YOUTH AND HIS CHEQUE

NZ Truth, Issue 1192, 4 October 1928, Page 4

YOUTH AND HIS CHEQUE

Credulous Business Firms Lose Hundreds of Pounds

'(From "N.Z. Truth's" Speoial Chrlstchurch Representative.)' Many of the leading business houses of Christchurch have been focussed m the public gaze during the past few weeks through their gullibility m laying themselves open to impudent and clumsy frauds, and castigation, rather than sympathy), have they earned from the court for the manner m which they, through their careless business methods, have left the door open to crime.

A FEW weeks ago a youth, well educated, /but nevertheless irresponsible . and criminally intent, came from Hamilton and hit; the city with little more than a suit of clothes and a cheque-book. The average well-dressed and honest-to-goodness citizen presenting a cheque anywhere but m his ;home town is usually subjected to a rigorous examination and his bona fides are demanded, while the directory is brought into commission to prove the identity of both parties concerned on the cheque. Yet a mere- youth oan casually blow In, effeot a small purohase, and receive the balance m hard cash without a question. The latest example' of 'fraud perpetrated on the unsuspecting shopkeepers and merchants of Christchurch reveals very slack business methods. Such methods amount to extending an open invitation to thieves and rogues to visit the town and get a share of the pickings. Judging by the success attending the efforts of John Bui-

lars McKenzle, all that is required Is the correct appearance, a plausible story, and- a glib

tongue to put it over. In the oourse of the (hearing of twenty-eight charges of obtaining credit by fraud . against MoKenzie, the name ot Sweeney was frequently used, it being added that Sweeney went under the name of Westlnghouse. In a statement to the police, , McKenzie said that he and Sweeney had decided that the easiest way to get rponey.was for McKenzie to buy goods which : Sweeney could sell, and before his . illicit trading was interrupted by the police, McKenzie had tickled up some thirty Christchurch firms to the tune of over £700. Oil dnd petrol companies and merchants were his particular favorites, and the simple manner m which he obtained credit is a shocking testimonial to the commercial usages of the oountry. At different periods McKenzie represented to various firms that he was a carting contractor, that he had a sawmill, that he was a builder, that he had two motor lorries, that he had a fencing contract, that- he was expecting a wool cheque and that he was a tra-

His Glib Tongue

veller m small lines between Christchurch and Kaikoura. McKenzie's method of obtaining the goods was to represent to the firms that he was one of the above-men-tioned persons, and once the goods were m his possession they were handed over to his. confederate and sold for much less than their actual value. The astounding commercial credulity of . these people . was the subject of trenchant comment by both Lawyer D. W.- Russell, who 'appeared for McKenzle, and Magistrate Mosley. McKenzle, with hardly the scrape of a pen,. obtained, according to his counsel, sufficient petrol to bring the Southern Cross five times from Sydney to New Zealand. The witnesses brought by the, police were the representatives of ' firms taken down by McKenzle, and In every case the' same story was told. v In one instance McKenzle told the N.Z. Farmers' Co-operative Association that he was a carting contractor,

5.M.,. who plainly told him that such carelessness had permitted McKenzle to incur, by dis- ] honest methods, liabilities to the extent of over £700. Accused's counsel advanced the reason for obtaining such easy credit from petrol firms that competition was so keen m the petrol trade that firms had to give credit or go out of business. They were m company when. McKenzie was arrested, . but.. Sweeney drove off and since then, the police have been unable to trace him. Evidence was taken on four charges involving credit for £57 from the Checker Service Station,. £55 from the N.Z. Farmers' Co-operative Association, £91 from the South Island Trading Company and £69 from the Vacuum Oil .Company. t McKenzie pleaded guilty to these charges and was committed for sentence, while decision was reserved on twenty- four other charges involving lesser amounts, to which accused pleaded guilty, electing to be dealt with 'summarily;

living at Maxwell Street, Riccarton. Eric George Moor, the accountant for the firm, was sharply rebyked by the