AN ARTIST IN CRIME

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 73, Issue 419, 10 November 1930, Page 10

AN ARTIST IN CRIME

SWINDLER’S FAIRY TALES AMAZING STORY OF CAREER “ADVENTUER OE WORST TYPE.” FIVE YEARS’ IMPRISONMENT. Michael Dennis Corrigan, aged 45, the accomplished and cunning adventurer who, on September 16, was found guilty at the Old Bailey, London, of Iraudulcntly converting money entrusted to him for the purchase of oil shares, was sentenced on the following day by Judge Gregory to live years penal servitude. The case for the prosecution was that Corrigan represented himself as employed by the Standard Oil Company at a salary of £56,000 a year and that he obtained nearly £lB,OOO from Airs Alary Louise Harrold—a widow, of Lambourn, Berkshire—Mr Thomas Oswald Noad, and Mr Derek Cannon for in vestment’in oil shares. He was found not guilty on one count, relating to £4OOO, concerning Mr Cannon. Detective-Sergcat Winter, of Scotland Yard, told a remarkable story of Corrigan J s activities. He said there was one previous conviction recorded against him in Brussels, on December 6, 1926, when he was sentenced to one month’s imprisonment for passing under an assumed name and ordered to leave Belgian territory witnin 10 days after serving the sentence. Sergeant Winter continued:—“Corrigan is a married man, having married a Miss Browse at.the registry office, Romford, Essex on April 29, 1916, giving his name as Kittering Edward Cassidy, and describing himself as a munition engineer. There is one child by the marriage, a girl, and Corrigan deserted his wife and child some time in 1921 and went to live with a woman he was travelling with in Belgium. Pose as a Major ‘•The first knowledge the police have regarding him—with any degree of certainty—is that he joined the steamer Kanowa in August, 1915, as a second-grade steward, stating he was born in Jersey. He served as steward also in. the steamer Marie Leonhardt, taking his discharge at the Tyne on October 13, 1915. “Corrigan then married. At; the time he was employed by Messrs. Armstrong Whitworth as a munition worker. He obtained employment at Woolwich Arsenal on October IS, 1916, and was discharged from there on August 29. J9lB, his services being no longer required. He then went to the Alinistry of Munitions, remaining there ..ntil December, 1919, and while there he frequently described himself as Major Cassidy. It would then appear that he became a partner in a London firm and that a complaint was received in August, 1921, from the Monmouth police that Cassidy, as he was then known, had obtained a large sum of money from a person residing in that town. “Inquiries were made as to Corrlgar 's statements about concessions in -Mexico and his statement that he was a general in the Mexican Army. The Mexican authorities stated that they had no knowledge of him nor of any concessions granted to him and that they regarded him as an imposter and a swindler. Over £lOO,OOO Got by Fraud

“During the past five years at least he has exploited his supposed concessions in Mexico and his connections with various oil companies to such a degree that he has obtained to my knowledge more than £lOO,OOO by h's fraudulent representations from various persons and has been responsible for the ruin financially of some of his victims. There is no doubt he is a most plausible swindler and adventurei of the worst type. “So far as this inquiry is concerned I have traced more ftian £15.000 worth of bank-notes handed to Corrigan by the prosecutors, and there is no doubt the money was spent on his own welfare at hotels and for clothes. “About December 13, 1927, Corrigan changed his name of Cassidy by deed poll to Corrigan, and this coincided with the death of an American of that name of some repute. 1 think he has told the story so many times about concessions in oil in Yucatan, and things like that, that he has come to believe it himself. During the time 1 was conveying him from France to England he told me some of the wildest stories that even Hans Andersen can scarcely have ever fancied.” Yucatan Oilfield ‘ ‘ Discovery ’ ’ Air J. P. Eddy, addressing the judge on Corrigan s behalf in mitigation ut sentence, said that in 1923 Corrigan went back to the Bankruptcy Court and paid 20s in the pound, Corrigan, in his evidence, said that between 1905 and 1913 he and four other men discovered an oil-bearing area in Y ucatan which he valued at £6.000,000. He said he approached Mr Rogers of the Standard Oil Company, and it was agreed that if reports were satisfactory a company should be formed of which he was to be manag-ing-director. The Judge, summing up, told the jury that with regard to the £4OOO which Corrigan was alleged to have obtained from Mr Cannon it was impossible to convict, there being insufficient evidence on which the jury could act. According to the prosecution, Corrigan was a swindler who deliberately misrepresented himself to Airs Harrold and Air Noad, obtained the confidence, and then induced them to part with money by suggesting that if they entrusted it to him he could invest it in shares in oil companies to their great- advantage. “Bad and Cruel Frauds.’’ Dealing with Corrigan’s story of the Yucatan oilfields, the Judge asked:— “Is there anything that you cau say '■\ists which gives him any title to an oilfield in Aucatan? Is there anything upon which he could, as a business man, honestly believe that he was in possession of any rights in Yucatan? Is it correct, that which he alleges, ilu.t he and his associates had some rights in these oilfields, and that Air Rogers had • agreed to purchase them tor a large sum. If in fact they were in possession of anything of that kind, <Io you think they would have some documents relating to them, or some form of contract so far as Air Rogers was concerned?” In passing sentence the judge said to Corrigan: “The jury have found you guilty of a series of bad and cruel frauds invoking sums amounting in the aggregate to tens of thousands ot

