An Ingenious Swindle.

Manawatu Herald, 2 October 1902, Page 3

An Ingenious Swindle.

A TRICK WITH PAPER MONEY

Three well-dressed young men, apparently by their accent for igners, called' at the Ballarat branch of the Colonial Bank a few d?ys ago, and, in the presence of the t it, h id a conversation as to the nest meana to adopt to send a sum of £xoo to Melbourne. After much argument and various appeals to t) e teller, an arrangement was decided upon for forwa ding the money in £$ notes. Then one of the men presented a £too note, and requested St to be changed for twenty of the denomination of five pounds. Twenty notes were handed over in exchange for the single note of £IOO, and no sooner had the stranger had his request complied with than he suddenly seized with doubt as to the advisability of sending so big a parc«l through the post to Melbourne. At once he banded back the notes to the teller, with the observation, “No, I will send the single note.” As soon as the teller received the notes he felt that the size of the bundle had shrunken, and he replied : “No you don’t, old man, all the notes are not here.” The stranger then, with an exclamation of surprise, opened bis hand, and with a hearty laugh, which was joined in by his friends, showed several notes, which he deposited on the counter with profuse apologies for what he described as a most extraordinary thing. The whole affair was carried out with such admirable skill and naturalness that the suspicions of the teller were completely dislipated, and the trio left tha banking chambers. Thence they proceeded to the London Bank of Australasia, where they went through precisely the same performance, except on this occasion they succeeded in deluding the teller, and left the premises richer by £35. It is known that they were also successful in their attempt to swindle another bank, but the police firmly decline to say anything about it. The plunder this time amounted to £2O. The men disappeared from Ballarat, and warrant# tor their arrest have been issued. Similar operations have been carried on in Melbourne, The Royal Bank in Collins-street lost £25, and several other institutions have also suffered. I The game was played once too often, however, aud an arrest was made. ' A young foreigner entered the Eliza-b'eth-street branch of the Bank of Australasia, and placing three £5 notes on the counter asked that they shouhn be exchanged (or £1 notes. He placedi bis hand over the £1 notes when thew were given to him by the teller, an<9 said: “ No, give me gold.” He thetil banded the notes back to the teller. I The latter was suspicious that all] was not right, and asked the man toj " ■ wait for a few minutes. The teller ran to the telephone and communicated! with the detective office, and the man! ' was kept waiting until the police ar-1 rived and arrested him. I The teller, in the meantime, had| counted the notes, and found that fourl of the £1 notes were missing- The! mac gave his name as Steven Mark, zol years of age, and stated that he was! one of the Greeks who are at present! camped at Port Melbourne. He was! searched, and four £t notes were found | on him. He was locked up on a charge of larceny of £4, the moneys of the Bank of Australasia.