ALLEGED FALSE PRETENCES.

Gisborne Times, Volume VIII, Issue 482, 23 July 1902, Page 2

ALLEGED FALSE PRETENCES.

At the Magistrate's Court yesterday, before Mr W. A. Barton, S.M., a middleaged man, named Frederick John Ferris, alias Francis William Ferris, was charged with being an idle and disorderly person. Accused was further charged with having on July 19, 1902, endeavored to impose upon Joseph Peckovcr by false representation in writing with a view to obtaining money. Ferris again pleaded guilty to ooth charges, and elected to be dealt with summarily. Sergeant Siddells said that accused had oeen convicted and sentenced to six months for false pretences on April 25 of last year, in the name of Frederick William Ferris. At Dunedin he was convicted under the name of Frederick William Ferris. The accused for some years Had been carrying on a system of swindling various people in different places of 1 irge sums of money. The method employed was that when Ferris arrived in a town he produced to some solicitor, generally the most respectable man in the place, letters purporting to be written by relatives in England. The letters were apt to lead people to believe that they were genuine. He had no doubt that the letters had been worded similarly to those used at other places. In Napier some two years ago Ferris produced letters to a solicitor which were taken as genuine, and large sums of money were advanced on the strength of them. On Juno 25 the accused arrived at Gisborne by the Te Anau, and put up at the Turanganui Hotel. He interviewed a firm of solicitors in the town and produced letters which appeared to have been written by a brother of the accused, stating that a sum of £2OOO had been left him by an uncle who had died, also that a farm of JOO acres had been left to him. The solicitors on this occasion refused to advance money, but undertook to collect the amount of the legacy in England. They carried out their part of the work. The accused being unable to obtain money from the solicitors interviewed Mr PeckI over, whom he gave an order to the lawyers to read the letters. Mr Peckover I was so struck with their genuineness that he advanced certain sums of money. The accused was not satisfied with obtaining i one sum of £29, but on several subsequent I occasions he attempted to obtain more advances. On Saturday the accused was ! arrested, and he admitted having obtained a sum of £29. His Worship said that there was no doubt that such men as the accused were a nuisance to society. Instead of turning to work and earning aD honest living, they endeavored to impose upon any person who was ready to believe their story. There was no excuse whatever for a man resorting to that sort of means of getting money in this country. There was plenty of work to be obtained if they choose to look for it.” His Worship sentenced the accused to two months’ imprisonment for the hrsfc charge of vagrancy, and six months’ for the second offence of false pretences.