McARTHUR CHARGED

Grey River Argus, 24 October 1934, Page 6

McARTHUR CHARGED

METHODS OF FRAUD Monahan’s Scarifying Address (Aha. & N.Z. v'ab.e Assn.) SYDNEY, October 22. When the Royal Commission enquiring into company affairs resumed. Mr \\. \V. Monohan. K.U., inHnidted ?i;;r he had decided to address the C minis sion first, and formulated the charges to which counsel would have tie op portun'lty of replying. The charges iel.il( i d co five companies. the inve-«t ment Executive 'l’ni.'t, Southern British National Trust. British National Trust, British National Investmen. Trust, and Sterling Investment Lid.

The charges are: — (1) That the establishment of the main companies wa.s devised by McAi/h.ur, a nd carried out with the aid of his stu-1 ell'ites tr> salvage his persona assets, which were iu jeopardy and en rich himself by the manipulation of capital subscribed by the public for trust instrument; (2) thai': the methods McArthur adopted were ’invariably crooked, and in many instances, fraud nlent and dishonest; (3) that the methods ho adopted constitute a gross abuoe of the Companies’ Act; (4) that the balance-sheet issued ami filed wa . known to be. false and misleading: (5) that no bo< ks would have enah ed a skilled accountant or auditor to form an opinion iu regard f.o the affairs of the companies; ((») tha.t the systomi of getting debentnre capital from th-: public wa> ruthless exploitation of methods, and in some instances. de clared crimina-ly 'illegal under the re cent British ci'minanies-’ legis.ation; (7) that out of a 'total debenture capital of £648,000 subscribed by th.I üblic, £2.85.000 had been spoilt, ami was nef represented by tangil le aS'sets; (8) that the jireseut conlro] ol flu (•ompan'ies constitutes a grave menace to the safety .of the remaining de bent uro capiial; (9) that all the directors and officers of the companies who wore (‘ailed before the Commissimi wore acutated by a desire to stifle th? truth, and wore guilty of gross prevarication. if not acfual false swearing. Mr Monoh,'in addressed the Commission along the lines ( f his charges and lengthily reviewed the history o: the com])anie < . The hearing was ad ionrued. SYDNEY. October 23. The Commission heard further argument Lv Mr ATonahan. K.G., in support of the charges enumerated yesterday and adjourned.