ROGUES OF THE TURF.

Shannon News, 13 November 1925, Page 4

ROGUES OF THE TURF.

DEVIOUS AND WILY WAYS. SWINDLES OF "MORIARTY." Important questions of turf reform —involving- a clean sweep of all mi. desirable elements in the racing world —are closely bound up with the British Home Secretary's problem of how to exterminate the race gangs.

Sir William Joynson-Hicks's determination to suppress the gangs may well lead him to extend his declaration of war to bogus bookmak. ors,. fraudulent tipsters, and other pets of the turf, says a London paper. The masters of several of the gangs arc rich turf swindlers, who keep dis. erectly in the baok.ground. One of the most dangerous bands of ruffians is in the emplov of a swindler operating from the Midlands on a scale so extensive that he has earned for himself a reputation as the Mori, arty of the turf —after Sherlock Holmes's antagonist of that name. His head office is staffed by a hun. dred clerks. He has his own press for printing special circulars, and from scores of different addresses in scores of different aliases he works hir> different swindles.

One of the most profitable depart, ments of turf dishonesty is that of selling tips with the old dodge ,j of tipping every horse in a race, and collecting money from those of the "clients" who were sent the.winner. To give an air of truth, this entails the promise of a "special wire from the course" and the dispatch of big batches of telegrams from the race town within a short period. A number of roughs are regularly employed by several swindlers to per. form this task. Each is given a third.class ticket to the race town and a few shillings pay. Once their simple task is performed they are free to turn to any form of crime. This was how many of the most, ruffianly race gang s came into being.

As the law stands the bogus book, maker, whose frauds are closely allied with those of the spurious tip. stcr, appears to be able to carry on with impunity. Betting debts are not recoverable by law. Tattersall's committee can "order" a defaulter to pay, they cannot have him imprison, ed, nor can they make him shut up shop. All they can do is to cause him to bo "warned off" by the stew, ards of the Jockey Club.

Attempts •to secure convictions against sham bookmakers for obtaining money by false pretences have failed because, however false their pretences, they were used only to induce the betting, which is not a legal consideration.