SPURIOUS “FIVERS”

Grey River Argus, 11 August 1937, Page 5

SPURIOUS “FIVERS”

AUCKLAND MAN Charged with Forgery [Per Press Association]. AUCKLAND, August 9. Forgery, uttering, and attempted e uttering of false £5 notes of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand were alii ieged in 19 charges preferred against n Charles Alfred Remmers, a labourer, ■. aged 49, when he appeared before Mr. ■i Wyvern Wilson; S.M., in the MagisIrate’s Court. Detective-Sergeant • Walsh conducted the prosecution, and called 12 witnesses. The evidence o£ ? one was expunged. Accused was not f represented by counsel, but acted in / his own defence, questioning the wit--1 nesses and taking his own notes on / tneir depositions. He asked for, and i received, a light piece of wood on which to rest his paper while writing - in the dock. Muriel McMilan, a saleswoman, - said the accused called at the jeweller’s shop in which she was employed i last Christmas Eve about b. 20 p.m. He > bought a set of chessmen for £3, and paid for it with a £5 note, the only • one received that day. Witness iden- : tilled the note produced as being the , one she and her employer. John Murrell, who gave corroboratice evidence, ■ had signed in the piesence of a de- , tective after tne holidays. "Realising the seriousness of the charges against me, and knowing you are on oath, do you positively swear that I am the man who tendered you that note?” accused asked the witness, who gave an affirmative reply. A woman’s outfitter, Betty Stevens, said accused bought a hat for his daughter from her on December 24. It. cost 9/11 and he paid for it with a £5 note, which she later took through to her dressmaker, remarking that it was false. “I identify the note because it is smeary.”- the witness added, when shown the note. The manageress and a shop assistant of Cathay House, Nina Clayton and Frances Joan Ramsay, said the accused entered the shop on December 24, buying a Buddha costing 17/6 for his wife. The £5 note he tendered for payment was split at one corner, and the number ended in “123”. Robert Dunbar Atchison, and Gilbert Harold Treneary, storemen employed by E. W. Pigeon and Company, Ltd., gave evidence of a transaction by accused on December 24, when he left the tyre off an old model truck to be repaired. Atchison said he identified the accused from photographs shown to him by a detective; but Treneary said he was unable to positively to identify the accused as the man he persuaded to buy a new tyre, and who bought it under the name of H. Jones, paying for it with a £5 note, and receiving £l/16/9 in change. “I know the accused by the name of Harry Jones,” said William Reuben. Marsden, a garage proprietor, of Wellington. “He bought a half-ton truck from me on December 9, saying that he was going to do some contraefing work in Napier. The truck was fitted with tyres like the one shown to me in court."

To accused, witness replied that as far as .he knew Jones might have been acting as agent for someone else when he bought the truck, although he never gave him any cause to think that he was.

Describing another deal on Christmas Eve, Frederick Ernest Kersey, a woman’s outfitter, said accused entered his shop to buy hosiery. He selected an expensive brand and proffered a £5 note, which was half folded. “Across the width of the counter I could see it was a suspicious note, on account of its doubtful colour,” witness said. “I took it and examined it out of sight, and saw it was an obvious forgery.” Detective Aplin said he interviewed accused on July 3 about 15 forged £5 notes which h’ad been cashed with various tradespeople in Auckland on the afternoon and evening of December 24. Accused said he was not in Auckland on that date, adding that he had no explanation to make, and would plead not guilty if charged. Shown the four notes produced in evidence, Cyril Royton Guyton Basset, manager of the Upper Queen Street branch of the National Bank, said they looked like forgeries to him. The word “governor” was missing on each of them. They were light in colour, and a bit thin. The numbers were all the same, with one exception Shown another bundle of 11 notes, witness said they were not genuine. “I would not say the notes are a poor imitation of the real ..thing,” witness said, in reply to accused. “Anyone in a hurry might possibly accept one; but the average businessman would not be deceived if he took the note himself.”

Detective-Sergeant Walsh said he did not intend to call evidence on the 12 remaining charges of uttering forgeries, and applied for a remand for accused to appear at Wellington on Thursday on a charge of forging notes. This was granted. Pleading not guilty to the other charges, accused said he had nothing to say at this stage, and was committed to the Supreme Court for trial. Bail was refused.