BETRAYED BY A FILM

Taranaki Daily News, 3 November 1934, Page 15 (Supplement)

BETRAYED BY A FILM

News Reel Leads To Italian Swindler’s Arrest

FORGED CHEQUES CASHED ON BANK OF SPAIN A NEWS film shown at a Madrid cinema led to the police tracing a man who had been wanted for a fortnight following a £34,000 swindle on the Bank of Spain. The swindle was revealed when it was discovered that five consecutive cheques bearing the signature of the Marchioness de Padierna had been forged. The assistant cashier at the Bank of Spain, who told the police that he was positive he could recognise the man who cashed the first cheque, accompanied the police to various theatres, cinemas, and cabarets in Madrid which the swindler was supposed to frequent. . While attending a cinema the cashier suddenly whispered to the detective who accompanied him: “There he is!” The detective thought the cashier referred to someone in the audience but, to his surprise, he was referring to a man in a news film depicting a view of the paddock at a Barcelona race meeting The film showed the man, recognised by the detective as Mario Finizzio, an Italian and a well-known swindler, in the company of the 26-year-old Count de Villapadierna, nephew of the Marchioness Padierna. The police had previously arrested at Barcelona Jose Gallardo, known as an expert forger, who, it is alleged, forged the marchioness’s signature to the five cheques. Spanish detectives, who flew to Milan, where Count de Villapadierna was taking part in the international motor-car races, traced Finizzio and the count to the same hotel.