TALKED IN THOUSANDS
But Could Not Raise Enough To . Pay Workman's Wages SYNDICATE'S MANAGER GAOLED (From "N.Z. Truth's" Te Kuiti Representative.) There was an unexpected development m a case be/ore the Hamilhn Supreme Court last week, m which an elderly man, Finlay John McLean, described as farm manager and agent, of Onehunga, was charged with obtaining credit for poet £20 without disclosing that heraas an undischarged bankrupt. . . DURING the evidence of an Auck- Lawyer Morton protested against land lawyer. Crown Solicitor Gil- the transaction being described as a lies said- he had no hesitation m swindle, while Thomas declared: "It stating- that a certain land syndicate, "vras not a swindle." In which McLean and other well- Crown Prosecutor Gillies: "I have known Auckland men were interested, not the slightest hesitation m descrlbwas a swindle. - ing it as such!" There were three counts m the m- His Honor: "Is it a fact that the dlctment against McLean, who has syndicate paid only £800 for the propbeen bankrupt on three occasions — erty and took a- mortgage for over first at Wanganui, then at ■Wellington £4000 on it?'' and later at Hamilton.' ''He,- has only Thomas replied In the affirmative, obtained his discharge from one. ' hut added that a certain amount of The' evidence was to the effect that money had been spent on, the property he engaged a man named Albert Ed- m the meantime. ward Poole to work on a farm near Te Crown Solicitor: Is It not a fact that Kuitiat£4a week, allowing the man's Mr. Mackersey accused you of delibwages to run on until Pools was owed erately omitting certain clauses from no less than £68/15/-; that he ordered the mortgage?— l don't think so. seeds and manures from Abraham and Please don't laugh, Mr. Thomas! I Williams, Ltd., at Te Kuiti, for over put it to you seriously that Mr. Mac£6o, without p"aying for them; and kersey accused you of deliberately that he ran up an account for board omitting certain clauses from the and lodging at< the Grand Hotel, Te mortgage?— Oh, he made some wild Kuiti, for £35/6/-. . charges that I, did not trouble to conIn none of the cases did he disclose sider. The mortgage was merely m the fact that he was an undischarged draft form, bankrupt. In reply to his honor as to the memPoole, the farm hand, said McLean bers of the syndicate, Thomas stated engaged him and he did not learn until that Francis and Morrison were m it, later than the farm belonged to a syn- while James Boddie, chairman of dlcate. McLean did' tell him that directors of the Farmers'. Union Tradhe was an undischarged bankrupt. ,ing Co., had also promised to take '■, . ' .. . >500 shares; other men m Auckland and Lawyer Morton (for. accused) : T Kultl had promised to put money You don't want to «ac - this man go ae o *g when t £ e company was re - s giio gaol, do you/ — So long 99 I get + a my "dough,". I don't care What Cro w n Sdllcltor: It has no chance of happens. (Laughter.) becoming registered now?— No. His Honor: Do ; you know what, a ,. Mr Mackersey effectively syndicate is?— lt's one 6f them things --i^.j ♦Whubblal'' - like a company, ain't it? (Laughter.) P rlcked the bubblel His Honor: "I am not quite sure .of George Hill said the company was the definition myself and I was won- ultimately to be called Farmers Dederlng- what you thought It was." velopment. Limited. McLean was to Poole (informatively):, "It's when a be manager and the syndicate waa to lot of blokes has a finger m, a pie. have a capital of £10,000. That's a syndicate, your honor." (Loud In addition to Boddie promising to laughter.) take 600. shares, one Lopdell, an engiEvidence was given by Edith Hal- neer, of Auckland, also promised to ford, owner of : the, Grand 'Hotel, -that take some. He (witness) was the McLean ran up an account for board chief financier and put In £500. and lodging for. £35 odd. and that he The syndicate, he added, was out of ! .»wiim.miiuMiwmu»iwm^ i ■■ininuimimtmninniiiuniiiiiniiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiHiniiiiuuininiiHnuiuniiiiiniMiniiiiitiiiiii i«imiiiniiimuHiiiiimiimmuHmmmmmiillil(iimimiiiMmiiimiiiiinriiinmiMminminimi.i«
