WRITING CHEQUES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20639, 20 August 1941, Page 2

WRITING CHEQUES

BANK ADVICE IGNORED “I really think that the court would be well advised to make some public comment on this matter,” said Mr Justice Calian, when a man came before him in Auckland for sentence for forgery and uttering by altering a cheque. “The point I wish to direct attention to is this,” His Honour said. “This offence would have been quite impossible had the gentleman who made out the cheque followed certain wise and prudent advice which trading banks give printed on thc-ir cheque book form?;.” His Honour Said the cheque, which he held in his hand, has been altered from £2 3s to £l2 3s. Among ’ the good advice given by banks to their customers was always to keep the cheque book in a safe place and never to supply a blank form to strangers—a warning that was constantly ignored. But. the direction he wished specially to stress was that figures and words should be written as near as possible to the left-hand edge in order to guard against fraudulent operation. In this case, continued His Honour, the man who drew the cheque wrote “Two,” but left a very considerable vacancy before he wrote “pounds.” The accused rubbed out the “o” of “Two” and added “cive,” and even so (here was ample room between the words. Then the figure 2 was nothing like hard up against the £ sign, and it was the simplest thing in the world to insert the figure 1.