IMPUDENT SWINDLE.

Kumara Times, Issue 1134, 18 May 1880, Page 2

IMPUDENT SWINDLE.

One of the mosb darihg swindles ever heard of was perpetrated ;hot long ago upon a well known' London Bank. About 2 p.m. a well appointed' brougham, with coachman and .'servant cor* rectly dressed—cockades o.h their tats, breeched, t'op-bobts, etc.—and an'Earl's coronet upon drew- up at the door of ihis ' establishment iri Question. . The servant was seen fco/ get* off £he box, go to the ! of the vehicle, touch his hat, and receive from one of the inmates a: piece of paper, Which he took into : tht>" Bank. It proved to be a check for i>4l6/Rigned by the Earl of Blank,* and' payable to self or bearer. ; The nobleman in question having always'a large -balauce at

the Bank, tbe servant or groom wis merrly asked how he would take it, when he produced a slip of paper on which was written— " <£lo in gold, the rest in ,£SO notes." The check was paid at once, and the man took his partnre. A couple of hours later when the balance for the day was being made up, one of the clerks remarked he had i*ead in the papers the Earl of Blank was cruising in his yacht. This caused the manager to send round to His Lordship's town house, when he learned "that the peer in question had not been in town for neatly a month-. To make a long story short, the check was found to be a forgery, although the signature "was an admirable imitation of the Earl's, and the check was evidently taken from a check-book which had been given to His Lordship. Further inquiry showed that within 20 minutes trf the cheque being paid by the Bank the notes had been changed at the Bank of England.