BANK CASHIER’S THEFTS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20991, 2 April 1930, Page 12

BANK CASHIER’S THEFTS.

SUM OF £43,000 in 12 MONTHS. A cashier, James Ritchie, aged "23, formerly employed by the North of Scotland Bank, at St. “Vincent street, Glasgow, was sentenced in the High Court at Edinburgh recently to four years’ penal servitude on charges of embezzling £43,000. The Lord Justice Clerk commented on the laxity of supervision exercised by the bank. “I find it difficult.” he said, in''passing sentence, “to accept the view that no system of reasonable supervision would prevent the detection of the embezzlement of £43,000 by a bank cashier in 12 months.” The indictment alleged that between December, 1028, and November, 1929, Ritchie embezzled the sum stated. Counsel said Ritchie found that he was short in his cash, apparently through overpaying a customer of the bank. Instead of owning up he adopted the extraordinarily foolish expediment of attempting, by betting, to make good the deficiency. Things went from bad to worse, and every penny of the money embezzled went into the pockets of bookmakers.^ Counsel expressed astonishment that, the embezzlement went on from day to day without being detected. He said it was discovered only when Ritchie had been promoted to further responsibility and left to take up his new appointment. It was contended for the prosecution that no method of check, short of a day-to-day supervision, would have made the fraud impossible.