BANKRUPT SECRETARY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20217, 30 March 1929, Page 14

BANKRUPT SECRETARY

CASE OF F. W. WEBSTER. DEFICIENCY OVER £2OOO. BUILDING SOCIETY'S JUDGMENT. [Br TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT. 1 WHANGAKEI, Thursday. An examination was held to-day before the acting-deputy official assignee, Mr. E. P. Ramsey, into the bankruptcy of Frederick William Webster, a secretary, now of Auckland and formerly of Whangarei. The total deficiency amounted to £2048 3s 6d and the assets were nil. In his written statement bankrupt said: "In accordance with requirements I hand you a statement of my liabilities and assets. Having been employed by companies who owned their respective books, which have been returned by me to them, I have no books to hand in and having no assets I have no securities. Owing to the Whangarei Building Society, of which I was secretary, having obtained judgment against mo for £1573 12s in respect of a, deficiency in its cash (which I never used nor bad any benefit from), for which I was chsiged in the Supreme Court at Auckland and found not guilty, tho building society served mc with a bankruptcy notice. "At the request and expense of the biilding society and under a threat from it to make me a bankrupt if I did not pav the amount, T filed my petition." Cross-examined by the deputy-official assignee bankrupt said he came to Whangarei from Stratford about five, years ago. At the time he left Stratford he was in debt for about £3 r vo. About January or February, 1924, he, received tho appointment of secretary to the Whangarei Building Society with a salary of £IOO for tho first year. Either in the first or second year fhe salary was raised to £l5O, at which it remained. He obtained several other positions and estimated his net income as between £4OO and £6OO. He considered that during the last 12 months his gross income was about £BOO and after subtracting business expenses of about £250 ho had about £550.

In reply to a question bankrupt said he had no betting debts and had not dealt with bookmakers for over two years. His only betting was an occasional backing at a race meeting such as any man would do. He could not find out where the money belonging to the building society was. He thought that if he had not been proceeded against criminally the money could have been raised and paid oft and the matter adjusted. He had not used the money. At present he had no money in t}ie bank. The case was adjourned sine die.