MASTER OF PIOUS FLAPDOODLE

NZ Truth, Issue 1290, 28 August 1930, Page 3

MASTER OF PIOUS FLAPDOODLE

Xavemer, of The Q.D. and HP. Swindles, Must Pay For Grave Libel -and Slander Against Moir EXIGENT A^RDE^HiAVY DAMAGES ' .; (Prom *'N.Z. Truths Special Dipiedin Representative.)^ - *" - , ' Described by an English judge as having been a rogue for twenty years/ and? by another judge -who said of him, "His foolish victims cannot bring themselves to believe that such a master of pious flapdoodle can be a swindler," William Taverifer, of Fistiponds/ Bristol, who has-been sojourning m the Dominion, with the object of boosting those notorious swindles', Quarterly Dividends, Ltd., and National House Purchase, Ltd.,. has again drifted into the limelight. ' : ,;' . .-Some two years ago "Truth" fo.cussed the spotlight of public exposure on this sauve,: slick crook, and a Supreme Court jud,ge has now awarded Daniel Moir, on his claim for £850 damages for libel committed against him by Taverner, the siim of £515. * • :

AS Dunedin agent of the companies Moir had discovered that Taverner and' his schemes, while purporting to make poor people . wealthy, were robbing them. He warned prospective members of the concern about this to such good effect that he prevented £12,000-being deposited in.it.' Moir. was also instrumental m leading to the prosecution, and .the conviction,, of D. N. Johnston, another i Dunedin agent of the organisatipn, for fraud. The loss of the £12,000, together with the loss of the reputation "of Q.D. and H. P. because of Johnston's con- . victibn, . apparently prompted the man from Fishponds to attempt to regain prestige for the concern at the expense* of Moir's reputation., "„■'• .. Taverner, the secretary pf the companies, • wrote to various members of Dunedin, alleging against Moir theft r

embezzlement an d perjury. Moir » later c n - , . tered a writ against the' companies for libel, and when

this was served • . Taverner, who ' was m Auckland, hastened to Dunedin with a solicitor and attempted to arrange a settlement, but was unsuccessful. \ • Moir was adamant m his Intention of bringing the case before, the court where his name would be vindicated, but Taverner then .suddenly learned that his wife was to undergo an-opera- ' tioh.to her teeth. He asked that it. v be adjourned until next year .when he could defend it. , His request was not granted, and, when the case came on, he was - v present. He filed no defence, and -had no solicitor appearing on his behalf. Moir- was represented by Mr. W. G. Hay and Mr. J. N. Thompson. Mr. Hay, m outlining the case, said that Taverner had had ample time to file a- defence, and that there -vyas also some talk of his filing a counterclaim. • : He said that so long as Moir was a friend of the companies "he , was .a good fellow, but when he became opposed to them a campaign of deliberate . vilification and -defamation was commenced against him for the 1 purpose of defaming him and rehabilitating 1 the companies at the expense of his reputation." ' , Taverrier's get-rich-quick schemes are well known to' readers of "N.Z. Truth," for this paper expounded them as frauds when (?he philanthropic financier from Fishponds arrived m the country about £wo years ago m search^ of geese^ to pluck. ■," Subsequent articles proved him to be a fraud of the meanest order, a mail who sold 'Bibles „' with one hand and business ' "pups'V with the other, and - one, who, by pious, prattlings persuaded people into investing, money m a gigantic swindle. This man who cajoles the unwary into., depositing money m what he terms, "A thrift fund, which beyond doubt, is the greatest and safest and best that the world has ever known" was convicted of fraud some years ago m England and wtts sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment. . He has been described by one judge there as having been a rogue for 20 years, and another has said 'of him: "His < foolish" victims cannot bring themselves to bel'eve that auch a mastor' of pious flapdoodle, can be a swindler. Does! he open his meetings with a prayer? •. '. ."■ : " Still a third judge has characterised y his Quarterly Dividend and National 'House purchase schema as," "Bastard finance pro- '■ pounded with a cheapjack glibness, ' combined with a.flavor of. religious ' % sentimervt."v' ' " . To those with only a' hazy ,idea ,of high .finance his Q.D. and H.P. scheme ! is looked upon as -being a generous and profitable one. AH a man or a poor widow, as. Taverner explains, has ta do is to deposit £1 m Q.D, and another, m. H.P. and sit down and wait until ■ the money invested multiplies into £5000. .But i oh, what a wait for most pepplo! '■; . , /, When his turn comes he can borrow ten times the amount he has .deposited m H.P. and place £5 of; it m Q.D. and the other £5 back into H.P. Later, when it is his turn, he can' get a loan of £50, halve it, and deposit each half m each of the companies. ■ This wjll not him £250— when his turn comes to borrow, or course — and Jf -his turn keeps on coming before he dies he _can get up to £5000 by halving his loans and redepositing them m each company. This is what Taverner says, " h ' ' The* Idea of this investment sounds good, hot the catch m it js, wh'en will 4 a, man's turn oome to borrow? There is absolutely no preference shown lo any depositor. He must wait until those m aliead of him are made rich on his money before, he can be made wealthy on the deposits of those behind him, but administrative expenses must come out first. 'As Taverner has paida. couple "of visits to New Zealand on the companies'funds, these must be rather heavy." ■• , Daniel Moir, who was subsequently appointed Dunedin agent of the com- _ panics, 'was one man who at one time thought that it was rather a good scheme, but he soon , had- his eyes opened. • ' 1 He; received a balance-sheet of the companies • for May, 1928, and this ■ : aroused his suspicions, and then trou'blo began for Tav.erner and his twins, //When the master ( of finance arrived m Dunedin later', Moir dfiifinmled an, explanation about- some of the 'biisinesn » methods, and this Taverner gave at a meeting of depositors of which Moir was chairman. . „ .'' . After hearing the plausible address of. the, pious Taverner, Moir 'was 'disgusted, and stood up and .said that the scheme was not suited to New" Zealand conditions. Some of the statements Taverner made were direct contradictions to those he had made, m a letter - to Moir, and the latter challenged him about them. Later Taverner addressed^ an--1 other meeting at which Moir was present and endeavored to net him : ■ to 'sign a letteryto the Press m ■/ which he was to withdraw his statements. . Moir declined to' sign \ '„ •*• ' '" 1 ■•'■"■ 'j '.. From „that time onwards Moir became industrious, and did his best to "prevent people, from making deposits 'm the companies.' In, October, 1928, through the instrumentality of Taverner he was expelled from the companies. Finally, he ,drew the attention of the authorities to the methods of the company,, and, largely thr6ugh his assist-

