ALLEGED THEFT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23333, 27 October 1937, Page 2

ALLEGED THEFT

LODGE SECRETARY CHARGED SUM OF £lB4 15s INVOLVED CASE FOR THE CROWN Fifteen charges, involving theft and the making of false entries on balance sheets, were preferred against Roy Drummond Bachop, a former secretary of the Triumph Lodge, No. 9, of the Protestant Alliance Friendly Society of Australasia, in the Supreme Court yesterday, the accused, who was represented by Mr C. J. L. Wmite, pleading not guilty. The eight charges of theft were in respect of a total sum of £lB4 15s 2d, which, the Crown alleged, was embezzled by the accused from the funds of the lodge during the time he was secretary, and the period covered by the indictment was from March, 1927, to June, 1935.

In his address to the jury Mr Adams reviewed the 15 countts of the indictment in detail. The indictment was a lengthy but by no means difficult document, he said, and it was greatly simplified when the counts were taken in groups in the eight years from April 1, 1927. The evidence would show that the accused, as secretary of the lodge, received money on behalf of the lodge and kept its books. His books showed that he had received the total sums indicated in the counts, but the sums paid by him to the treasurer and acknowledged were less than his books showed him to have received. A series of 33 balance sheets would be submitted to the jury, but Mr Adams said that while the evidence would probably satisfy the jury that all of them had been the subject of false entries, the prosecution had selected only several of them and based the charges on those.

Before the charges were laid against Bachop he made a statement to the police which was in the nature of a confession. In it he stated that he had been secretary to the lodge for eight years. He was a married man, separated from his wife, who was a very extravagant woman. He found that she lived a fast life, and he was unable to maintain her standard. He had taken money to meet her expenses, little by little, and his statement admitted the use of money totalling £SOB 0s 3d between March, 1927, and June, 1935. His wife had left him in September, 1934, and he then had heavy debts to meet. He resigned his office with the lodge in 1935, and realised that he had made wrongful use of its money. Since then £lls had been refunded by a relative, this leaving a balance of £393 still unaccounted for. The statement said that the thefts would never have been made if his wife had not been e ? tr avagant He quoted one instance of £3O which had disappeared from the safe in his home. He had suspected his wife, but she had denied all knowledge of it. His wife was now understood to be in England and it was impossible to check his statements. " However," Mr Adams said, "that is, of course, entirely irrelevant in the determination of his guilt." The full total of the missing money had been variously estimated. It was always difficult in cases such as this to determine exactly how much had been received and how much was accounted for; but that also was irrelevant. The accused was not charged with the full amount of the defalcations. The course that had been taken in the indictment was to select the circumstances that could most easily be followed. This was not intended to suggest that the accused did not steal the £SOB to which he had confessed, and it would probably be found that there were numerous other small items that had never appeared in the lodge books. There was no suggestion, Mr Adams concluded, that anybody else who handled the books was guilty of any criminal action.

Alexander Charles Gibson, an accountant employed by Brown and Alloo, said that in its capacity as solicitors to Triumph Lodge, No. 9, this firm formerly collected the interest on the lodge's mortgages, this duty being attended to by witness. He produced cheques issued by Brown and Alloo in favour of the trustees of the Triumph Lodge. They were all interest payments, which witness detailed.

Robert McKinnon, a solicitor and a member of the firm of Matheson and McKinnon, said that his firm had handled business for Triumph Lodge. He produced a cheque, comprising interest, £52 14s 6d, and also a sum of £8 7s 6d which was a reduction in mortgage. Witness compared two balance sheets to show that the amount representing mortgages held by the lodge had been amended to represent a reduction of £BO.

Alfred Hay, a clerk, the grand secretary of the Protestant Alliance Friendly Society of Australasia, produced minute books of Triumph Lodge, No. 9, to show that the accused was elected secretary on March 17, 1927, and that his successor was elected in June, 1935. It was the duty of every lodge secretary to forward to the grand secretary copies of the quarterly balance sheets. Witness had received 33 balance sheets from the accused His duty was to check extensions, and witness found nothing in the balance sheets to arouse his suspicion. When the accused resigned his position with Triumph Lodge, No. 9, witness investigated the affairs of the lodge. He found that an analysis book and part of a receipt book were missing. A preliminary audit showed that £561 odd was not accounted for. Witness described in detail the methods adopted in making out accounts to members and in recording payments. A later examination showed a deficiency of £lls 13s lOd. This was explained to Bachop, who admitted it and later got the money, which was paid to the trustees. Entries had been made after an audit had been carried out, and the accused did not deny doing this. Witness produced a letter written by Bachop to the trustees in which he stated that, while he assumed responsibility for the deficiencies, he definitely did not take the money. Bachop said in this letter that his wife had had full access to his books, and made an offer of paying off a further £350 Witness detailed discrepancies between payments made to the accused and the subsequent entries in the balance sheets, which also over-stated the amounts on mortgage and made the lodge appear more financial than it was.

Charles Albert Elsey, a public accountant, said he audited the books of Triumph Lodge, No. 9, but when they were handed to him the cash book of the Sick and Funeral Fund and two used cheque books were missing. The entries in the receipt book and the ledger showed the

money received from January 1 to June 30, 1935, to be £343 17s lOd. The books also showed that from April 1, 1927, to December 31, 1934, the sum of £7462 6s lid had been received, but the bank book showed that the sum of £7708 13s 9d had been banked. Sums totalling £365 5s lOd had been entered in the secretary's books after they had been audited by the lay auditors. The deficiency for the period was £l2B 16& 2d, after allowing for moneys which the previous secretary had handed over unbanked. From witness's investigation he concluded that the minimum deficiency during the accused's secretaryship was £485 0s 3d The balance sheets examined by witness showed obvious defalcations. James Robb, a retired storeman, a former treasurer of the Triumph Lodge, said he had banked all the moneys given to him by the accused. During the period, January 1 to June 30, 1935, he had received a total of £289 lis Bd, all of which had been put into the bank On August 8, 1935, a committee was set up by the lodge to go into the books, and at a meeting after certain falsifications had been discovered, the accused admitted that he had taken some of the funds. The deficiency found by the committee was £lls 13s lOd, a sum which was later paid tr the lodge by a relative of the accused.

The court adjourned at this stage utitil this morning.