'ainaiinmmuiuniiiiHiiiniciuniuniiiMiiiintiiiinnnnunVnuiiiiMinimiiiiiiiinmiiiiuii.itiHiifiniiiiitiii «ramiiuinii(iii«iiMiiiiiii»iiwmiiuniiuiii»pmiiiiiiiiiminitiHiiiimmiiniiiiuiiiHiiHraiiiiiminciiiiii told her to send the account to a solicitor named Thomas m Auckland. This she' did, but. it was not paid. McLean never informed her that he was an undischarged bankrupt. The representative of Abraham and Williams, Ltd., also gave evidence relative to goods ordered on credit by McLean, who never said anything about his bankruptcies. It waa when Norman Russell W. Thomas, solicitor of Auckland, entered the box that the case livened up considerably. Thomas said he acted as solicitor for the syndicate referred to, known as Farmers' Development, , Limited. '. ■; McLean, he added, was only manager for the syndicate and was not. a member of it. . '- . Thomas 'paid debts incurred m the name of the syndicate. The three now m question were the firm's debts and would no doubt ultimately be • paid, but the syndicate was out of funds at present, which 'was the reason', they had remained unpaid. Under cross-examination, witness said that Geors© Hill, of Auokland, was the chief factor m the syndicate;; other members were one Franels and one Morrison, a land agenti j Asked what money had been put into the syndicate, wltneaa aaid be did not lczio\^ ■ ■ ■ Crown Solicitor Gillies: "But surely you, as solioitor to the syndicate, should know?" Thomas reiterated that he did not. Crown Solicitor J "Well, this is no laughing matter, Mr. Thomas; I assure you of that!" To which witness replied that he was not laughing. As a matter of fact, are you not merely trying to shield McLean?— No. Isn't McLean a member of the syndicate, which consists chiefly of Hill and McLean?— No. ' ' ■ \ . '. Are you a member of the. syndicate? —No. : - ■ Are you Qtiite sure, Mr. Thomas? — Yes. '.'■ . . There are properties owned by the syndicate m the King Country?— Yes. And did not Grubb and Leeming give a mortgage to McLean for over £4000 OH one of the properties?— Yes, he was to act as trustee. And all that the syndicate paid for the property, was *«»J— '*■ cost them a little more than that. "And Mr. Mackersey, solicitor, of Te Kuiti, burst up this swindle?"
imuinwwiiHiiminiuuiMniiuimHmimiiiiiiiumiimiimmiiMiinutimmimimitmmmmiimii iiniiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiuiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiinMHiiiHiiiiliiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiini funds at the moment, although he accepted responsibility for the accounts which were the subject of the present action. Hill, m answer to Crown Solicitor Gillies, said that the Francis mentioned as one of the syndicate was Herbert Francis. • "The famous , Herbert Francis?" asked the Crown Solicitor. Hill ; said he had only known^Francis for about four years. In answer to a further question, witness said that Thomas, the solicitor, also financed him to a certain extent. The company did not go to registration?— No. And it is no use going on -with it now? — No, And Mr. Mackersey was the cause of putting a spoke m its wheel? — It was due to his interference. He found that Grubb and Leeming were being taken down and he refused to allow them to complete?— He would not allow them to complete.His Honor: "I have an idea that if I only paid £ 600 for a property, I would not be able to raise, more than £600 on it. Supposing you had raised the £10,000, how were you going to allot the chares? Hill said, he did not know. His Honor: "Ana the whole lot of you, despite these tens of thousands of pounds could not raise £120 between you!" (Laughter.) - In summing up, his honor said there were some unusual features m the case. There were syndicates and syndicates, he remarked. The use of the word "syndicate" gave one. the impression of untold wealth. Hill apparently was most of the syndicate m this case, but he did not seem clear as to what his share was. At any rate, the whole of the members could not "scare" up enough money to pay an unfortunate workman his wages. The . jury found a verdict of guilty on ..the .count as it referred to Mrs. Halford and not guilty on the other tWO. ..:.'. In sentencing McLean to one month's imprisonment, his honor remarked that the case was not a serious one of its kind. . '• , . Apparently McLean had been . engaged, m shady transactions for some time, but he had not come within the ambit of the criminal law since 1912.
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NZ Truth, Issue 1178, 28 June 1928, Page 4
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1,394TALKED IN THOUSANDS NZ Truth, Issue 1178, 28 June 1928, Page 4
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