EXTENSIVE FRAUDS

Gisborne Times, Volume LVIII, Issue 9670, 17 April 1923, Page 5

EXTENSIVE FRAUDS

22,000,000 FRANCS . INVOLVED

A BOGUS SOCIETY.

(United Press Association—Copyright.) (Received April 16, 8.20 p.in.) PARIS, April 16. The frauds at Marseilles will prove one of the greatest post-war scandals. Investigations show an everwidening extent of frauds, the high professional standing of the accused adding to the publ.-j excitement. It is now estimated tb.it the State was defrauded of at least 82,000,000 francs.

The affair was discovered through a trifling clerical effort of a clerk who received from the body claiming to represent disabled soldiers, a request for a medical coupon book in the name of one of its members. Instead of sending the coupons to the society, the clerk sent the book to the soldier’s private address with a request that he would acknowledge receipt. The soldier replied that he had never asked for coupons, and had never been ill. It was then found that many members of the Society were receiving medical attention when dead some time, while living members had an abnormal record of illhealth. Many, when questioned, denied that they had ever been ill, or even knew of the existence of the Society which, apparently, recruited members by merely putting their names on the register. Its agents accosted ox-soldiers at veterans’ meetings. and thus cot enough information to fill up the Government papers. It is now found that three societies have been working this plan and sharing the pi’ofits vrib certain doctors arid chemists. Oiten. ex-soldiers were given tubes of tooth paste, or boxes of scan, in exchange, when applying for prescriptions containing 70 or francs worth of drugs.—A. and N.Z.C.A.