£662,000 DAMAGES

Stratford Evening Post, Volume I, Issue 434, 6 May 1932, Page 5

£662,000 DAMAGES

FRAUDULENT REPRESENTS TIONS A PAPER MILL VENTURE LONDON,. Thurs. After a hearing which occupied 12 days, a King's Bench jury awarded Combined Paper Pulp Mills £662,000 damages against the former promoters, directors and auditor.

The claim was for £267,060 against Bruno Plailipp, of Berlin: £92,400 each against Albert Martin Qppenheimer, solicitor, .of London. Sir Walter Beaupro Townloy, formerly of the British diplomatic service, Adolph Goldsmith, of London, and Eugene Spier, of London; £24,440 against Thomas Froude, auditor of the company, for alleged conspiracy, fraud and breach of duty. Plaintiffs also asked for the return of dividends paid out of capital. Counsel said that the company was formed in 1927 with a capital of £395,000, to acquire a German paper mill Defendants fraudulently represented that the first year's profits were £200,000. whereas there was a loss, and thereby secured a further f 395,000 capital at such premiums that they received £600,000. They also returned the profit far the second vear at £IOO,OOO, whereas there was no profit. All the assets disappeared. , Mr. Justice MacKinnon, commenting that Philipp received £750,000 within two years, expressed the opinion that everybody agreed that ho was the villain of the piece.