LONG FIRM SWINDLERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18771, 26 July 1924, Page 2 (Supplement)

LONG FIRM SWINDLERS.

SWIFT mSE TO RICHES. ','[ FOREIGNERS' FRAUDS; . ; SUM OF #iljooo INVOLVED, > DISH CLOTHS TO ofeLENCE. Attention, was drawin recently by a London paper to thei, urgent necessity t>f an alteration; in the law as it affects long firm swindler?!. It is' stated to be en established fact that, within: the last .■•'.'• two years manufacturer*! in Britain have beeri swindled out of millions of pounds, mostly, at the hands of foreigners. A tnors startling turn in connection with this grave menace to commerce was revealed by the conviction at the Old Bailey a few weeks ago of three young foreigners thargsd with frauds amounting to £11,000. It is believed that there is a master mind behind these swindles—someone who finances the perpetrators and presumably iirranges the sale of goods dishonestly rbtained. The three men concerned in the Case in question escaped with sentences of twelve, nine, and six months' imprisonment. These men. who employed extreme lunning and cupidity, were; Nathan Novodvorsky, Morris Ross and Joseph Levene. The accused were charged with conspiring to defraud such pewons as were induced to part with goods to them in the belief that thoy were. carrying on a genuine business in London, as the Butler Street Warehouse Company, Ltd. All three apparently hare lived by their wits, 1 and during the course of the police investigations it was ascertained that, there was someone in the back-ground who financed them and presumably took a share of the profits. Novodvorsky and Koss were described as merchants and Levene as a salesman. Secretary from Fried-lish Shop. The story of the Butler Street Warehouse Co* is amusing in a way, providing as ii does a typical instanciit of how young foreign criminals can thousands of pounds worth of gooda, without possessing the slightest intention of paying for them. In February last year an individual named Hyman Williams carried on business in Butler Street, and about that time Novodvorsky—or Nathan, as he called himself—camo upon the scene with Morris Boss and intimated that he •would like to buy the leasehold of the premises. An arrangement was come to, and ultimately Novodvorsky took the lease of the place and signed it in the name of Alfred Elhnan. There was never such a person. What happened was that Nathan Novodvorsky had a brother Abraham, a, couple of years older than himself. Abraham obligingly changed his name' by deed poll to Alfred Ellman. He also possessed the sum of £250, which, apparently, he handed oveir to Nathan to start him in the business. Being only 19 yeani at that time, young Nathan Novodvorsky appears to have required some expert assistance. So he went'round to a certain fish shop, where an individual engaged in the uncongenial job of washing up dirty dishes. This was a gentleman of Jewish birth who claims Persia as his native place, and he also called himself, for feome mysterious reason, Morris Ross. Dish-cloths Discarded. Mr, Ross was at the. opportunity of becoming a merchant prince. He promptly downed his dish-cloths and became secretary of the Butler Street Warehouse Co., Ltd.,' at the nominal salary of 30s per week and what he could make. The two men seem to have understood the routine of commerce fairly well. They went to the Business Names Registry and duly recorded the title of the ,-:'/. Butler^,,Street,..Warehouse,,Co.. , ,Jt ; was ■ : jf also registered" at Somerset "House --with a / capital of £1000. Still another partner :'';."■• was brought ia, to wit, Joseph Levene, also quite young. The three men also rented a workshop in New Road, off Commercial Street, "E., which: presumably they meant to use as a safe hiding place for the plunder. When everything had been satisfactorily arranged a start- was mads with the long firm business. The "secretary" of the company wrote to Messrs. James Kar-' greaves and Co., of Bacup, for 100 gross of scouring cloths. References were given at the address in New Read, where Levene reigned and posed as another merchant. Messrs. Hargreaves supplied 48 gross of the cloths in August, valued at £70, and a few days after they had been received the ex-dish wnsher, who was commercial traveller and secretary by turn,: called upon » hardware merchant in Commercial Street and sold him the 48 gross for; £30. It was a cash' deal, naturally, as was everything else sold by the Bntier Street Warehouse Co. On August 28 the "secretary" wrote again to Messrs. Hargreaves for more scouring cloths, and a fortnight later another 71 gross was sent. These were valued ap £101. A day or two later Ross went to see a stock buyer in Oxford Street, and got rid of the remainder for £50. ■■:• "•.= ... ; Entry into Soap Trade. The Warehouse Company's next big deal was with Messrs. Cussons, Sons and Co., of Manchester, manufacturers of soap. They ware given an order for. 170 gross and askijd for. references. Levene's name was given, and that gentleman volunteered the information that the Butler Street Warehouse Company did big business with him and also paid their accounts promptly. Howev »r, Messrc*. Cussons were not altogether satisfied. Thsy sent a pro forma invoice for £202, and requested paymoht in advance. This was unthinkable. The "secretary" of the Warehouse Company wrote back to say that they could not possibly pay against an invoice. What they would do was to i accept half the goods on order and pay * for them in 30 days. . •'" .-.....' Messra. Cussons sent the soap, 85 gross of it, valued at £104. At the end of the month they wrote,for their money, but it was not forthcoming. The soap was received by the Warehouse Company on September 5., Three days later it went ' to a firm in Houndsditch for £76. This sort of thing went on right up to November, and during this time the three swindlers got hold of thousands of pounds worth of goods, and, of course, sold them for what they would fetch. It is quite certain that all the money obtained did not go into their pockets. There was someono in the background, a confederate of Levene's, who rendered invaluable assistance in disposing of the stolen goods. Deal in Ladies' Shoes. So far as ran be ascertained, about £7000 was received bv the company. All three men lived. well on the. proceeds. Ros3 and Novodvorsky went the pace up West, spent aioney like water, and were to be found -every weok-end with their wealthy compatriots at Brighton and Margate. Occasionally thoy may have paid a few small, bills, but they only did this in order to continue with the bigger and more profitable swindles. Thoy wrote to the Arthur Fincham Shoe Co., of Norwich, with reference to a consignment of ladies' shoes. A traveller called and Waft seen by Novodvorsky, who told a specious story of the prosperous business being done by the companf and pointed with pride to.the large amount of stock in the r place. He informed the traveller that he war. a "cash buyer for any amount, and ultimately an order was given for some hundreds of pairs of shoes. The company asked for a reference, and were given the name of Levene, in New Road. That gentleman supplied a most satisfactory answer, and so the 'shoe company sent goods to the value of £409. Of ... this'amount'they received exactly £25 and two promissory notes for the remainder. The notes were never met. A few days after the shoes had been received thoy were being offered to a job buyer at 1 a perfectly ridiculous price.: .This individual bought, .1683. pairs, paid cash for them, and doubtless went on his way , Rejoicing. '.V' , . -

