GANGSTER TOWN

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4801, 23 June 1939, Page 2

GANGSTER TOWN

LIFE IN SYDNEY. FRAUDS IN MANY FORMS. POVERTY NOT EXEMPT. Sydney, June 8. By blackmail, trickery, and theft, rogues and charlatans of all descriptions are winning incomes in Sydney which would make the earnings of many professionl men seem a pittance.

Senior police officials consider the position so serious that they have assigned a number of detectives and other police to make special inquiries. These investigations have revealed many heartless frauds, but they have also shown that the thieves usually achieve their greatest successes by exploiting the folly, and sometimes the cupidity, of their victims. One particularly mean form of fraud which the police say is growing in Sydney is the victimisation of unemployed. One device is for the thieves to establish an office in a city building and offer work for tradesmen. Applications are made by post. The applicant receives back a letter with a printed letterhead bearing the name of some fictitious firm. The letter says “with regret” that the job has been filled, but that if the applicant will send several shillings his name will be registered for future appointment, because all Sydney employers and unions apply to the firm for the tradesmen they need.

Many unemployed tradesmen have been duped in this way, because they have mistaken these concerns for one of the reputable organisations which are in touch with employers, and certain trade unions have sought police help. The police are handicapped by the fact that the men committing the fraud do not remain long in the one office.

Another gang specialising in this form of theft selects a victim who is not a member of a union and tells him that he can have a job if he joins the union. One of the thieves says he has influence with union officials and that the applicant can be made a member if he pays an amount, sometimes as high as £5. Many have paid over the money only to find that they have been fleeced.

Blackmailing By Girls.

For some time past girls operating in Sydney have extorted large sums from business men by blackmail. Their procedure is to force their attentions on business men, the more prominent the better, and later make

certain allegations. Usually they threaten to expose the man unless he pays over from £SO to £IOO. Fearing scandal many men have paid even though they knew the claims made are untrue. Later they have complained to detectives, but have asked that no police action be taken for business and domestic reasons. The police say that as a result they are prevented from arresting the offenders. It is alleged that in some cases brought under notice the girls have produced what purport to be signed medical certificates. Men have also been blackmailed by false accusations of immoral practices, and have paid in the same way. “Confidence men”—men who win the friendship of their victims and then rob them—find it hard to dupe the average Australian, according to the police. Records show that victims in Sydney as a rule are recent arrivals, usually Englishmen. In the opinion of the police, certain semi-charitable organisations unwittingly encourage frauds on the public. Many of these organisations after receiving official permission to conduct art unions send out hundreds of art union books through the post, and in other-ways, with a circular letter asking the person to whom the books are sent to sell tickets. Sometimes these organisations overlook precautions to prevent dishonest persons from selling the tickets, keeping the money, and not returning the butts.

Others who prey on lesser criminals or the public include “stand-over” men (blackmailers, usually armed, who demand a share of the earnings of sly-grog and starting-price betting shops), mushroom company promoters, many of whom, the police allege, have converted thousands of pounds in gilt-edged stock into shares which were valueless, and women who send their children, poorly clad, round the suburbs in winter collecting clothes, which are afterwards sold.