ALLEGED CUSTOMS FRAUD.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 61, 14 March 1913, Page 5

ALLEGED CUSTOMS FRAUD.

DISAPPEARANCE OF CONFIDENTIAL ACCOUNTANT.

By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) (United Press Association.)

Melbourne, March 13

A sensation has been caused in commercial circles by the disappearance of Charles Heath, a trusted officer of Permewan, Wright and Co., followed by the discovery of a shortage of between £ISOO and £2OOO in his accounts, allegedly the result of an ingenious system of defrauding the Customs of duties for which the company was rc%>onsible as the Customs agent of a number of large importing firms. Heath, who handled those moneys, disappeared some weeks ago, since when an investigation has been proceeding. The Joss falls on the company.

AN INGENIOUS SCHEME. ''Received 9.20 a.m.) Melbourne, March 14. Investigation reveals that a remarkable scheme had been adopted in the Heath case. It is alleged that instead of the cheque for duty being paid at the customhouse and the whole of the goods taken delivery of, a different set of documents were made out representing some were goods in transit in another country, and should be dealt with in bond. The device adopted in order to get these out of the Customs’ control without paying duty was to stop at a secret depot on the way from one vessel to another, empty the goods into other cases which were got up to represent the original cases. The latter were then filled with old bricks and rubbish and placed aboard an outward bound vessel addressed to a fictitious firm at another port. The goods themselves were carefully packed in the secret depot ,in cases similar to the original and delivered to the importers. 'The Customs recovered New Zealand cases sent there and which were lying unclaimed, but when opened they contained rubbish.