TRACKING AN ABSCONDING BANK MANAGER.

Marlborough Express, Volume XIX, Issue 299, 24 December 1883, Page 2

TRACKING AN ABSCONDING BANK MANAGER.

BuEaAN,the manager of the Birmingham Union Bank, who absconded with defalcations amounting to from LIo.OOO f0.L20,000, >aa : arrested' at Havre on board 'a ; steamer bound for South America. Three warrants were issued m connection with the extradition ' proceedings^— two for forgery and one for : falsification of accounts. On the previous Thursday, (say? an En«liah.pap,eri it was, generally,reported that a clue had, been obtained! Detedtive-inspecfcir Held6n/wh,o frotft some misunderstanding^ with the Scot-land-yard authorities; was unfortunate enough' to ■■ mis* Jm. man- at 'Willesden S^twn,;andhaß.. since: reiuained, in London, was unremitting m h>B endeavours to follow it up. Tlie circumstances of Burgan's escape at Willesdea<!w.ere,- peculiarly'; tantalising. "W telegram had been despatched to the London police to' send a man to meet the train^ and assist m washing the runaway) no order having' been given for his arrest. On the train arriving at Wineadenji HeldengWotitWd W Burgan leave the carriage. He called a railway porter,,and told bim.toikeep: an eye on Burgan for a moment or two while he went to the end of theplatform to meet the Scotland-yard officer. In (^moment pr^w.a^e, returned^ and the railway pmcialinnoci?nfly told tym that he had 'f watched his man "into a carriage for : Broad-street; Theitrain had gone and the man was lost. Itla very certain that he went into hidingin some > part of' the • metropolis. Detective Cooper '.-was afterwards despatohed from Birmingham to London, but returtied m jwoofthrße'daya with the : intellig' eiiO6 ; ; 'jthat '.' : nothing ' Tmd transpired to give, any, hope that,^e fugitive, w.ouldtejoa&ur^ ..-jTfee i act, however, that, Mja.. Burgan,-! who had accompanied her. husband .to London, returned toMoseley adayor.fcwb after I the flight, was regarded as a means of jßomething being :tiisopvered; Her (residence;' ; Pendennis" House, ; \tas watched day and night by detectives who had not previouslv^idorie^tflfy'" 1 the neighbourhood,' speoial lnstrdcho'ns being giv'en to.keep a olofe look-out for. all luggage or letters that mitjht, be despatched from the .house. It was sormised that the return of Mrs Burgan was simply a "blind" conceived by the husband with the object of throwing,! the/ 1 detectives' off the track, and the result proved that thia waa not .£ ar wrong. , , Mrs Burgan, with her family, after staying' a couple 'of days at Mosely, were observed to leave the house suddenly: and take the car for new-street Station. The vehicle was followed, and : Detectives Cooper 1 and Ore were m readiness to follow by the same train to' ; London, whither Mrs Burgan and herfamily had booked. Of course,, the instructions, of,., Cooper and Ore' were to co-operate witKHe}-, den, see if any meeting took place between Burgan ard his wife, and might pass between them. While this programme . waa.' being, . executed., m London, another ' scene ; was 'being carried on nearer home. The. bank authorities ; put the baliff m Burgari's* houap; and iblwas decided, m: order that- a complete watch iPiight be-majn; tamed inside aa s well aa oujside.^ premises, to send a police officer m dis'gu&e of a bailiff. For fiiia work Detectlve-constaTile Coolc.fctfcohed to the A Division'/ was 1 selected. At thirf time the only occupants of the plaoa were Burgan's father and his brother. Mrs Burgan and fief" family "having procee4ed-_to.^liondonrln Iftp manner iust 'aescribed."' There was ahothei bailiff with Cook,' and a perfect understanding was of course maintained; b(Jtween the two. Cook m bis saw capacity kept a strict eye on all that went around: him, and managed to keep the authorities at Moor-street, acquainted with everything that anghf' throw a light on th/dr investigation of the case. Onifhflrsflay-iMt i Burgan's father informed him that he and his biother were going to leave ; and Cook, with muoh kindness, offered to assist them to pack their luggagfc' Mr Borgan,' sen., gladly accepted the <ham bailiffa assistance, and remarked that he had never received suoh considerable treatment from suoh people bejore. Thd luggage was duly pacKedand'labelled, the police-bailiff asaifl(;ing jn^he.operat tion. Mr Bnrgan. sen., ,waa .so touched' with' OppW. kind^asaista^o* that'he begged his aoceptanca of a new silk hat. Cook tattoo time m letting theY Moor-street auth6rities 'know of the intended departure of Mr Burgan, sen.,' and his brother, . who were carefully tratikecUtti New Street Station, where they booked . for Lond<Sh. 'On ; arriving m the metropolis they>'were met by: the Birtninghara and Londori :detecUvea. vho jkept; the oloseat watch upon their, movements. The hopes entertained by the pcdipe that, with .the whole of Mb family m London, . as . was ' supposed, Burgan must eventually fall into the trap, were not without foundation. Barganf, as it now turns out,. tried to elude his pursuers in ' London and esQape to France,, .;I,t;-ia stated thaVH UI B ftn ' a whereabouts m France was revealed by a letter received oi dispatched by one of the raembeis of his family. Helden.i crossed the Channel,'' but could glean no tidings of the fugitive. The Paris police were furnished with a complete description of him, tiut they assured Helden that the man vras not to be found m the Fiench oapital, and that he must be somewhere m the north. From something whioh subsequently came to light Helden proceeded to Havre, where there was a probability that Burgan would take the first, available steamer for South America. Oh arriving m France, Bnrgan' seems to have spent a day or two m wandering about Normandy, with the object tff~throwing the police off the scent. On Sunday he turned up suddenly at Havro, and on Monday morning, as he was about to sia on board a steamer for the Brazils, he was captured by Heldon. Chief Superintendent Black left Birmingham on Monday night for the Foreign Office with, the npoessary extradition papers fw; signature, and when these these are completed the prisoner will be brought to Birmingham.