The detectives thou hurried in a police car to Bondi, and there saw two raon seated beneath a palm tree on the beachi When they saw the police one of them ran away at a fast pace and entered a bouse near the beach. Ho was followed by a detective, who succeeded in overtaking him. A struggle ensued, in which many blows were struck. Soon, however, tho detective overpowered tho man, and succeeded in getting him into the car. Just then the other man made an attempt to escape. Ho ran down to tho beach, but -was overtaken after a eha.se of about 300yds. At tin; Central Police Court on the following (Alfjy William Afav ninq, of no occupation, Thomas Williams, aged forty-four, salesman, and Janies Lindsay, aged thirty-five, salesman. were charged with having conspired together at Sydney to cheat and defraud Leslie Thomas of largo sums of money.

On the application of the police defendants. were remanded. On the question of boil, the, police stated that it was alleged that the throe defendants endeavored to obtain money from Tlmmas. wbo bad drawn £2O from tho bank. They endeavored to induce" him to draw about £BO, but the detectives interfered.

“The three men are all well known to the police as international confidence men,” said the police nroseentor. Bail in £2OO was allowed.