Forgers & Counterfeiters

Waikato Times, Volume 116, Issue 19462, 29 December 1934, Page 11 (Supplement)

Forgers & Counterfeiters

T WOULD SEEM incredible thwt a forger I should be able to live almost entirely by -the falsification of documents for thirty years and escape detection 1 1 3 was the remarkable achievement nf James STIC££ 3,1': nian ’’n ,T a member of the Inner .Temple 6 1840 praotU :as a barrister while perpeSS some of his fourty, and won some renutation as-an able advoua^. AT ,. j.jenry T. F. Rhodes, who cn.es hitn ns the leading type of professional tomo^say», in “The Graft of Forgery, that aunn o ins npriod and for many years before, he had been concerned with .crime and particulaily with the receiving of stolen property. • ■ hp actually •sowceraed as a tweae. the Gold Bullion ’Robbery. Agar Iho principal in this affair, confessed at his tuathat lie had sold: in all 700 ounces of gold Seaward whom he wed to meet a Ins chambers at No. 4, Inner Court, 6.n,».e. _ Saward became a specialist .in the im- n a of cheques and similar negotiable iiie.ia, Without revealing his identilfy, he Bought Cancelled or Blank Cheques the proceeds of burglaries, from menibeis of the 'underworld through an intermediary. He would then find out the financial position of his intended victim, obtain his signature by craft, and forge a 'cheque for a sum he knew could be met. His ingenious method of'obtaining the signature was demonstrated in the case of a solicitor named Turner, who had his pockcx nicked and lost, among other things, two blank .cheques. Some days afterwards a man named Hunter called upon the solicitor to consult him professionally, lie said v tliat lie wished to collect a debt from a man named Hesp. Upon the receipt of the solicitors letter £3O owing was promptly paid. Both Hunter and Hesp were, of course, Saward’s accomplices. Saward, however, wanted to be sure that the signature used by Turner on Ids letter was tire same as that used on Ids cheque's—and unfortunately lie bad paid the £3O in cash. So ho made a second attempt, later. “Hunter’’ again visited Idm and asked him to collect another debt —lids time for £lO3 15s (hi: and the solicitor, of course, paid by cheque after deduedj„K ’ bis legal charges. Saward was tlicit able lo forge Ids •signature to a cheque for over £IOO. For live actual cashing of the cheque he always engaged a 'messenger who did not know' it was forged. The two accomplices would lie in or near the bank lo report to Saward at once if Micro was any Jiilcli, in which sc all three would promptly Disappear For a Time. In the ease of Turner’s cheque ail 'nccnni,,ll,.,. en .|,>rod I lie hank at the same lime as t I H . voulli who was l o present Ihe cheque ~,,,1 inverted the cashier's attention by making inquiries about a draft which had not been honoured. The money was paid in eight flity-poutid

Methods of Jim the Penman.

notes. r sie forgers made no attempt to change them in- London, but made a special journey to Hamburg fo dispose of note* which might otherwise have been traced to them. A fatal slip made by an a? comp lice, Hardwicke; was responsible for Saward’s ultimate detection after such a phenomenal success. When he had worked London sufficiently Saward decided to transfer hi* 'activities to the provinces, sending Hardwicke and another con federate, Atwell, to Yarmouth and Norwich. Hardwicke arranged to assume the name of Ralph, but became Confused With His Many Aliases

and opened aii account at Barclays Bank .under the name of Whitney instead, ordering 'that the money be paid in Yarmouth. When ho tried to collect £250 there, he was, of course, told that the account stood in The name of Whitney, and that the money could he drawn only to the depositor’s order. Instead of 'sacrificing the sum and leaving Norfolk immediately—for the pair had apparently aroused some suspicion in endeavouring to get into touch with solicitors who were to write the usual letters to alleged debtors—Hardwick® was intent on retrieving the money and wrote Saward in London for instructions. The latter’s plan was ingenious in the extreme —'too Ingenious to he plausible; but before it could be put into effect the Bank approached the police, the two men were arrested, 'and Saward’* reply fell into their hands. He was tried in March, 1857, and sentenced to transportation for life. It is a curious fact, Mr Rhodes remarks, that Saward made no attempt at a defence, and did not brief counsel. in spite of the enormous 'sums of money which had passed through the hand* of the gang they seemed to have been without financial resources at the time 'of their arrest. In this expert study of every known type of counterfeiter and forger Mr Rhodes expresses the opinion that the professional forger is the most inveterate and dangerous of all criminals. . . . The mere motive of gain is not, sufficient to explain the consistent adherence to an occupation which is Incredibly Difficult and Dangerous. The explanation must rather be sought in Hie fact Ilia I, forgery becomes for this type of practitioner u species of vocation. ■ Ho instances, besides Saward, a coiner who deJlnilcly held this point of view. He was a clever •mechanic Who earned good wages, iml Ire regularly coined florins and half-crowns, even in.his fitter's shop during working hours, where ultimately he was acres,led in Hie, act. Ho> was “hard-working ami in every other way 'scrupulously honest," bad saved a considerable sum of money, and owned properly. When arrested he was in comfortable 'circumstances, apart, from gains from ids coining. Ho was sentenced to a long term of penal .servitude, but only a few days after his release was rearrested for passing false money, although even then lie could not have been in Immediate want.