£15,000 FOR £15.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 4 July 1928, Page 10

£ 15,000 FOR £ls.

SCUTTING A STEAMER. REMARKABLE -FRAUD STORY. An extraordinary story of how a steamer, was bought and filled with a worthless cargo, highly insured, and then deliberately sunk off the Mediterranean coast was told in a. confession to the Marseilles .police a few weeks ago by M. Angevlm, a member' qf a prominent family, who was arrested and charged with barratry (ship sinking with evil intent.) Angelvin said: “I was down and • out and I decided to make a last desperate effort to recoup my fortunes. After considering various plans with an associate we bought a 500-tons steamer which a Genoese shipowner owned, but which was lying at Marseilles. The cargo consisted of two old | boilers worth at the most £ls and some scrap-iron, but we insured it for £15,000. After describing hew it had been agreed that the master and the first mate would each receive £BOO and the engineer £BO, Angelvin said that they were much perturbed as to what was the best way of sinking the ship. He continued: “We met at a cate and discussed various methods. The engineer proposed cutting a hole in the hull with a blow-pipe, but the first mate said it would be better to knock tlie cement from between plates which had been repaired and at the same time open the seacocks, and this plan was agreed to Finally the ship made her way to sea where the plan to sink her was carried out.’’ As the result of this confession several warrants were issued by the Marseilles judicial authorities, and M. Robert Angelvin, a well-known Marseilles business man, was arrested and charged with complicity.