Artist in Crime

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 388, 23 June 1928, Page 10

Artist in Crime

Bland Japanese ‘Judge’ Walks Off With £3,000 BANK MANAGER DUPED Artists in crime are all too rare. I want to take off my liat to Mr. Morimura Masaji—although that is only the artist’s alias. This is ! his story, writes a correspondent of the Melbourne “Herald." j About 20 miles by road, and over j j 50 by rail, from Kobe lies the pleasant little town of Sanda, the junction of two of the slowest railways in Japan. One afternoon two men, accompanied by a policeman, called at the Sanda branch of the Sasayama Bank. It was closed, of course, but it had a resident manager, Mr. Kitamura Kosaburo. To him the more impressive of the visitors presented his card, bearing the name and description, “Moriraura Masaji, Judge of the Kobe District Court.” The other introduced himself of the Clerk of the Court, and the policeman was far too humble to need introducing at all. Communist "Forgeries” The Judge proceeded to explain his mission. Mr. Kitamura had. of course, heard of the Communist Plot —a shocking thing to happen in Japan; it made one wonder what the world was coming to. Unfortunately, as he knew, there was no villainy that these Communists stuck at, and it was the Judge’s unpleasant duty to visit the banks in the district and inspect their currency notes—for these enemies of the State had been forging the Government’s paper, the useful and popular ten-yen note (about <£l). He had two examples, which he showed to the horrified Mr. Kitamura, so well done that it took an expert to detect them. And first., for form’s sake, he asked Mr. Kitamura’s full name, address, parentage, particulars of career, and so on, after the manner of the Courts, which spend quite a lot of time in these preliminaries to any action. These particulars he entered on the inquiry sheet and impressed with his seal. The party then repaired to the strong-room, where the judge and the clerk inspected the notes, while the policeman kept guard at the door. Notes Looked Suspicious During their inspection the policeman put his head in at the door, drew in his breath respectfully, and informed the judge that the policesergeant from the Sanda station had been sent by his chief, who had heard of the judge’s arrival, to offer any service required. The judge politely replied that there was nothing with which he need trouble them. The notes, on inspection, looked so suspicious that the judge, after comparing them with the Communist forgeries he had brought with him, decided that they must all be subject to expert examination. The clerk produced a furoshiki—the large bandanna handkerchief in which parcels are always carried in Japan—and after a careful count (there were 2,928 tenyen notes in all) they were carefully wrapped up. The judge gave Mr. Kitamura a receipt, telling him that all the genuine notes would be returned as soon as possible through the Sasayama Bank. A taxi was called, and the visitors took their departure with the notes, leaving Mr. Kitamura overwhelmed at the idea of the wickedness of the Communists. Victim’s Awakening About nine o’clock that night Mr. Kitamura was seized with an awful suspicion. He rang up the police station, who knew nothing of the judge’s visit. This was most alarming. Telephone bells rang until communication was established with officials of the Kobe Court, when it was discovered that no judge had been sent on any such mission. The police were called out, and every road in the district was watched. The taxi was discovered, and the driver reported that he had driven to Takaradzuka, and there had been paid off. Takaradzuka is no great distance from Sanda, and is a place where, with hot-spring bath-houses, restaurants, geisha, theatres, roundabouts, and a zoo, all Osaka and half Kobe amuse themselves at the weekend. Further than that the criminals have not so far been traced. It is not even known how the policeman’s uniform was obtained, but it is said that in Osaka there are second-hand shops where you can get everything. As for poor Mr. Kitamura, he has plenty of sympathy, but that is a poor substitute for 2,900 ten-yen notes. And it is especially galling to remember that he vied with the sham policeman in being respectful to the sham judge.