WHERE DID £5,000 GO?

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 438, 21 August 1928, Page 1

WHERE DID £5,000 GO?

BOOTMAKER PUZZLES ; ' ASSIGNEE | ] DISHONEST EMPLOYEES BLAMED Mr. G. N. Morris, official assignee, could not understand, at a meeting this morning of the creditors of Francis W. Fitt, a boot manufacturer, where bankrupt’s » money had gone. “You have not satisfied me. and I don’t suppose you have satisfied your creditors, in showing where the loss has occurred,” he said. “Your books need examination.” Fitt blamed dishonesty among em- j ployees for losses contributing to his position. The meeting was adjourned » for further investigation and arrangements. Bankrupt said he started business in ■*■924, and had no difficulty until the latter part of 1927. He was informed that systematic thieving of raw material and stock was being carried on, and investigation proved this to be correct. The loss directly contributed to his position. In October, 2926, he lent money to a Mrs. M. N. Cunningham to carry on a carrying business. She told him that money which had been promised was rot forthcoming, and he arranged to take over the business, with its liabilities, from the October. Heavy trading losses forced him to abandon it in June this year. Book debts, the only assets, were esti- : mated to produce £6OO. Other schedule I items were: Unsecured creditors, £3.000; j secured creditors, £3,572: value of securi- i ties, £1,580; total debts, £4,092; and deficiency. £4,392. “STOLEN MONEY” “During the time I was running this i business,” said Fitt, in his statement, | “moneys were being s % lcn from me by certain of my employees. This not | only caused a direct loss, but impaired ! the smooth running of the business. 1 attribute my position to losses, both direct and indirect, caused through dishonest employees in both businesses, and to certain litigation regarding the ownership of the carrying business, begun in September last # ear, following the dismissal of a man by me. 1 bought trucks on hire purchase.” A GAMBLE Mr. Morris: It was only a gamble, whether you could make anything out of it. I suppose, looking back over the last 18 months of the business, there was a steady loss. Bankrupt: There must have been About £1,600 or £1,700, I should think. In September last year I dismissed an employee for dishonesty. Afterwards there was ’litigation. Mr. Morris; Then you carried on at a loss over the last few months, simply to justify yourself against this | employee Bankrupt: Yes, I did. Air. Morris: About the middle of last year you were informed of thieving in the boot business. The figures of stock you had you relied on; you believe they were t accurate? Bankrupt: They could not have been accurate. I found that I was about £IOO out in the estimate for a period. Mr. Morris: Well, even with these losses, I can’t understand how they can account for the deficiency you have shown. Don’t you think you should j have filed earlier? | Bankrupt: Well, in the light of events now— Mr. Morris: What earthly chance had you of picking up? I can’t see where £5,000 has gone. Fitt admitted to a creditor that he received some money from his estate on the day he was adjudicated bankrupt. He had paid debts with the money.