SWEEP PROMOTERS

Hokitika Guardian, 27 May 1933, Page 5

SWEEP PROMOTERS

FINES IMPOSED NOT EXACTLY A FRAUD. (Per Press Association — Copyright.) WELLINGTON, May 26. Charged before the Magistrate, Mr Page, with establishing a lottery known as “The Empire and Foreign Amalgamated Consultation.” whereby £7,603 in money was to be distributed by chance,' Melton Allan Ingle and "William Craighead pleaded guilty. Each was fined £ls.

.Herbert Henry "Waters was fined £1 for selling tickets. Detective Sergeant Revell said that in December Ingle and Craighead decided to "promote a lottery. They, approached a local firm to print suitable tickets. Five hundred were printed. The defendants proceeded to sell them themselves, and through agents. They were approached by Detective Sergeant Hall in March, and, as a result, they ceased selling. They said they had sold 150 tickets. ■{ The defendants, Sergeant Revell said, -they would have had to sell 58,000 tickets. For a start only 500 were printed, and as the lottery was to close on March 31st., and to be drawn on April 14th., the defendants had little time to sell the required number of tickets. They proposed to get a concession to draw the lottery in some foreign country, such as Tahiti. It was obvious that they could not promote the scheme, but he did not suggest that it was esactly a fraudulent scheme, •Counsel for the defendants interjected that there- was no suggestion of fraud. He regarded Sergeant Revell’s remarks as a breach of faith. The Commissioner of Police had been interviewed in connection with the matter, and had given an assurance that there would he no allegation of fraud. Sergeant Revell: “I do not suggest that these men went out to defraud peoule, but I suggest that they could . not possibly sell the required number of tickets. ■

Mr Page: ‘You mean that the scheme would have fallen through. . Sergeant Revell: Yes. ’Sergeant Revell-’ said- ■ that- Ingle w-aw on two years’ probation for theft. Craighead was married, and had never previously been before the Court.