POST OFFICE FRAUDS

Southland Times, Issue 20528, 3 July 1928, Page 8

POST OFFICE FRAUDS

A DARING SCHEME. ARRESTS IN SYDNEY. Sydney, June 1Daring and extensive post office frauds involving £BOOO, which have baffled the post office officials for two years, have been checked with the arrests in Sydney of two men who, it it is said, had incriminating evidence in their possession. Though the frauds had been detected from time to time the officials and the detectives were unable to make much headway with their investigations until a fortnight ago. It was discovered then that a man had attempted to bribe a telegraph messenger at the Sydney Post Office to secure for him a bundle of official envelopse. The police secured a description of the man and located him after a few days’ search. Then they visited a house in one one of the suburbs and arrested a second man, whom the police declare, had in his possession a number of official envelopes, original and duplicate money order forms, and other postal matter. The police allege that the two men would choose some small suburban post office, preferably a parttime office, and one of them would enter and buy a money order. At the same time he watched and noticed where the post master kept the book and the official stamp. An hour or two afterwards the two men would enter the post office, and while one engaged the postmaster in conversation, the other would managed to secure the money order book and stamp and leave the office.

While outside this man would make" out a number of original and duplicate money order forms, stamp them, taking care to leave enough forms in the money-order issuing book to allay any suspicions. They would visit the post office again an hour afterwards and the book and the stamp would be replaced. In many cases the book would not be used again by the postmaster for two or three days on end, by which time the men had, it is alleged, filled in original forms payable to themselves in some other State. The duplicate forms, as used by the postal authorities, w’ould also be filled in and, in the official envelopes, would be sent to the paying office. It is the practice to pay out on money orders up to £2O without identification, and evidently this fact was known to the two men, who invariably made the amount out for £l9 and a few odd shillings. There daring methods have been practised in four States at least, and the amount of the frauds is estimated at £BOOO.