THE HATRY TRIAL

Evening Star, Issue 20388, 21 January 1930, Page 8

THE HATRY TRIAL

OLD BAILEY CROWDED COUNTS INVOLVE £2. SCI.IN Prow Association—By Telegraph—Qnfj i%|fc LONDON, January 20u (Received January 21, at 11 a.m.,V Peers, bankers, society women, stockbrokers, and members of Parliament inundated the officials, requesting accommodation at the Old Bailey on the occasion of the Hatry trial. Queues formed shortly after daylight. Hatry, Daniels, Dixon, and Tabor were charged on fifty-six counts involving £2,000,000. The jury included two women. All the defendant* pleaded not guilty. Sir William Jowitt, for the Crown* gave the history of the Austin Friar* Trust, which was incorporated in May t 1927, and was compulsorily wound up; in September, 1929. He said: “Sin William Garnsey (chartered account* ant) will tell you that the company’* liabilities in the course of twenty-nine months amounted to £19,000,000. Hi* estimate of its assets is £4,000,000.) One of the Austin Friars Trust's schemes was the acquisition of shares , in' existing steel companies, for which the trust had to raise £4,000,0C0. Approximately £1,500,000 of this money was raised, which was intended to b® utilised in the purchase of steel shares.; It was actualy utilised by the de< fendants for other purposes. The history of the case is mainly the desperate struggle of the Austin Friars Trust and these defendants—its directors—* to get back this £1,600,000,”

Sir William Jowitt said he would not present the case as one in which three of the defendants were the tools of the other defendant. All three were old enough to think and act for themselves. The frauds would have been quite impossible unless there had been the willing and active co-operation of each of these four men through th« whole course. Sir William Jowitt then detailed the indictments of forgery in connection with the Swindon, Gloucester, and Wakefield corporations. “The nam» of the absent director, John Gialdini, frequently as the principal in these transactions,” Sir William Jowitt continued. “ When the jury realises the sustained perseverance and effort necessary to place thousands of pounds worth of bogus certificates with the public they will also realise that I am not exaggerating when I say that this is one of the gravest cases it has ever been my lot to hear of.”

Sir William Jowitt explained that if Gialdini was in Britain he would cer* tainly have been accused. Unforttw y nately the extradition treaty with Italy did not provide for the production of an Italian to Britain or vie* versa.

The accused were remanded.