HATRY GROUP TRIAL

Hawera Star, Volume XLIX, 21 January 1930, Page 9

HATRY GROUP TRIAL

OLD BAILEY BESEIGED FIFTY-SIX COUNTS. SUM OF £2,000,0CX) INVOLVED. (United Press Association—sy Electric Telegraph Copyright.) Received 2.45 p.m., to-day. LONDON, Jan. 20. Peers, bankers. society women, stockbrokers and Parliamentarians inundated the officials requesting accommodation at the Old Bailey on the occasion of the Hatry Trial. Queues foriiied shortly after daylight. Hatry, Daniels, Dixon and Tabor were charged on 56 counts involving £2,C00,C00. The jury included two women. All defendants pleaded not guilty. Mr. W. A. Jowitt, K.C., For the Crown, gave the history of Friar’s Trust which was incorporated in May, 1927, and compulsorily wound up In September. 1929. He said: “Garnsey will tell you the company’s liabilities in the course of 29 months amounted 'to £19,000,000. His estimate of the assets is £4,000,000. One of Friar’s Trust schemes was the acquisition of shares in existing steel companies for which the Trust had to raise £4,000,600 and approximately a million and fi-haif of the money was raised. This was intended to he utilised in the purchase of steel shares, but it was actually utilised by defendants for other purposes. “The history 6f the case is mainly a desperate struggle of Friar’s Trust and these defendants, its directors, to get back this million and a-half.” °Mi Jowitt said ho would not present the case as one in which three defendants were tools and the other defendant. All three were old enough to think ' aiid act for themselves. “Frauds would have been quite impossible unless there had been willing and active co-operation by each of these four men through the whole course. ' Mr. Jowitt then detailed the indictments of forgery in connection with the Swindon. Gloucester and 'Wakefield Corporations. “The absent director, John Gialdihis’, name appears frequently as a principle in these transactions,” Mr. Jowitt continued. “When the jury realises the sustained perseverance and effort necessary to place thousands of pounds’ worth" of bogus certificates with the public they will also realise 1 am not exaggerating when I say this is one of the gravest cases it was ever fny lot to hear of.” Mr. jowitt explained that if Gialdmi had been in Britain he would certainly have been accused. Unfortunately the Extradition Treaty with Italy did hot provide for the production of an Italian, to Great Britain or vice versa.