MONTE CARLO WELLS.

Shannon News, 13 October 1922, Page 2

MONTE CARLO WELLS.

MAN WHO BROKE THE BANK. Monte Carlo Wells —tlie licro of Charles Coborn ’s success, ‘ ‘ The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo, ’ ’ and the central figure of dramas enactof 81. Charles de Ville Wells broke the bank later he came to England and filed. His liabilities were more than £35,000; his assets were practically nil. Wells soon folk foul of the English law, and on conviction for obtaining" money by false pretence he was sentenced to eight years’ penal servitude. On his release he went to Paris and founded a bogus bank close to the Opera Comique and offered investors interest at the rate of 1 per .cent per day. He obtained,a very large sum of money in this way and decamped. Nothing further was heard of him until he was arrested in Falmouth Harbour on board a yacht. The extradition proceedings caused a great deal of discussion, but eventually he was handed over to the French Government and duly sentenced by the French Courts to imprisonment. Some of. the proceeds from his bank ho had invested in annuities, and the creditors wanted to claim those. Wells said, “If you do, I shall kill myself and there will be nothing.” Finally they decided to allow him £l3O a year in order to keep him alive, and he has lived on this for'four or five years. Actually the dividend from the annuities has realised some 50 per cent, more than many of the creditors expected. It is said that Wells made £BO,OOO at the tables at Monte Carlo. Whatever I the amount was a considerable portion £ of it went in patenting his numerous inventions.