CONFIDENCE TRICKSTER

Greymouth Evening Star, 24 November 1930, Page 7

CONFIDENCE TRICKSTER

£9OOO COUP PREVENTED. How a medical professor from New York was nearly duped by an alleged confidence, trickster was told to the Lord Mayor of London at the Alan sion House when Frank Wilson, aged 31, described us a. traveller, and giving as his address the Balmoral llotci Queen’s Gate, London, was chrrgw! with attempting to obtain £9()0() by means of the confidence trick from Dr William Laurence Gatewood, who was staying at the same hotel. Dr Gatewood, who was on a visit to Enolaml. firs: met Wil:-o” :n W"sim:,islcr Abbey, and v. as impressed with his powers of conversation. Inter views and lunches followed. Subsequently two (.tiler men appeared on the scene, one of whom was represented to be an amazingly liicky man on the racecourse.

The doctor was invited, ::nd consented, io take part in a Ing slake. Some-thing like £60,000, he was told, was to be won. In order to “establish his credit.” D.- Gatewood was request cd to produce £9OOO. He cabled for the money, and it. was deposited at the Canadian Bank of Commerce. When Dr Gate wood called fo; it, the manager declined to part with it. until the doctor had seen thc American Consul. The result was that Wilson, as ho had remained in Dr Gatewood's company, staying at the same hotel, was arrested.

Tho Lord Mayor declared that thia was a case that could only bo adequately dealt, with at. thc Old Bailey. Dr Gatewood urged the Lord Mayor to dispose of the matter at. once, as he was anxious to get back to New York.

It was intimated that Wilson was prepared to plead guilty to being a /suspected person loitering with intent to commit, a felony. The Lord Mayor: Well, to meet Dr Gatewood, and save him any further inconvenience, I will deal with the case on that charge. I must say I think the doctor ought to be very grateful to the bank manage! for the action he took in refusing to part with the £D»)(>().

Dr Gatewood: I am most thankful for the kird consideration I have received throughout. Detect ivc Sergeant Hogg, of the City Police, stated that Wilson had boon previously convicted in Britain and in Austraiia, where he was known to the police as an expert confidence trickster. Wilson was sentenrr-d Io lh''cc months' impi isonment. This, the Lord Mayoi 1 observed, was the maximum punishment he could inflict, and he considered it totally inadequate.