A CLEVER SWINDLE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22267, 21 May 1934, Page 8

A CLEVER SWINDLE

WHISKY AND CIGARETTES AUCKLAND MERCHANTS DUPED (Special to Daily Times.) AUCKLAND, May 20. Four or five prominent wine and spirit, merchants in Auckland were the victims of a clever fraud perpetrated by an unknown man recently and were collectively robbed of about £l2O worth of whisky and cigarettes to the value of £SO. Each merchant was unaware that the other had also fallen a victim of a clever swindler, and kept the matter to himself for several days; but now that the story has leaked out they are chuckling over the easy manner in which they were duped. The scheme adopted by the trickster was evidently the result of much thought and planning on his part. In the main, his method was to telephone to a wine and spirit firm and announce that he was the nephew of a well-known publican in the far north. "Jack wants three cases of whisky and three of beer," he said over the telephone, mentioning the brands of liquor desired. "Send the beer to the wharf for shipment lam returning to-day by car and will take the whisky with me." He also said he would take 40,000 cigarettes, as " Jack " was "out of smokes." In each of three cases the man was given delivery of three cases of whisky and 40,000 cigarettes. In one case the whisky was left at a garage and was collected, while in another case the man called at a large city hotel and picked up the three cases there. In the other instance he actually discussed the order with the principal of the firm and was given three cases of whisky. In a few days' time the hotelkeeper in the far north began to receive by post invoices and accounts, for whisky and cigarettes of which he knew nothing. It was only when the various firms received indignant letters of protest from him demanding to know why they had debited him with liquor ho had not received or ordered that they realised they had been swindled.