BETTING CASE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 257, 29 October 1931, Page 3

BETTING CASE.

Alleged Attempt to Defraud Bookmakers. FOUR MEN ON TRIAL. (Special to the “ Star.”) WELLINGTON, October 29. A start was made in the Supreme Court yesterday with the trial of four men—Ralph Antonovitch, John Ryan, Wilfred Henry Gladstone Brown, and Charles Thomas Tassell —on charges relating to alleged attempts to defraud two bookmakers by a system of telegraph betting. The four accused are charged on three counts: (1) On or about June 3 they conspired among themselves and with Alfred Jansen and John Maitland by fraudulent means—false telegrams—to defraud two bookmakers. Charles Joseph Williams and Peter Healey, of sums of money. (2) That with intent to defraud by a false telegram they attempted to' obtain a sum of money from Williams. (3) That with intent to defraud by a false telegram they attempted to obtain a sum of money from Healey. Tassell and Brown, who were employed in the telegraph operating room of the General Post Office, at the time of the commission of the alleged offences are also charged that, contrary to their duty, they wilfully delayed or caused to loe delayed two telegrams to Williams and Healey respectively. Ryan is represented by Mr A. B. Sievwright; Tassell by Mr W. E. Leicester; Antonovitch by Mr R. Tripe; and Brown by Mr W. P. Rollings. Crown’s Allegations.

It is alleged by the Crown that arrangements were made with two bookmakers to take bets by wire from Jansen and Maitland on the Auckland races on June 6 last. Telegrams, it is contended, were handed in by Jansen and Maitland at the Te Aro Post Office, Wellington, on the day of the meeting, each backing a certain horse in the third race, and it is alleged that these telegrams, after having been received at the telegraph operating room of the General Post Office and when the result of the particular race was known, were taken out to Jansen and Maitland, waiting outside the Post Office, and the name of the horse in the telegrams was altered to the name of the winning horse, High Pitch.

In his opening address, which occupied nearly an hour, the Crown Prosecutor (Mr P. S. K. Macassey) said that the second and third charges against the accused were really alternative charges, and amounted to practically the same thing as conspiracy. The two men, Jansen and Maitland with whom it was alleged the four accused were in league were before the Court at the last sessions on a charge of conspiracy. Maitland was acquitted; Jansen was convicted, and sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment.

Jansen gave evidence, giving details of the scheme in which he had taken part, and Mr Macassey said that Maitland would also be called as a Crown witness.

According to the Crown case, the originators of the alleged scheme were Ryan and Antonovitch, who, said Mr Macassey, was referred to as “ Smith ” or “ Smithy.” The telegrams that were sent by Jansen and Maitland to the two bookmakers—one at Palmerston North and one at Wanganui—were received by the counter clerk at the Te Aro Post Office at 12.50 p.m., and they arrived by messenger at the operating room in the General Post Office at 1.13 p.m., and were handed to Tassell, a supervisor. Mr Macassey explained the usual practice adopted in the operating room from the time telegrams were received until their dispatch, and said that no longer than ten minutes should have elapsed before the messages were dispatched. It would be shown, he said, that Tassell received the two telegrams, with other wires at 1.13 p.m., and that the telegram to the Palmerston North bookmaker was delayed until 1.42 p.m., a delay of 29 minutes, and the telegram to the Wanganui bookmaker until 1.37 p.m., a delay of 24 minutes. It was alleged that in between times, with Tassell and Brown (senior supervisor) in connivance, the two telegrams were taken out of the operating room, received by Antonovitch, and then taken to the tramway waiting shed opposite, where they w'ere altered by Jansen and Maitland. After this, it was alleged that the telegrams were taken back to the operating room by Antonovitch and dispatched. Jansen’s Statements. Jansen was questioned by Mr Sievwright about the four statements he had made, particularly as to the two last statements made after his conviction. Jansen admitted that the reason he made the statements after his conviction was in the hope of receiving a lighter sentence. Mr Sievwright: Did any police officer tell you that? —No, sir. In answer to further questions bv Mr Sievwright, Jansen admitted that some years ago, before leaving Wellington, where he had a business, he was fined £IOO for sly grog selling. Mr Sievwright suggested that there had been another fine of £25. Jansen: Well, you ought to know, Mr Sievwright, you were my counsel. (Laughter.) His Honor (smiling) : Did you plead not guilty? Jansen: I did, sir. Mr Sievwright (to his Honor) : He must have made incorrect statements then, sir. His Honor; You represented him, Mr Sievwright. (Laughter.) Mr Sievwright: One cannot always be responsible for one’s clients, sir. (Proceeding.)