A WHOLESALE FORGER.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 5488, 6 December 1884, Page 2

A WHOLESALE FORGER.

Mr H. Levin, & well-known business man in Corowa, New Sovth Wales, was recently discovered to have been guilty of a long series of most impudent frauds. When the found that the game was up he committed suicide. The Corowa " Free Press "of Oct. 17 gives the following particulars of the affair : —

It seems like a fiae stroke of irony that most of the paper discounted locally bore the signatures of people who had, as they thought, certified to the unblemished character of Mr H. Levin, and his fitness to be trusted as agent for certain companies. Insurance agencies were especially affected by him. To most of his victims he seems to have said, "I am applying for an agency for such and such a company, and they snrround the appointment with abaurd conditions. They require a certincate as to my character. Would you mind signing your name at the foot of this printed sheet, and I will fill in the answers to the questions, and save you any further bother ? Going to have a whiskey ?" The victim unsuspectingly signed ; the upper portion of the sheet was then cut or torn off, and the remainder of the paper over the signature covered in Levin's own hand-writing in the form of a promissory note, and for just the amount which he wanted, or just as- fancy struck him. Here is a list of the amounts of some of the bills — the names of the victims being suppressed for obvious reasons :—

This does not represent all, or nearly all. The bills so manufactured were taken to Mr George Beeby, a well-known financier, and by him discounted and handed over to the Bank of Australasia for transmission to the Stamp Office, Sydney, to be embossed with the stamp according to the schedule. It is necessary here to state that for the last cix months Mr Beeby has dealt largely in discounting bills for Levin, and holds a great many genuine trade bills besides the " dummies."

There were other ways in which the innocent were victimised. We have heard of several cases, but select two as illustrations : — A customer whom we will call •• Farmer " gave Levin a promissory note for £33 9s 7d for goods. The bill was discounted by Mr Beeby. During the currency of the note, " Farmer " made further purchases to the amount of £61 12s Id, the amount for which was furnished, with a request for settlement, by promissory note. Mr "Farmer" came into Corowa, and was told that in order to make one transaction for the matter, the amount of the first bill (£33 9s 7d) would be added to the store account, £61 12s Id, making £95 Is Bd, and that one promissory note would be made out of the whole amount, and the first one returned. This was done, but Mr " Farmer" did not receive his first note, and the consequence is that the second note was also discounted. Mr Beeby holds both, and .Mr " Farmer is liable for £128 lls 3d, instead of £95 Is Bd, the proper amount of his indebtedness. Another case, in which we will speak of the drawer as Mr "MoCocah." That person gave a promissory note for £125 16s 6d, which represented the price of a cask of whiskey, and two bills which were to be retired by Levin— one for £36 13s 6d, and another for £56 3s. Of course, neither of the bills was retired, and "MeCoach" is now liable to the discounter for £216 16s, instead of £125 16a 6d. Another case, and still another case, and then we will have done with illustrations, having shown sufficient to make our readers acquainted with the enormity of the frauds. Mr " Merino " gave a bill for £161 15 a 2d. In a few days he was told that there was a mistake in the account rendered, which should have been £166 38 6d, and that if he gave a bill for the latter amount the first bill would be procured and sent out to him by post. He did so, and is now liable for both— a total of £327 18s Bd, instead of £166 3s 6d. Mr "Lyons" signed in the office a promissory note for £16 14s 4d, and as he handed it over, the signature was purposely "smudged." He was told that, as he was in a hurry, if he signed another blank form the amount would be properly filled in. He signed, and that bill was made as for £48 6s 6d, and both promissory notes — the " smudged " and unsmudged— discounted, making Mr " Lyons" liable for £65 0s lid, instead of £16 14s sd.

On last Saturday the manager of the Bank of Australia discovered a promissory note, purporting to be drawn by a trader in the Corowa for £130 Is 7d. There must have been previous cause for suspicion — in fact, we know that there was, as on the preceding evening Mr Frawin, the firm's solicitor, aud the bank manager made a discovery which revealed at least one fraud. This bill for £130 Is 6d was selected as a test, and Mr Roxburgh, of the BaDk of Australasia, interviewed Mr Levin and requested him, with Mr Frewin, to attend at the Bank at their earliest opportunity. Mr Levin was then questioned as to the firm's transactions in Rutherglen, and gave evasive answers. This not being considered satisfactory by Messrs Roxburgh and Frewin, it wm decided to interview the drawer, with the result that it was found to be a fraud. During the absence of Messrs Roxburgh and Frewin) the wretched man disappeared, and half an hour afterwards the body was lying in the mud at the bottom of the Murray. Three of his best friends have been "lot in " in the following manner :— He had a number of polioiea in force on his own life, on which it now appears that he raised

money, Presenting a policy, which he represented as having been in existence, for eight or nine years, to these friends, Levin > asked their signatures to a bond guaranteeing the repayment of a loan of £500, alleging that he only required it for six months, ana that the policy had a surrender value of more that the amount It has transpired that it was an altogether new polioy, nob more, than a few weeks old, with absolutely no Barren* der value, and the friends have received notice to pay the £500 before December 80.

£ s. d. 77 16 9 39 18 0 93 2 6 67 18 0 70 5 6 130 1 6 59 6 6 157 9 2 63 8 3 118 2 19 83 12 0 JSB 18 6 300 0 0 £ s.d. 200 0 0 65 8 0 86 0 3 77 19 0 126 13 3 53 16 0 57 7 11 43 1 9 56 16 6 93 16 6 60 9 3 76 2 0 65 5 0 82 10 0