A COOL SWINDLER.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1308, 12 April 1883, Page 4

A COOL SWINDLER.

Ax audacious swindle is thus described by the "World:"—The young gentleman who as Burned the role of a subaltern at the Guards' Club, and, on the strength of Ms acting, obtained two meals and cash for two cheques of £lO each, is outdone by one wbo> lately made his debut at the Bank of England, and succeeded in pocketing the proceeds of several hundred pounds' worth of consels, of which not one sixpence belonged to him. The modus operand, was ingenious. Calling upon a medical practitioner in the norh of London, he introduced himself as Mr A. 8., i from India, and complained of nervoua deI pression owing to financal worries—not from i want of money, but from a morbid fear of I making bad investments. The doctor nat- > it rally enough suggested that his patient ■ should be advised bya respectable broker, i and finally—the poor young man being a I stranger in England—wrote the name of nil ! own broker on the back of his card by way of introudetion, Armed with this document, Mr A. B. appeared at the broker’s office in the city, and expressed his desire to sell out a certain sum in consels then standing in his name. The fcaility with his people can draw their dividends or effects transfers of stock at the Bank of Englaud is puzzling to outsiders. Beyond name and amount of stock no questions arc asked. The fact ia, however, the claimant is always aocompan- *• led by a broker, who is held responsible for the identity of hie client. In other words, the bank In these transactions deals only with the broker. In this case, A.B. being duly vouched for as the holder of the stock standing in his assumed name, the consols were sold, the broker’s commission was paid and the swindler walked away plus several hundred pounds in crisp bank notes or shining sovereigns. The unfortunate broker ia, of course, responsible for the loss of the real holder of the stock ; but might not some better system be devised to guard against the possibility of such frauds ? Even brokers are not infallible, and collusion between broker and swindler might lead to disastrous consequences. ”