GIRL CASHIER'S THEFT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18027, 28 February 1922, Page 9

GIRL CASHIER'S THEFT.

£328 STOLEN FROM FIRM.

OTHER CHARGES ADMITTED

FORGERY AXD FALSE PRETENCES.

A case presenting unusnal features came r before Mr. J. W. Poynton, S.M., in the Police Court yesterday. Annie MoWalker (Mr. Singer), aged 17, was charged with having, between December 16 and Jann- ' c ary 17, stolen £328 Is 6d from her em : "' ployers, Schniedeman Bros. There wero c ' also throe charges of having forged orders for goodg purporting to bavo been made c ' on behalf of Schniedeman Bros, and three " charges of having otbained goods, of a total value of £46 Ss lid, from Maeky, P Logan, Caldwell, Ltd., by false pretences. ■*■ The hearing of tho case occupied practi- P cally all day, a largo number of witnesses ! * being heard. I In opening the case, Chief-Detective | ° Meilveney said that from August last to! r ' January accused had been employed as , * cashier by Schniedeman Bros. On Janu-, J ary 26 a public accountant inspected tho I " ; books and found that certain entries had S I been altered and about £300 was missing. s .Accused had been in the office with the ; n 'accountant, but when lie turned to her i £ for an explanation she was gone, and was i found upstairs in a fainting condition, Slio 1 1 Iwao mU."iewed later in the day and ad- a j mitted taking tho money. Sho said she t 1 could not pay it bark, but know two i I business men who aiuld. At tho firm's ' I office that evening, in company with her 1 * I mother and a man, accused admitted I * tf.king all the money except about £6. ] ( i She said sho had not given it to anyone i I and did not know what sho had done * i with it. i j Serious Allegation Disproved. Next day, at her home, continued the | ! chief detective, tho girl said sho had given j - i about £150 to a police constable at Auck- | i land because of what he had threatened to say about her. Her allegations were so serious that they compelled the most ' j careful investigation, which was made by I Senior-Detective Cummings and Detective- ; Sergeant Ward. The result was that i there was not a tittle of evidence to supI port her allegations that sho had given money to the constable. There was nothing to support her -♦atements. John ii. FJifie, p. olio accountant, gave evidence to tho effect that on examining the books he found that various entries had been altered, and there were shortages amounting to over £300. The daily oash j , book had been altered, and entries he had made in tho private cash book had also i '. been altered. The total shortage be- ; tween December 16 and January 17 was : £328 Is 6d. Accused in his presence had i j admitted taking the money. j Dorothy Edgell, typist employed by - Schniedeman Bros. ; Royce Ernest Ininan, s manager of the tailoring department; and t Isidore Schniedeman, managing director of f the firm, gave evidence as to the methods adopted in the business and as to what - took place after the discovery of the i shortages. Much of the evidence was on 1 the lines of the chief detective's opening. e The last witness said that sccused 1 received £2 15s a week, and was respone sible for the cash and had to do the i- banking. e Thorough Investigation. .i Detective-Sergeant Waid gave evidence ,- of his investigations of .he case, and of j accused's allegations agaivist the constable, a He produced several statements made by „. I accused. In the last statement she said ','" j 'jer allegations against the constable were r . not true, and she admitted having taken I J the cash. Witness said that Seniorv Detective CummingH and himself had n made every possible inquiry into accused's d allegations, and were unable to find any n scrap of evidence to corroborate them, but .- j considerable evidence to the negative. Mr. Singer said he wished to state that I i, there was not the slightest corroboration ,t of the giri's statement, 's Accused pleaded guilty, and was comie mitted to the Supreme Court for sentence, s- Evidence was then taken on the other six charges against accused. She pleaded guilty, and was committed to the Supreme Court for sentence.