MYTHICAL FORTUNES

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 594, 21 February 1929, Page 14

MYTHICAL FORTUNES

ROGUES WHO EXPLOIT FALSE HOPES HUGE SUMS IN CHANCERY The operations of a type of adventurer who battens on the poorer classes by pretending to trace their claims to dubious fortunes have come to light through a recent case, says the “Sunday News.” A man who was stated by the police to have “specialised in finding dubious fortunes in Scotland for working people”—without a single success — was recently sent to prison for libelling a client who had not “come up to scratch” as well as had been hoped. At the present time there is “wanted” by the police another man who has made an extensive practice of extracting fees from people who believe they are entitled to unclaimed fortunes. He is a member of a fraternity which has a carefully-worked-out system of conducting business. Common Names Their method is to advertise a list of people—usually common enough names owned by thousands—who are believed to be entitled to share in moneys which have long been lying dormant for want of claimants. Replies come in from many people who fondly believe themselves to be the rightful claimants, and who have traditional stories to go upon, which have been handed down from generation to generation of some mysterious relative in the dim and distant past having amassed big moneys and died unknown or estranged from his family. There are, of course, many variations. The “agent” thereupon replies to everyone in the same strain, that he or she is the very person indicated. But, as they will readily understand, a great deal of research is needed. So an initial fee of a guinea or so is extracted, and “Inquiries” are, to all intents and purposes, set on foot, and reports of fictitious progress sent to the client so long as “refresher” fees are forthcoming from time to time. Eventually, however, the client is either bled of his savings or else becomes suspicious. Sometimems he realises his own foolishness and lets the matter —and his money—fade out of his memory. In any case, the “agent” has a ready tale with which to get rid of him. It is always the same—the “last link” is Inevitably missing; perhaps a vital document has mysteriously disappeared or beer burned in some legendary fire. . But for this his client would now have been a very rich man. Tichborne Case It is fairly certain that this lucra tive business —which is often run bj lawyers’ clerks who have lost then jobs, and sometimes by solicitors wh( have been “struck off” —originatec largely through the famous Tichborm case. Of recent years, due mainly t< police activities and Press publicity there has been a falling-off in the num bers who make a living out of deludinj people In this way, hut they are stil too plentiful, and their victims are usu ally the ignorant and the credulous Far too often they are widows of ver; slender means.

Undoubtedly there are a large number of unclaimed fortunes, some of which are locked up in Chancery. A list of moneys in Chancery is Issued periodically, and it is a very significant fact that the last one issued is only about half the size of the previous ones, which means that many of the claims have been settled or disposed of. This process of elimination, or rather reduction, is steadily, if slowly, going on, and another important point is that there are no new accounts In Chancery being opened. Some idea of the numbers of people who believe themselves . entitled to either the whole or a share in big for-

tunes may be gathered from a few prominent cases within recent times, ignoring entirely the hundreds of smaller and lesser known cases. In the most recent, the Angell Estate, at Brlxton, there were about 50 claimants for a reputed £60,000,000. For the Blake fortune of £20,000,000 there were 300 claimants, and for the Drake £70,000,000 there was a similar unmber of claimants. In the famous Edwards case, in which there were about 300 claimants to the stupendous sum of £100,000,000, the law officer in New York, who prepared a detailed report at the request of the British Consul-General: stated In a letter to “The Sunday News”: ‘There are no records ir any State department here of any Edwards or Webber estate. I coulc not conscientiously permit any persoi to have false hopes or spend money If attempting to establish their title.” C i I v/ Hictnrv

Nevertheless, the fact remains that the total of dormant fortunes awaiting claimants in this and other countries, notably the British colonies, i - a tremendous figure. Before a person can have an assurance that there is something due to him, however, it is usually necessary to have some legal document or other evidence to point to the existence of the fortune. The next step is to collect all the family history and links. Such documents as birth and marriage certificates of various generations, presuming it is worth while to go to that extent, are often of vital concern, and the next steps are to secure legal assistance and to have an application made to a judge in chambers.

The genuine investigation of such claims often involves a great amount of research over a long period and entails a lot of expense. Only bonafide and qualified legal people are capable of doing the work right through, and the chance has to be taken of disappointing results at the end. Big fortunes are still unclaimed in some of the British colonies. In the case of Australia, early settlers made in some instances large sums of money in gold rushes and lost trace of their relatives. The only way to get a possible clue to the existence of these fortunes and the establishment of next-of-kln title Is to write to the legal department in the caiptal of the particular State, sucl) as Sydney, or to each State in turn. There is no central authority in Australia or anywhere else which deals with such matters.

The very last thing to do is to be led away by any self-styled “agent” who holds out glowing prospects of sudden wealth.