Young Civil Servant Admits Defalcations

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 850, 19 December 1929, Page 1

Young Civil Servant Admits Defalcations

THEFT OF £286 COMMITTED FOR SENTENCE Admitting defalcations amounting to £286 10s from the Lands and Survey Department during the last three years, Richard James Lannigan was committed to the Supreme Court for sentence, after evidence had been heard in the Police Court this morning. It was mentioned that Lannigan had revealed his misappropriations to his superior officer and given every assistance in clearing up

the tangle. a young man, was charged with stealing £2S6 10s from the New Zealand Government between April, 1926, and November, 1929. Mr. Sullivan appeared for him. James Baton Lane, an accountant in the Lands and Survey Department of the New Zealand Government, said that accused had been nine years a clerk in the department at Auckland. Since April, 1924, his duties had required him to effect registration of various documents. The fees for these were payable in stamps. Documents ready for registration would have vouchers prepared for the amount of fees, and a cheque would be drawn in favour of the Assistant-Commissioner of Stamp Duties. The cheques would be handed to the accused to obtain the stamps.

On December 3,- Lannigan was notified that he was to be given a change of duties. He admitted to witness that he had misappropriated stamps to the value of about £3O. The chief clerk had been informed of the position that afternoon. In the evening, back at the office, figures "were gone into by witness and Lannigan in the presence of other clerks. Accused had then admitted further defalcations producing a number of documents that should have been stamped and registered. Witness had searched the office records and discovered that, between April, 1926, and December, 1929, the total misappropriations amounted to £286 10s. Lannigan had admitted that the sum was an accurate estimate. His admission had been made in the presence of witness, an auditor, and Detective-Sergeant Martin.

About -400 accounts that should have been stamped had been produced by accused. Borfy required stamps to the value of about £2 and the others smaller sums.

In reply to Mr. Sullivan, witness said that accused had made his first admission voluntarily. He had given every possible assistance to clean up the affair.

Archibald "Wilson Clulee, a Government audit inspector, said that on December 11 he had been instructed to investigate, the alleged defalcations by accused. He had discovered unstamped documents that had not been lodged for registration. In one case the fees had been drawn twice for the same document. The misappropriations were over a period from April, 1926, to November, 1929, and totalled £268 10s. Lannigan told witness that he had received cheques for each voucher to cover registration fees. He had obtained the stamps for registration from the Stamp Office and resold them, as was expected, in the Land Registry Office. The money was converted to his own use.

According to Detective-Sergeant Martin, ’he had interviewed the accused on December 12 with DetectiveSergeant Bickerdike. Lannigan had expressed a desire to do all he could to assist in clearing up the tangle. A statement had been made voluntarily admitting the offence. In the statement Lannigan had said that he was a married man with one child. When he had first misappropriated money he was in receipt of a salary of a little over £2OO a year. His wife had been ill and, had this not been so, he would probably never have taken any money. Sums taken later had been used in horse racing. Mr. Sullivan entered a plea of guilty and asked for bail, which was granted iu two sureties each of £2OO. “I would not have granted bail but for the fact that the next sentence day at the Supreme Court is three weeks or a month distant,” commented Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M.