WHOLESALE FORGERIES

Evening Star, Issue 22526, 19 December 1936, Page 10

WHOLESALE FORGERIES

CABINETMAKER'S BUSINESS VENTURES TWELVE MONTHS' IMPRISONMENT [Per .United Press Association.] . AUCKLAND, December IS. Thirty-seven charges in all, 23 of forgery and 14 of false pretences, had been admitted by Frederick Claude Henry Reinhardt, cabinetmaker, who came before Mr Justice Fair for sentence in the Supreme Court to-day. The circumstances in which these offences had been committed were described to the court by his counsel (Mr Finlay). Counsel said that the prisoner had been unable to overcome the difficulties in which he found himself in making transition, from an employed working man to a business man on his own account. He went into business with a fellow-employee as manufacturers of furniture. They sold on the hire-pur-chase system* and at the end of 12 months it was found that the business had not been sufficiently, capitalised. The sum of £SO he had put into it had been wholly absorbed. His partner retired, and the prisoner assumed the whole responsibility for the business. It became necessary to draw up fresh hire-purchase agreements, and the prisoner was criminally negligent in failing to gfet the signatures renewed. He forged them himself. He was being hardly pressed by the finance company with which he was dealing, and in at least four cases he was .driven to forge false bills of sale. His Honour said there had been a wholesale series of forgeries extending over two months and a-half, which resulted in Private Trusts Ltd. being defrauded of approximately £3OO. The difficulties in which prisoner found himself were no excuse for his system of deliberate fraud. .. This kind of offence must be met by punishment that would prevent others from thinking that they could adopt similar means without fear of adequate punishment. The least sentence he could impose would be 12 months’ imprisonment.