EASY MONEY.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 16021, 6 January 1923, Page 7

EASY MONEY.

MASTERTONIANS VICTIMISED £IOO O'N XMAS EVE.

Christmas Eve, 1922. will long be remembered by several Masterton business people as the night on which they were victimised by a customer who paid for his purchases with forged cheques. It appears that a middle-aged man of good appearance Galled at the Bank of New Zealand in Masterton on Saturday morning and opened an acoount by depositing a sum of £l. He then procured a cheque book and proceeded to operate.

After the bank had closed at 11.30 a.m., several business people were patronised by the visitor. These included Messrs. Graham and Co., Hugo and Shearer, J. L. Murray, Ltd., Carpenter and Evans, C. D. Shoosmith, Nicol and Co.- (tailors), H. Hadley, and others. From Nicol and Co. a suit was ordered, and the proprietor was told to take £6 deposit out of a cheque for £l4 10s, which was presented. The cheque was allegedly drawn by "E. Riddiford, Pukatawa Station," and was supposed to represent a month's pay. The £8 10s change was given, the customer arranging to return on January 9 for his suit. It is now considered doubtful if he will call. j At Carpenter and Evans' the customer produced a list of boots he wished to purchase, the list containing the ages of his children. About £7 10s worth of footwear was purchased, and the £7 ehango taken in cash. This system of purchasing goods and receiving the change in cash was followed right through, the cheques all being signed "E. Riddiford," and each being for £l4 10s. By this means about £IOO was cleaned up from the tradespeople. As the banks had cjosfcd for the holidays, the cheflu.es were not presented until Wednesday, when they were refused bw the bank, the officials considering them to be forgeries.