LAND AGENT’S LAPSE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 18 October 1924, Page 5

LAND AGENT’S LAPSE.

DOCUMENTS FORGED. COMMITTED FOR SENTENCE. .. In the New Plymouth Magistrate’s Court yesterday morning, before Mr.' A. M. Mowlem, S.M., Percy Ashton Carter, law agent, of New Plymouth, v appeared on remand on a charge of converting to his own use, on September 27, 1919, a sum of £2OO, the property of Mary Annie Gertrude King,, thereby committing theft; and also that on November 22, 1920, at . New Ply- , mouth, he made a false document, to wit a copy of. a memorandum of mortgage. and gave the same to Mrs. King, with intent that it should he acted upon as genuine. Detective-Sergeant Cooney conducted the prosecution on behalf of the police, < and Mr. R. H. Quilliam represented the accused, who, after hearing the evidence, pleaded guilty to botticharges. He . was committed to the next sessions of the Supreme Court for sentence. In '-outlining the . case, DetectiveSergeant Cooney said Mrs. King, who was a widow, .became acquainted with the accused at ! Napiexv - In 1919 she came to New Plymouth for a holiday and stayed for a few days wvith. Carter and his wife. While' there the .accused* asked her if she had any ' money to invest, as, if she had, -he said he could place a good investment at 64 per cent. He also asked Mrs. King if she could lend him £SO for liimself. on which he offered to pay- - her 10 per cent, interest. This - was agreed to and arranged verbally, and when Mrs. King returned to Wellington she drew £250 . from the Post Office Savings Bank and v forwarded a cheque-for that amount to Carter, who sent her separate receipts for the two amounts! These were dated September' 27! 1919. A promissory note was given for the £SO, which was due in twelve, months.;v Evidence .as to these matters was given by Mrs. King, who produced the correspondence which she had received from Carter. This contained the copy. of the memorandum of mortgage, and numerous references to the security given under the mortgage and .ether matters,. and also three interest payments of £6 10s each, and also some interest payments on account of the private loan to himself.! He also referred to a draft of £3OO which lie expected from his brother in England, out of his late father’s estate, which, how- . ever, apparently never materialised. This the accused explained lie thought was due to the fact that the family moneys must have been invested in Belgium, and there was probably difficulty in uplifting them, and his brother did not like to tell him. that. Wui. Mather, a retired farmer, formerly of Tariki, who was mentioned as the mortgagor of • a 40-acre farm as security for a loan of £2OO from Mrs. King, said he had a 40-acre' farm, as described, but it had been made over to his wife 10 or 12 years prior to 1919. when it was purchased by the Government. There was a hiortgage on it, but not to Mrs. King.. He had never seen the accused before. He had not signed a document in the presence of Carter, nor had he given Carter any authority to sign any document on his behalf. He received two letters from Mrs. King while she was in Sydney, but he did not understand them and had them sent' back. A. G. Anderson, law clerk in the employ of Messrs Moss and Spence, of New Plymouth, said he had instructions from the Public Trustee In Sydney to make inquiries on behalf of Mrs. King respecting the memorandum of mortgage concerned, and Ke made those inquiries. On Mrs. King’s return to New Zealand she came to New Plymouth and saw witness, and he arranged an interview between her and Carter. The latter was asked to produce the mortgage, the copy of-which he had given to Mrs. King. He then admitted there was no mortgage, and that the money had been converted, to his own use. Detective-Sergeant Cooney’s evidence " as to the arrest of the accused concluded the case for. the prosecution, and the accused was, as stated above, committed on his plea of guilty for sentence at the next sessions of the Supreme Court, which open at New Plymouth on November 25. ' An application was made for bail, and although the. Magistrate said it was very unusual indeed for bail to be granted to any person who had pleaded guilty to charges, especially of such a serious character, there were special circumstances in thi s case, and he was prepared to stretch the law. for the . benefit of the family to the extent of ‘ granting bail, so that the accused might during the intervening time be able to do something for their support. Bail was fixed in the accused’s own recognisance of £2OO, one surety of £IQ9, and two others of £SO each. — Abridged from' Herald.