A ROTHSCHILD DEFALCATION.

Kumara Times, Issue 1166, 24 June 1880, Page 3

A ROTHSCHILD DEFALCATION.

A defalcation in the great banking concern of the Rothschilds is snch an extraordinary occurrence that the European papers devote much space to the late affair in Vienna. It sCems that the Vienna branch of the house had long had in its employ a man named Straffer. He entered its service in 1864 at the age of 21, obtaining numerous promotions by his zeal and fidelity, and in 1874 was given the important post of cashier of the stock and bond department of the bank. He was a quiet, industrious man, and was to all appearance wholly devoted to his employers, whose entire confidence he enjoyed, Nothing in his way of living excited suspicion. He was a bachelor, and hiS salary of £4OO a year seemed ample for his expenses. A short time since Straffer called upoh the principal attorney of the Rothschilds and confessed that for several years he had been speculating on the Bourse with funds obtained by hypothecating the securities placed in his charge, and that he had covered np his operations by false entries in the books of the bank. A series of heavy losses had made it impossible for him longer to conceal his

guilt, and he made a clean breast of the whole affair. He was Jed to speculate by the belief that he could safely imitate the operations of the bank, of which he had early knowledge. His mistake was in not taking into account the fact that he knew only of the transactions of one branch of the great firm which has its agencies in every money centre in the world, and that the Rothschilds might choose to loose in Vienna for Ihe sake of winning in London or Paris. Straffer’s defalcations amount to £5,000; not enough to make much of a sensation in London, perhaps, but sufficient to cause considerable excitement in Vienna.