Beautiful Girl Swindler

Hokitika Guardian, 30 March 1922, Page 1

Beautiful Girl Swindler

GAY SEASON AT NICE

PARIS, Feb. 3

A remarkable story of one rogue preying on another has just become known through the arrest in Madrid by two French detectives of Antoinette Sala’. an Algerian girl of. remarkable beauty, who was living in luxury on the proceeds of a theft of more than £40,000 made by one of her lovers. She was working in a Paris dressmakers’ establishment when her adventures began in 1920. A young tailor named Platel, one of her lovers, conceived the bold plan of making himself an officer’s uniform and robbing the Ministry of War by means of forged orders to hand over money for the pay of the troops on the Rhine. Thie orders were forged by another lover of the dark-eyed Antoinette named Lecarpentier. The scheme succeeded so well that Platel and Lecarpentier defrauded the Afinistrv of War of £41,000. Then Platel was arrested and denounced his accomplice Lecarpentier. The police found the lattfer at his flat with Antoinette and arrested him. They searched the flat for the missing banknotes, but failed to look iu a torn envelope lying in full view on a chest of drawers which contained £35,000 worth of them.

When the police had gone off with their prisoner, Antoinette, who was in lied, threw a Dir coat over her nightdress and, snatching up the precious envelope, fled in a taxicab.

£12,000 ON FURS AT NICE. She sought refuge with some friends named Poupon in a Paris suburb. To them she told the whole story, paying them liberally for the refuge they' were according her. Thence she went to Nice, where she spent £I.OOO in buying a motor-car and £1.2,000 on furs. At the end of the season site reurned to Paris to the Poupons’ house. The latter had nVeamvhile determined to roh their guest, and they invented a story of police inquiries about her which sent Antoinette rushing precipitately to Spain, leaving her jewellery and motor car in the care of the Poupons. From Spain Antoinette wrote to the Poupons to send on her property. When the latter failed to do so she returned to Paris with a brawny male friend known as Graham Maingot, who posed as an Englishman. The latter forced Poupon to buy hack the jewellery he had sold and Antoinette and Maingot were able to return to Spain with £5.000. ADenn while other people who 1)0(1 obtained knowledge of Antoinette’s guilt from tlio Poupons began to blackmail her, and finally one of them denounced her to the police. The detectives who went to Madrid found Antoinette carrying on a first-class lingerie shop under the name of Alary Ell.v and describing herself as an Englishwoman.