pounds. You had no mercy on your “One, a woman left by her husband in comfortable circumstances, you have reduced to a state of penury; the other, a man who was in comparatively affluent circumstances, you have caused to become a bankrupt and lose his business, and he has been compelled to start his business life over again as a clerk in an insurance office. AH this that you might live a luxurious life in some leading hotels in London and France.” Corrigan took the sentence calmly. He turned, gave a swift glance round the Court, and walked brisklv to the cells. Corrigan’s early upbringing is known only to himself; even a police prosecution failed to disclose his place or birth. When, in 1926, he was charged at the London sessions with having two passports, one in the name of Cassidy and the other in the name of Corrigan, a different place of birth —Fermoy, County Cork, and Ontario, Canada—was given in each document. Although Corrigan was discharged, both passports were retained by the Home Office, and wJien travelling he was supplied with an identity certificate. This he referred to as his “dog’s license.’’ No one apparently nas any knowledge of his activities before 1911, when he was known in Mexico City as “Boss” Cassidy. Wherever he spent his early days he accumulated considerable knowledge. He speaks French, German, Spanish, and Italian, and has a smattering of Oriental languages.

It was not until 1920 that Corrigan began a career that has had many vicissitudes. Sometimes he spent money with the lavishuess of a wealthy spendthrift; at other times has been penniless. He travelled extensively on the Continent, after nearly a five years’ stay in London, and it was not long before he became a polished raconteur with a gift for disarming suspicion as to the accuracy of his statements. Before he came back to England Corrigan spent some time in, Port Said and Alexandria. In London he attracted much attention by' his lavish expenditure. He had a private secretary, a valet, luxurious motor-cars, and an expensive Alayfair flat. He was secretive about his newly acquired prosperity, and he was under the observation of Scotland Yard. The knowledge of engineering gained in the Ministry of Alunitions was of reat value to Corrigan. He started an engineer’s business in Paris, and it prospered until it was neglected for horse-racing. In 1922 he was back in London, shabby and down at heel. He soon got over his bad spell and utilised his knowledge of engineering by offering contracts for t-*e irrigation of wheat-bearing land in inaccessible countries. He never had an office of his own. Time after time he disappeared from one address and reappeared at another. In his days of stress he was befriended by many people who believed in him, but they were al] badly repaid. In 1923 Corrigan’s affairs were very prosperous, and his knowledge of what was happening in Alexico was amazingly accurate. He made money for himself, but those who listened to the story of how millions were to be made by gun-running were not so lucky. Next Corrigan appeared as a racehorse owner in Belgium. He betted heavily at the races, occupied a luxurious suite at an hotel, and at night displayed his skill at baccarat. His horses won many races in Belgium until he was arrested. In 1927 he had a smart suite of rooms at a West End hotel and was apparently in possession of plenty of money. He started a racing stable near Winchester, with some horses he brought from Belgium and new purchases. For two seasons Corrigan raced under National Hunt rules. Once at Kempton Park one of his horses when winning was pulled up at the wrong place, and the jockey’s error cost Corrigan and his friends nearly £5009.