FALSE PRETENCES

Southland Times, Issue 20939, 23 November 1929, Page 8

FALSE PRETENCES

QUARTERLY DIVIDENDS CASE. THREE MONTHS’ IMPRISONMENT. When David Neilson Johnston, who had been found guilty on his trial upon each of six charges of obtaining money by means of false pretences, appeared for sentence before his Honour Mr Justice Kennedy at the Supreme Court yesterday, his Honour, in inflicting punishment, said: “Prisoner at the Bar, you have been the representative in New Zealand of two companies, whose tricky and deceptive deposit system was a mere fraudulent bubble. Although your representations may have seemed to the ordinary person a mere deception, these representations did, in fact, deceive persons with little commercial experience, as well as persons with commercial training, but who did not stop to think. You arc a man of intelligence and education, and your past good character shows you are in your present position through the initial pernicious influence of a man at present beyond the jurisdiction of this Court. 1 You had, nevertheless, ample warning from individuals who had had experience of the system and, moreover, you were heedless to the warnings contained in the leading articles of responsible newspapers. You will be sentenced, however, merely for those offences upon which the jury found you guilty, and you will not have to bear a vicarious punishment for those responsible for the, promotion of the two companies, Quarterly Dividends, Limited, and National House Purchase, Limited. The sentence x of the Court is that you will be imprisoned with hard labbur for a period of three months on each charge, the terms to be concurrent.” ,