A BANKER'S OVERTURES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 73, 16 September 1911, Page 9

A BANKER'S OVERTURES.

A STRANGE STORY. Newspaper readers may remember fahc extraordinary adventure which fell to the lot of a Parisian banker in January, when he was enticed to a villa in the environs of Paris and compelled to sign a receipt for the sum of 41,000 francs, which was owing to him, and other papers as well. The case has now come, up for trial at the Seine Assize Court, and the victim, 11. Prosper Pucli, related that on the day in question a business man, Boulnois, to whom he had advanced the money, called at his office and told him of a client, a very honorable person, who wished to negotiate a loan, adding that if he would accompany him to Villemomble, where he resided, the matter could be settled at once. TX A LONELY VILLA.

They went off to dejuencr at a restaurant, and then they started for Ville-mom-ble, where the banker was taken to a rather out-of-the-way cottage. Hardly were they in the hall when another man, Mugnier, an employee of Boulnois, caught hold of -the unfortunate banker and threw a rope round' his neck to paralyse his movements, while Boulnois producing a revolver, cried: "Not n word! Not a gesture! You are caught" And, addressing his accomplice,he added: "We shall take him down to the cellar." The terror of M. Prosper Poch may readily be imagined. Here he was in a lonely villa, with a rope round his neck and a revolver pointed at iliim. Clinging to the banister, he shouted "Murder!" with all the power of his lungs, but nobody came to 'his rescue, and a gag was promptly added to his other discomforts. A sharp struggle ensued. The confederates tried to drag him down the staircase, but he resisted for dear life, and the gag having got away, he was able to gasp out, "What do you want of me? If yon want to kill me do so; but I will not go down to the cellar." YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE. This led t<> pourparlers. Boulnois declared that. M. l'ot-h would not be hurt if he would only do as be was told, and, as the unlucky banker had<no choice but to consent, he was ordered to band over, as a preliminary, all the cash he had alioul him. Out came his purse, with :t."i Irancs, which Boulnois took, but when the banker hinted timidly that this would leave him nothing for the journey back to Paris, be returned i:> francs. Poor AT. Prosper Poch was then made to seat himself at a table, where several papers were laid before him. He was looking over them, when the revolver was once more in evidence, Boulnois exclaiming: "Sign or die!" As the lesser of the two evils, the banker preferred to sign the papers. Besides the receipt, for I lie 41.000 francs he signed several promissory notes, amounting in all to 1,>..000 francs. Yet. in spite of bis compliance, he was detained until night came, and then he was led off to a wood, where he wandered about for hours in the dark. THE CONSPIRATOR'S EXCUSE. Til answer to questions put to him by the presiding judge, Boulnois asserted that he had been shabbily treated bv the banker, and that be had not enticed him to tho cottage with murderous intentions, but simply to be even with him. All that his employee Mugnier

. would allege in his own defence was tluit lie had merely obeyed the instructions i given him bv Bouinois. An attempt had been made to demonstrate that the banker lent money at exorbitant interest, several, witnesses being called in support of his intention; but the Public Prosecutor, in his address, said that it was a mistake to imagine that anyone who had dealings with n usurer could obtain complete liberation. On the other hand, counsel for Bouinois and Mugnier argued that if the jury would not deliver a verdict of not guilty, their clients might at least get the benefit of extenuating circumstance*, as they were not thieves or blackmailers, but simply victims. The jury did find extenuating circumstances, but all the same Bouinois has been sentenced to five years' detention and Mugnier to two years' imprisonment.