CLEVER “RACKET” IN HOLLYWOOD
BANKS ROBBED OF THOUSANDS
Latest Filmland Sensation
United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright (Received July 11, 8.5 p.m.) HOLLYWOOD, July 11. A 100,000 dollar confidence “racket” involving the names of the M.G.M. president, Louis B. Mayer and the cinema stars Nelson Eddy, Jeanette MacDonald and Charles Laughton, has been disclosed, with the arrest of George Smart (35), sound recorder, and Layne Britton (30), make-up artist, on charges of grand theft and forgery. The District Attorney said that Smart passed the bogus promissory notes to victims, including the bank president, signed with the name of Mayer, by posing as Mayer’s confidential agent and intimating that Mayer was anxious to resign from M.G.M. and needed the money to gain control of various stars, including those mentioned. The notes ranged from 10,000 dollars to 25.000 dollars and were to be paid off by an intricate pyramiding system extending over several years. The police believe that Britton was merely a dupe.
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Bibliographic details
Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21086, 12 July 1938, Page 7
Word Count
160CLEVER “RACKET” IN HOLLYWOOD Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21086, 12 July 1938, Page 7
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