"CAREER OF TRICKERY."

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18711, 17 May 1924, Page 11

"CAREER OF TRICKERY."

USE OF COMPANY'S FUNDS. JUDGE'S DENUNCIATION. ] JURY FAILS TO AGREE. [BE TELEGRAPH.—OWN- COKBESPON3ENT.] NEW PLYMOUTH. Friday. " Is there anything truthful that we can jet at in the affairs of this wretched company ?" This was one of the remarks < passed by Mr. Justice McGregor in the { Supreme Court during a case in which 1 Cyril Louis Wilson, formerly managing director of Wilson's Motor Supplies, Ltd., ] it an original salary of £1000 a year, was ' ;harged with misappropriating moneys be- ' longing to the company. Summing up, His Honor said the case 1 had been most painful. Accused was 1 charged with the appropriation of two ' Bums of money— in 1921, end £20, 1 in 1922—both sums belonging to a public company, of which he was formerly managing director and originally promoter. The company was now in liquidation, and hopelessly insolvent, and it was so when accused was said to have appropriated the £20. The question was whether accused took the sums fraudulently or acted in ignorance and good faith, as alleged by the accused. It was stated that he was of good character, and that he made no attempt at concealment, but the law provided that fraud could be effected without secrecy or concealment. The evidence for the Crown, in his opinion, clearly showed that prisoner's conduct had been fraudulent. The prisoner, however, and the accountant called by him. had given evidence that accused had acted in ignorance and in good faith, and that he really believed he was entitled to the amounts he had taken. The whole defence was built - upon the fact that the company at the time owed prisoner more money than he took. Unfortunately for Wilson, the company's books showed that ho was in debt, instead of in credit, when he took the sums. Prisoner, of course, said the books had been wrongly kept, and had been good enough to blame Mr. Parrott, who was now dead, 'and the accountant, Mr. Foss, who was not present. The jury had seen Wilson in the box, and it had been a painful exhibition. A young man of promise and full of ambition, had admitted a whole career of trickery in a company promoted and managed by. himself. Wilson blamed Foss for wrong entries in the books, but why was Foss not called ? The truth was that Foss was afraid to come, and he did not blame him. It was quite obvious to him that the two men had been mixed up in trickery in the company. An outside accountant had been called in instead, and knew only what Wilson told him. Prisoner's whole story was a tissue of fabrication. Continuing, His Honor said he regretted to have to speak so strongly, but it seemed to him that the very much wiser course for prisoner would have been to have pleaded guilty to the charges and placed his position before the Court that he had committed the acts ignoraintly, in the belief that he was in credit with the company. Had he done that, some leniency might have been shown by the Court. The jury, after a retirement of over four hours, disagreed, and a new trial was ordered for next session.