BROKERS ARRAIGNED

Northern Advocate, 1 February 1930, Page 9

BROKERS ARRAIGNED

HUGE FRAUDS ALLEGED MARKET MANIPULATION. PUBLIC VICTIMISED. (United Press Association —By Elective Telegraph—Copyright.) (Received 8.26 a.in.) VANCOUVER, January Til. After the arrest of 16 stockbrokers on charges of conspiracy to defraud the public through market manipulation, five firms wore suspended from the Exchange in Toronto and one in Vancouver.

The accused .men were arraigned and remanded on bail of- £20,000 each. ■ ' The public is in a. panic, owing to the effect on the Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal exchanges, causing a dramatic slump in prices. The Toronto brokers were arrested at dawn in ibcd, after a simultaneous audit by the Ontario Government of the books of 60 firms. Bank accounts and books were seized.

The arrest of these brokers follows In months of marked speculative activity in mine and oil shares, after which, according to recent reports, the Stock Exchange business of Western Canada disclosed an extraordin- - ary phase of this form of gambling. A fortnight ago one of the largest brokerage houses in Vancouver, with scores of branches in,many cities,was reported to have been raided by officers of the Attorney-General's Department, who arrested the principals on a charge of dishonest market prac- ■ trees. It is alleged that this firm and other brokerage houses sold shares short for every customer’s purchase, with the result that when the local markets went down, following New., York’s recent slump, customers ’ accounts in thousands were simply con- - flscated, though the brokers had al-. ready sold tho stock months 'before. on their own account. The slump, is . said to have made millions ‘ for' 'every brokerage house. One-4s—reported to have cashed in ' £7)000,000. '■ *