Commission Agent's Thefts

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 30, 16 March 1948, Page 5

Commission Agent's Thefts

Customers' Money Used For Personal Expenses In the Court at Whakatane yesterday before Messrs C. G. Lucas and I. B. Hubbard, J's.P., Reginald Ackland Tims, 60, of Ohope, salesman, pleaded guilty to thirteen charges of theft by failure to account for £s2f is 3d received on behalf of an Auckland wine firm. He was committed to the Supreme Court at Auckland for sentence. Tims was remanded to face further charges at Opotiki today and at Rotorua tomorrow.

On Mr G. Otley's application, bail was renewed, £IOO on accused's own recognisance and one surety of £IOO. Thirteen witnesses, mainly farmers, gave evidence that Tims had approached them as representative of the Castello Wine Co., Auckland, and they had ordered and paid for cases of wine to a total value of £6B 15s. None had received any wine.

Herbert Friedlander, manager of the company concerned, said he had employed Tims as an agent on April 5 of last year. First complaint had come to his notice in November, but Tims had smoothed it over. Following further complaints he .terminated the agreement in January. He knew nothing of the orders for the people in Court, and the company had fulfilled no.ne of them. He admitted to Mr Otley that, as the company had delivered none of the wine, it was not out of pocket. Tims's commission on the £63 15s would be £ls 13s 9d, leaving £53 Is 3d to account for. Sergeant A. B. Collinge read the Court a statement given him by Tims as an explanation in an interview on March 11. In that statement, Tims had said he was handling the orders in accordance with his agreement with the company until October. Then he developed heart trouble, which affected his working efficiency, and he got into debt. He started to use some of the money he was collecting for his personal expenses, intending to put' things right when his health picked up.