“£300,000 LEGACY”

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 637, 13 April 1929, Page 27

“£300,000 LEGACY”

OLD CONFIDENCE TRICK FICTITIOUS WINDFALL The well worn old story, famous as the basis of innumerable confidence tricks played on wealthy but gullible visitors —the story of the Irishman and the big bequest conditional on a large sum being given to the poor through the medium of responsible persons with means of their own—figured in an unusual way at Bow Street Police Court, London. George Wolfe, 28, an engineer, of London, was charged on remand with stealing from the Imperial Hotel, Russell Square, a silver-plated coffee pot, a silver-plated milk jug, a silverplated spoon, 15 sheets of stamped notepaper, and some envelopes, the property of London Imperial Hotels, Ltd.; further, with being found in possession of an automatic pistol and ammunition without a police certificate authorising him to carry the same; and lastly, with failing to surrender at Bow Street Police Court in answer to his £IOO recognisance.

It was proved that after jumping his bail Wolfe was rearrested at Southampton. He now elected to be tried summarily on all the charges instead of going for trial. Wolfe’s reason for breaking his bail was that he had got the “wind up,” and was in fact suffering from “blue funk.”

With regard to the charge of stealing plated articles, he denied it altogether, and said he bought the things

in the Caledonian Market, London, for 15s, qnd in reference to the alleged theft of headed notepaper and envelopes, he said he supposed he must have packed them up with his other luggage inadvertently at one of the hotels of the Imperial Hotels Company at which he had been temporarily staying. As to the pistol and ammunition, he had found these, he said, in the room in which he lodged at Burton Street, and had never taken them away from there. Detective Page said Wolfe was believed to have been born in New South Wales. He was sentenced to 12 months’ hard labour at the Surrey Assizes in November, 1926, for housebreaking. He had been to Canada in the name of Homer, and, so far as was known, had been living on his wits, and had done no real work. The man was suspected by the police of being associated with international confidence tricksters. In his possession there had been found a number of newspaper, with a paragraph specially printed in the “Stop Press News” headed ‘“£300,000 Windfall.” The paragraph in question stated that the sum had been left to a lucky Irishman on condition that he gave £IO,OOO to the Church of Rome and £30,000 to the poor, the latter sum to be distributed through responsible persons having means of their own. There were also a large number of bogus bills of exchange for large amounts in various names. The magistrate passed sentences of 12 months’ hard labour for the thefts from the Imperial Hotel, and a fine of £lO, or one month’s imprisonment, (concurrent) for being in possesison of the pistol and ammunition. He ordered his recognisance of £IOO to be forfeited, or in default three months’ hard labour, concurrent with the sentence of 12 months for theft.