KREUGER CRASH

Taranaki Daily News, 18 April 1932, Page 7

KREUGER CRASH

arrest of, the directors

SENSATIONAL ALLEGATIONS CHARGE OF FALSIFICATION ENORMOUS SUMS INVOLVED HUGE FORGERY SUGGESTED By Telegraph—Press Assn. —Copyright. Rec. 5.5 p.m. Stockholm, April 16. The police to-day arrested Lange, Huldt and Holm, three directors, who are charged with falsification of the balancesheet of the profit and loss account in connection with the Kreuger and Toll Company. It is revealed that since 1928 Kreuger and Toll issued share debentures exceeding £50,000,000 in the Swedish Match Company, nearly £25,000,000 in the International Match Corporation and over £20,000,000 in another concern. The Daily Telegraph says it is expected the Swedish income tax will be increased at least 20 per cent, owing to the Government’s losses on Kreuger taxes, says a London message. It is now stated definitely that Kreuger forged Italian Treasury bonds to the extent of £16,000,000. It has not been discovered what use he made of them.

According to the indictment Huldt and Holm were merely dummy directors performing like automatoms at Kreuger’s behests in concerns founded solely and fraudulently for the transfer of funds.

Other’ accusations in an amazing series of alleged frauds include a bogus bank, fictitious assets and a secret safe for forged documents. Lange was a director of the Garanta Company of Holland, based mainly on an allegedly, fictitious contract giving the company the retail sale of matches in Poland; also an alleged bogus match monopoly with Spain in return for a loan of 180,000,000 pesetas found in Kreuger’s room. It is alleged that Huldt at Kreuger s orders founded a Dutch bank for Scandinavian trade at Amsterdam which never did business and only, kept fictitious books. Assets amounting to millions appeared in the balance-sheet. Amon* the allegedly fictitious assets of; Kreuger and Toll, of which Holm is a director, was 35,000,000 Dutch florins in the Danzig International Bank, which Kreuger started in 1931. Regarding the forgery of Italian State bonds, the discovery was made that the Kreuger and Toll documents were printed at Stockholm at an establishment whereto Kreuger personally delivered the necessary copper plates, emphasising the imperativeness of secrecy. The plates were found, in Kreuger’s secret safe. * It is believed Kreuger intended to use the forged bonds to balance the 1931 accounts,, regardinw which he issued instructions prior to his suicide. Experts have established the 42 bonds, each of £500,000, printed in English were forgeries.