r: ■-~' ■ ,'V , . :J "', ~5... :'. ...'-. . . -■ :i, '■■ : | By the end of November there w«Ee 'dozens of writs out against the Butler | Street Warehousei Co., arid bailife wbk» 'coming in and ont of the premises with, a frequency which was somewhat amusing. Btifc there was nothing for them to levy distress upon, for the: simple reason that most of the plunder had long been disposed of.-' .Arrest of the Three JJen. TJltimately the matter was put in the hands of the police, and the thrwa men concerned in the Company were taken into custody. All of them proved to be old acquaintances of the police. Rosa, who seems to have been the most active participant in the affair, was an old hand atthe long firm business. His role of dishwasher was just a temporary hayen against the time when he might find a suitable confederate to take up his usual profession of swindler. The police knew him as a man born in Persia who went to England 12 years ago as a tailor's hand. In the early part of 1921 he opened a shop in Cheapside, and promptly went, bankrupt 12 months later for £tiooo. Practically all Ross' time in England had been spent associating with foreign swindlers, of whom there are thousands in the East End of London, though there was a time in Ihis early career when he was little better than a common thief. In March. 1918, he was convicted of larcenjf, while in May last year he was fined £10 for attempting to bribe a police officer, and also sentenced to six months' imprisonment for offences under the Banirnptcy Act. He should also have been deported, but as no country would own , him he had to be kept in England. <

Levene "also, knew 'a. good deal, about long firm frauds. Some time previous to the Butler Street Warehouse Co., Levene carried on a concern called Arnold Franks and Co. He had a partner, who is now iu gaol lor a series of frauds. In this instance thousands of pounds worth of goods were obtained by the same method as that employed in Butler Street, and to eke matters out there had been a couple of bogus robberies at the place. Levene has been under suspicion for some time past as a conspirator in fraudulent bankruptcy cases. He is known to have posed as a debtor to fellow aliens who contemplated going bankrupt, and altogether he ia a man who has made thousands of pounds out of various swindles. Concerning Novodvorsky there is an interesting story to tell. He was born in London in December, 1903, his parents being Russian Jewe. When only 18 he had a shop in New Bond Street, where he omitted to pay his rent, and had the bailiffs in. A petition in bankruptcy was lodged against him, but had to be withdrawn owing to his age. However, it was quite a useful experience, and on the strength of it he established the Butler Street Warehouse Co., and made some thousands of pounds for *himself in six months. While criminal proceedings in this affair were sljill pending, Novodvorsky, after the closing of the Butler Street Co., set up another business in Southampton Row. There, under another name, he posed as a fur merchant, but he does not seem to have been successful. At all events, he got three months' imprisonment for trying to obtain' furs by faise pretences.

The impudence of Novodvorsky may be appreciated by his demeanour at the Old Bailey. He said to someone outside the Court: "How much do you think they will give me this time? Don't you think it's a shame my being put back in prison so soon after I have come out?" All three men pleaded not guilty, and tried to induce the jury to believe that they had been conducting a genuine business.

The Common Sergeant, in passing sentence, remarked that the only thing in Novodvorsky's favour was his youth. When the frauds had taken place he was only 19, and the Judge said that he always liked to be as lenient as far as possible with young men. Tha last time that Novodvorsky was before him he received a light sentence. It did him no good: but having regard to his age he would sentence him to six months' imprisonment. Concerning Ross, the Common Sergeant believed that he was at the bottom of the frauds, which had been very prevalent the last few years.' He would go to prison for 12 months. Levena was sentenced to nine months in gaol. " The prisoners left the dock laughing. Thoy had expected penal servitude..