MISSING MONEYS OF BUILDING SOCIETY

Manawatu Times, Volume LIII, Issue 6755, 7 November 1928, Page 6

MISSING MONEYS OF BUILDING SOCIETY

Secretary on Trial AUDITOR IS UNABLE TO PRODUCE BOOKS CASUAL CLERKS. Per Press Association. AUCKLAND, Last Night. The trial of Frederick William Web ster formerly secretary of the Whangarei Co-operative Terminating Building Society, who is charged with stealing from the Society sums amounting to £1498, was continued in the Supreme Court to-day. Donald Webster, aged 20, a son of accused, who worked in the Building Society’s office, said there was a practice in the office of making people financial when they actually had not paid the money on the day of the bah lot. Ho would write up people who were in arrears as if they were ahead. There was-a lot of that.done. It had been done for all the directors, except Mr. H. W. Crawford. In some cases, this led to people getting . credit for payment they had not made. In replying to Mr. Meredith (Crown Prosecutor) witness said they did not take a note of tho people they had made financial and it was a matter of memory whether they got that money paid to them. Witness said Miss Brown and ho wore lax in office methods and had incurred his father’s reprimand on occasions. Alexander M. Rust, auditor for the Building Society and a former school headmaster, before giving evidence, said ho had been very sick but someone had suggested his honour was at stake. When Webster first started as secretary, everything was written in Very regularly. Witness did all the ledger and journal work for himself. Later, Webster became dilatory in entering up and witness frequently assisted him, not for payment but because he looked upon him as a strug gling man and wanted to assist him. Witness generally did most of the preparation of tho balance sheet himself from the records of the books. He always found the dockets exceedingly correct. After Webster’s first year, witness was unable to verify tbe cash in hand, because the balance was so late. He had reported to Mr. Crawford a shortage of approximately £I3OO for the year ended August 12, 1928. When Mr. Meredith, Crown Prosecutor, formally asked witness if he had ever had any of that money, witness responded that he was “neither a thief, a rogue nor a liar.” In' reply to Mr. Johnstone (for accused) witness said he had not given evidence in tho Lower Court. He had had advice from a doctor that he ought not to be worried with the details of these hooks and that he should not give evidence. Witness said BTe had not had legal advice that he ought to come to Court, but his sister had had legal advice of something to that effect. Tho ledger and journal of the Society were his own property, bought with his own money. There was a ledger and journal that he hq,d not handed over to Mr. Reid, the accountant who had examined the books. Witness was not certain if these still existed but he had not destroyed them. When asked by his Honour where these books witness said 1 “I have not the slightest idea. They took all my books and everything away from me when I became ill and I have not been back to Whangarei.” In reply to Mr. Johnstone, witness said he could have counted tho casl in hand on August 12 anuaily, if ho had desired. Cash in hand and in tho bank were sometimes taken together in the balance sheets. v The case was further adjourned until to-morrow.