MONEY UNDER FLOOR

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 June 1928, Page 7

MONEY UNDER FLOOR

ALDERMAN’S WIFE’S STORY

A WELL-KEPT SECRET

(Australian Press Association.) (By Cable—Press Assn—Copyright.)

SYDNEY, May 31

At the Royal Commission inquiring into civic affairs, replying to counsel for Maling, Police Inspector Mackay said that when he went to New Zealand he had no power to arrest Maling and bring him back into custody. His instructions were to communicate to the Crown Solicitor the developments arising out of the statements made by Maling, and out of his own inquiries from Maling about the transaction.

Frank Green, ex-Alderman of the City Council, gave evidence. He said that his wife had means of her own, but she had never invested until 1926, when she purchased an equity in some property, paying £lOOO for it. She kept her money at home, and witness did not know she had it until 1926, when she told him that she had £l5OO in notes, planted under a flooring board where it had been for years.. In reply to questions, witness said that when his wife told him about having the money hidden, he expressed no curiosity as to where it came from, and although his wife never mentioned it to him before, there was no reason why she should have hidden it. In reply to a further question, witness said that during the absence of Mr Forbes Mackay, the Manager of the City Council Electricity Department, nearly three million pounds’ work of tenders were agreed to. ExAlderman Green continued that, as far as he couiu recollect, the Labour Party in the City Council was unanimously in favour of accepting Babcock and Wilcox’s tender. He denied that prior to his vote being given in the Council he had been approached by Maling, or that he ever put an improper proposal before him. Witness was quite 1 definite and positive about this.

Green, continuing his evidence, said that he • had never at any time received a suggestion from anybody that money should be paid in respect of Babcock-Wilcox’s tender, .and he had never at any time taken any money from Maling. He added that Maling’s statement that he paid witness £7,500 was absolutely untrue. Witness also denied he had any communication with Maling while the latter was in New Zealand. Questioned regarding his interviews with Mrs Pittock, witness denied that she had said that Maling had told her that he had handed money to witness. He said that Mrs Pittock did not mention that a sum of money had come through Albert. Witness did not make any inquiry as to how Albert had come into the business. Green added that he had had suspicions that Maling was crooked in the Babcock-Wilcox, contraci, but he had nothing to base that opinion on. Mrs Green, wife of the former witness, gave evidence that the £1,500 she had secreted had been given her by her-dead sister, as a kind of trust fund for the latter’s two children whom she is looking, after. The reason that she kept the matter a secret was that her sister had asked her to say nothing about it. The money was given to her in 1919, and her husband was astounded when she told him in 1926 that she had the money. She told her husband she had the money after she had invested it in property. Witness was searchingly cross-ex-amined by Mr Shand, as to why she did not put the money in the bank, instead 'of hiding it under the flooring. She said that she had never thought of putting it in the bank. In reply to a further question by Mr Shand, witness said that she might leave her sister’s two children what was left of the £1,500 when she was dead. She had not mentioned the money to her sister’s children, one of whom was now grown up, because she thought that her sister did not want them to know about it.