THE CITY RATE COLLECTOR.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5259, 15 May 1895, Page 3

THE CITY RATE COLLECTOR.

, ■ . . — « DEFICIENCY IN THE ACCOUNTS. INFORMATION FOB EMBEZZLEMENT. On Mod day the city authorities discovered, as the result, primarily, of an investigation of the list of defaulting ratepayers, that there was a shortage in the accounts of the rate collector (Mr J. Heard). The Mayor suspended him, brought the matter before the Finance Committee, and obtained the opinion of the city solicitor (Mr W. P. Cowliehaw), who advised him to lay an information. His Worship, however, decided not to do so without consulting the Council, and, accordingly, a special meeting was held at 4 p.m. yeaterday, when the Mayor's action was approved and a course of action decided upon. After the meeting his Worship resolved to placo the affair in the bands of the city solicitor. It is understood that the deficiencies discovered yesterday amount to upwards of £160, and that they extend over a period of about ten months. This morning the Government auditor, Mr Greville, intervened, made arrangements for a thorough investigation, and Uid. an information against the collector for embezzlement in connection with a aum paid by Messrs Nelson, Moate and Co. <lb appears that though Mr Heard had received notice of dismissal on the recommendation of the Departmental Committee, it wafl not known that there were any actual irregularities in his accounts until Monday, wlien the name of Messrs Nelson, Moate and Co. was found to be among those of ratepayers who, according to the books, had not paid their rateß. A telephone message waa sent asking them to pay up tie arrears, and they replied that the amount, £22 19s 4d, had been paid on Jan. 9 last. The town clerk thereupon went to their office,, and they produced the receipt. On examining the block ot the collector's receipt-book, ib was found to have been tampered with, the original entry, crediting the payment to Messrs Nelson, Moate and Co. having been altered into one crediting Messrs Multon and Kowe, of Lyttelton, with a payment of £2 odd. Messrs Nelson, Moate and Co. had paid the amount by cheque, which had been duly paid into the bank, but it appeared that cash amounting to about .£2O, the difference between the amount paid, and that entered in the book, had not been accounted for. This sum must, therefore, have been made up of various sums, euch as Messrs Multon and Eowe's rates, which had been entered, but, presumably, appropriated. A further investigation of the books revealed other deficiencies, all apparently made in the same manner. Today the authorities, in the course of the investigations, discovered other shortages, bringing the total sum unaccounted for up to £194. The examination of the bookß is not yet completed. Mr Heard, who is a young man, entered the service of the City Council as a cadet in February, 1882, and was appointed rate-collector in November, 1888. His salary as collector waß £156 a year, and he waa under a fidelity guarantee bond for £500. -