THEFT FROM OLD PEOPLE

Taranaki Daily News, 31 July 1931, Page 9

THEFT FROM OLD PEOPLE

MONEY FOR INVESTMENT

AUDACIOUS DEFENCE ADVANCED.

JUDGE PUTS ISSUE SCATHINGLY. By Telegraph.—Pr««« Auoclatioa. Nelson, Last Night. At the Supreme Court Knox KHntoff was charged with receiving the sum of £2OO from Dorothy L. Moller on terms requiring him to pay it to Kemball Theatres, Ltd., and fraudulently omitting to pay it, thereby committing* theft. He was further charged with receiving £3OO from Bernard Henry Moller on terms requiring the same to be paid to Kemball Theatres, Ltd., and fraudulently omitting, to do so, thereby committing theft. ' ■

In summing up Mr. Justice MacGregor said it had been clearly proved that the money had been paid over and that the terms upon which it has paid over were for investment in Kemball’s Theatres. This led to a third point. Did the accused fraudulently omit to pay the money as specified? That question was answered in the clearest way ; , in fact, it was quite clear that he fraudulently converted to his own use the whole'.of the £5OO. It had been shown by accused’s bank account, that he had spent the money in paying his own bills, yet he had the audacity to say through his counsel that he had invested the money for the people he had robbed. Not a penny of it had ever been invested. Accused had wormed his way into the confidence of these old people by unworthy means, and then robbed them; in fact, in one case he had robbed Peter to paj r Paul as he was already in trouble with a company in Wellington and took the old lady’s money. The jury returned a verdict of guilty and the prisoner was remanded for sentence.