EX-BANK MANAGER.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 25 November 1925, Page 10

EX-BANK MANAGER.

A DMITS THEFT! OF £6561. A STBIATFOBD CASE. (by XKLEGEAPH MESS ASSOCIATION.) NEW PLYMOUTH, Nov. 24. Fifty-nine charges of falsifying the books of the bank, forging and uttering cheques and stealing sums of money totalling £7208 3s 6d were preferred against William Kerr, ex-man-ager of the Stratford branch of the Union Bank of Australia, in the Supreme Court at New Plymouth ■ to-day. Iverr pleaded guilty to fifty-four of the charges land not gufdty to the remainder, on which he stood his trial, being acquitted by the jury on four counts and convicted on one of false pretences, a. charge on whioli the Judge (Mr. Justice Ostler) had directed the jury to acquit.

Kerj- will bo sentenced to-morrow

The charges to which Kerr pleaded guilty had reference to defalcations from the bank, totalling £6561 3s 6d. The defalcations had been made by the accused opening accounts in the bank books in fictitious names, receiving authority to make overdrafts and then obtaining the money by false cheques, converting it to his own use for investment in milling timber rights in the South Island. ’ The five counts on which the accused denied guilt referred to alleged transactions with William Henry Barlow, builder, of Stratford. These charges centred round two alleged transactions. In the first three charges it was alleged that on May 6, 1924, the accused had committed forgery by altering’one of Barlow’s cheques for £3 to one for £350, that knowing the cheque to be false lie had caused the bank to act upon it as if it were_ genuine and that, having cashed the' cheque, he had stolen the proceeds, amounting to £347. The other alleged transactions which was made the subject of two charges was also with Barlow. It was alleged against the accused that on February 2. 1925. with intent to defraud he had obtained from Barlow the suml of £3OO by falsely representing that one, T. A. Sullivan, wished to borrow that amount. On this same set of circumstances Kerr was charged with stealing the money thus obtained. It was on"” the first of the last two charges that Kerr was convicted.