THE RECEIVER

Hokitika Guardian, 13 June 1932, Page 7

THE RECEIVER

SCOTLAND YARD CAMPAIGN. STEALING FOR READY MARKET

LONDON, June 8. Find the receiver. That, says Scotland Yard, is the way to end the epidemic of burglaries and robberies in London. Lord Trenchard, the Police Commissioner, .has, launched, ..a Campaign, and selected are searching for stolen property. The detectives are finding, however, that it is by no means an easy matter to trace the actual receivers, because, in the majority of cases, burglars and thieves no longer know the identity of the actual receiver. Gone are the days when the burglar and receiver met to “trade.” To-day, the receiver operates through agents, who may not even know the identity of the final receiver.

“No burglar or thief retains stolen property in his possession even for a few hours,” an authority said recently. “In practically every case, long before the. robbery takes place, the agents of the actual receivers have arranged with the thief a,s to the p: ice to be paid for specified articles and the place of meeting. No .sooner is the robbery carried out than the agent is waiting to accept the .stolen goods and band them over to receivers, who, where jewels are concerned are most likely to be found on the Continent.

, “Furs can easily be disposed of, since they are difficult to identify. Stolen furs can he altered in a few hours and offered for sale without fear. Wireless sets, too, are a ‘.safe, deal.’

“One of the most notorious receivers of stolon property in Ifondon died, worth over £30,000. a few years ogo. He had been convicted only once, and then of a minor offence. The police were never able, though they worked for years, to establish proof of the fact that lie was a receiver. He travelled regularly to and from the Continent ‘buying and selling’ precious stones.

“.Regularly lie was to be seen in Hatton Garden, conducting his ‘deals’ with merchants who were above suspicion. Always when questioned he had a ‘reasonable explanation’ for hi-i possession of the precious stones or bars of scrap gold,”