ALLEGED EMBEZZLEMENT.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXII, Issue 8827, 31 May 1907, Page 3

ALLEGED EMBEZZLEMENT.

At yesterday Robert John Foster, a young man of about £ 20 years of age, was charged on sis j counts, three of which were of falsi- j Mug the hooks of the Maugaweka Sash and Door Company, Limited, c sad three of embezzlement of sums j fsom the company amounting to £B3 of Bd. Accused pleaded not guilty. i /The Crown Prosecutor proceeded , V outline the case, explaining how , tue six charges were accounted for. ( The counts were of two classes, the ] first three being for falsifying the ] books and balance sheet, and the last , three for specific sums of money f which were said to have been embezzled, The accused commenced work for the company ‘in July, and had charge of the books. His duties were to receive monies, enter the amounts in the cash book, thence into the ledger, and bank for the company. At tho_ end of the year the company as usual had their accounts audited. Mr Silk, of Wanganui, assisted by Mr Davis, of Mangaweka, were the auditors. During the audit it was found that there was a sum of £lO unaccounted ■ for. Accused was apprised of the ] fact, and said he had a sum of money - at home, and had been waiting for . the auditor to arrive to go through ( tho books, and see where lie was i wrong. As the audit progressed ; more monies were found unaccounted 3 for, and accused said he had £23 at ( his homo. At a meeting of directors oh the following day accused said ho would get the £23, and left for the ainoiint, returning ■ with £l2 only, £lO of which it was found he had borrowed from his boarding-house-keeper. There was a Icing i series of mistakes in tho books, which were alleged to be falsifications. It was a serious fact that some of the amounts received were really entered in the books as larger amounts, which of course was to accused’s disadvantage,as it made the hooks show that he had received more than he had. This, however, was accounted for by the fact that accused, knowing ho had been doing wrong, thought the books would show a better aspect if they showed greater amounts than were received. Tho first count alleged was that on the 30th September he made a false entry that he had received £435, Whereas tho auditor’s report showed that the amount actually received was £440, thus making a false entry. The second count was that on the 20th September he entered 3s 6d m the cash book, whereas the amount received was £3 6s, this also being a false entry. The third count was that the accused, who drew up tho balance sheet for tho year ending 81st December, made the sheet to appear that the cash in hand was £3 12s, the auditor’s balance sheet, on the other hand, showing a balance in hand for the year of £B6 17s 3d. The embezzlement charges wore —1. That £l3 was received from a customer, and this was entered as being paid to the customer, who was a shareholder; thus'it was alleged that the accused being £l3 short, had used the £l2 to make up the deficit. 3. That he stole the £3 3s 6d unaccounted for on the entry of 3s 6d, instead of £3 6s; and (31 the total amount of £8 6s 3d unaccounted for in tho auditor’s balance sheet. Evidence for the prosecution was given hy O. H. Glare, secretary of the company; E. M. Silk, auditor; F T. Davis, assistant auditor; b. J. Carter and W. A. Officer, directors ; and T. R. Burgess, boardinghousckeeper, with whom accused boarded. After counsel had addressed tho jury’andMlislHonor|liad summed up, the juxy retired. On returning they brought in a verdict of guilty, with a strong recommendation to mercy, on account of the accused’s youth and the unbusinesslike control which appearedgto have been exercised over such a youthful clerk. Prisoner will come up for sentence at 10.30 on Monday morning.