ance, a prosecution was laid against Johnston, the Dunedin agent of the concern, and a conviction for fraud entered. ■ Then Taverner dropped his veil, of devoiitness, and instead of the pious prattlings he usually employed m convincing people of the soundness of the safest and best thrift scheme m the world he commenced , a campaign of calumny against Moir arid others m an attempt to convince people his companies were sound and honest. From his New, Zealand headquarters at Grey Street, Auckland, he sent out a circular to depositors, which he headed, "Dear Friend .and Fellow-Member;" accusing four of the Crown,, witnesses m Johnston's case of p"erjury. In his customary plausible style he told them that he had come out to New Zealand ."to assist* the local officials m securing, for our worthy local secre- -

"Flavor of Religious Sentiment "

tary, Mr". 'David Neilson Johnston, a new trial and such- other legal remedy as will vindicate himself and the society, and prove conclusively that .his conviction had been, a grave miscarriage of justice. ..." "My firm opinion," he wrote, "is that the future prosperity of the society will be greater than ever, because the new trial will enable us to prove that Q.D., Ltd., and H.P., Ltd., work-ing iiy conjunction, constitute a • thrift fund, which beyond doubt, is the greatest and saf#t and the best that the world' has.ever had placed- before "it." After Taverner was himself ccrnvicted, he claimed that there had been a miscarriage of justice, but so far he has done nothing to vindicate his name. , . v { - Possibly he in-tended to do something m the matter, but was pre-' vented owing to the inopportune time his wife had chosen to be

operated on for her teeth. ; He may do something next year. Mrs.,, Taverner also did her part m helping 1 to blacken Moir.'s name. She sent letters to "people, pointing- out that Moir had failed to account for moneys received by him on behalf of the companies. '•■'•'•, To -a man named Clark she wrote that there Was no doubt that m more ways than one Moir had made a good thing 1 out of the society, and had misappropriated more than £210. She informed' Mr. and Mrs. Blake, of Roslyn, that Moir had misappropriated £209, and had failed to account for £46 commission. Taverner himself also wrote three letters to depositors alleging that Moir had' failed to . account for sums of money amounting to over £200 which he had undertaken to invest on mprt-

; gages, and, at a meeting of depositors m Dunedin, on his last trip there Taverner said that . Moir had

committed perjury and had stolen £'205 of » the companies' money. • At that meeting he stated that he was to take action against Moir, but his blufi: was called when Moir took action against him. ' . ' After hearing the evidence submitted by Moir and another wit- ♦ ness, his Honor said that he adid, n'oj: doubt that Taverner and ■ his wife had libelled and slandered Moir. The libels' and slanders were very grave reflections on any man's character, and damages, m the circumstances, must be substantial. A company was liable for a libel or slander published by. its servants or agents where it Av'as expressed or implied, and where it was published m the course of employment of such agents.