LIST OF CHARGES

Southland Times, Issue 20834, 24 July 1929, Page 6

LIST OF CHARGES

BANKRUPT CHINESE LIABILITY BY FRAUD • ALLEGED PLEA OF NOT GUILTY (Special to the Times.) Dunedin, July 23. In the Police Court this morning, further evidence was heard in connection with the proceedings taken by the Crown Prosecutor against Kum Toon Lee, also known as William Chan Jun and as Long Ling Lee, who faced a list of charges of incurring liability by fraud. Mr H. W. Bundle, S.M., was on the Bench. Mr W. D. Taylor prosecuted aiid Mr C. J. L. White appeared for the accused who pleaded not guilty on all charges and elected to go for trial. Douglas William McCay, a member of the firm of Mercer and Mitchell Ltd. said he was interviewed by Kum Yown Lee at his business premises. Lee said his father had sent him to see- .if his firm would supply him with goods as he intended opening shops in Dunedin. Lee said his father was a retired merchant living in Auckland where accused had been previously working with his father. He said he had lost about £2OOO in giving credit in the last year he was in business there. He said his father owned a motor car which cost £1350, but his father had sold it for £650 after using it for only a short period. Witness was told Lee had a lease of two shops in Stuart street, but as he could not get the right to sell fruit in the second shop, he would refuse to take it. Regarding the first shop, he said he had paid £2O for fittings, paying £lOO on account. Witness supplied him with goods totalling £3O 16/10. Lee said he was married to a white woman, the daughter of a merchant in Auckland and for wedding presents had received large sums of money. Lee and his wife left for Australia on an extended tour. Accused said his father owned five sections in Tainui which his father would allow him to sell if he wished. No part of the £2O 16/10 owing to Mercer and Mitchell had been paid. Cross-examined by Mr White, witness said it was accused’s fairy tales which mainly induced witness to give him credit. Witness advised accused not to give credit. James Mooney, accountant - for Butterworth Bros., said that his firm was interviewed early this year by the accused. Goods were supplied to the accused, the account being for £l5O 4/9. Mr Taylor: After the bankruptcy you got certain information as to where some of the accused’s property was? Witness: Yes. There was no attempt to conceal them.

To Mr White: At the meeting of creditors, the accused disputed Butterworth’s account and said that as far as he knew, it was nothing like the amount claimed. Mary R. Stinley said that the accused stayed' at her house in Maclaggan street. She remembered a man coming to her place from the Official Assignees’ office, a departmental manager from Butterworth’s being there also. Witness gave evidence regarding the finding of the silks and other goods in the accused’s room. Clara Maureen Cowie, daughter of the licensee of the Gridiron Hotel, said she booked Kum T’oon Lee at the hotel on March 27 and he stayed till April 6, incurring, a liability of £B. None of it had been paid. He gave the name of Chung. He arrived in a motor car and had some suit' cases with him. He left without giving notice of his intention to leave. The case was adjourned till a date to be fixed, bail being allowed in self £lOO and one surety of £lOO, conditional upon his remaining with his father.