GAOLED FOR FRAUD

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 February 1939, Page 3

GAOLED FOR FRAUD

YOUNG ENGLISHMAN'S WILD CAREER STORY OF UNBRIDLED EXTRAVAGANCE. DISOWNED BY FAMILY. (By Telegraph—Press Associarion.) AUCKLAND. February 13. An amazing story of how a young Englishman of good family dissipated £BOOO in lavish living over a period of two years and possessed only 7d when he was arrested in Taupo on February 5 was told .in the Magistrates' Court, when Alexander Neville Rawson, salesman, aged 27, appeared before Mr C. R. Orr Walker. S.M.. DetectiveSergeant McHugh prosecuted. Rawson admitted seven charges of obtaining a total of £2l by means of valueless cheques and three charges of obtaining a total of £2l 9s 7d in credit by fraud. Detective-Sergeant McHugh said accused was single, aged 27, and came from a good family in England. He left England about September, 1938, and travelled to Australia, eventually arriving at Auckland on December 26. He went to stay at the Hotel Cargen and freely gave it out that he was here on a goodwill tour on behalf of his father, who is a well-known manufacturer in England. He proved himself to be a free spender and entertained lavishly. About January 9 accused was successful in borrowing £7O from his father's Auckland representative. This he deposited in a bank and was supplied with a cheque book that same day. His account at the hotel amounted to £23 18s, and. as he had £7O in the bank, he wrote out a cheque for the amount, and it was met. That gave the licensee confidence in Rawson’s ability to pay.

By January 13 he had issued cheques to the value of £69’3s, leaving a balance of 17s in the bank. Between January 9 and February 2 accused continued to live highly at the hotel, incurring a further debt of £4l 10s, which included board, wine bills, laundry, and an air trip to Wellington. “PLAUSIBLE YOUNG MAN.” Having given further details of cheques passed by accused, Detective-Ser-geant McHugh continued: —“He is a very plausible young man who has been able to trade on the false representation that he was connected with his father’s business and that he was on a goodwill tour. His father and also his brother have been communicated with since his arrest and both have replied that they will not be responsible for any of his debts, or assist him in paying them. They further said that they did not want to have anything to do with him. Before coming out here he was in difficulties in England concerning the same class of offences;’ At this stage Detective-Sergeant McHugh submitted a cutting from a newspaper of February 4 and Rawson admitted he was the person named in the report of a meeting of creditors in Manchester which told how a Bolton clerk earning £7 a week had been able to obtain a bank overdraft of £lOOO. “He is an out-and-out fraud and says he has bad a good time and enjoyed himself,” said Detective-Sergeant McHugh. “He says that during the past year or two he has gone through about £BOOO in enjoying himself. He says he cannot make any restituition till he obtains a position here.” “This young man seems to have had the misfortune to be born with a silver spoon in his mouth,” said Mr Noble, for accused. “He seems to have had unlimited money and had no difficulty in getting money. He says he has spent £BOOO and there has been nobody to check him. He probably had great expectations from his father and thought his father would honour his cheques.” The magistrate said he was endeavouring to come to the conclusion that probation might be justified but he found it impossible to do so. Accused had made some serious, deliberate and persistent efforts to make money by fraud at all times. On the first charge accused was ordered to be detained for reformative purposes for 12 months. On the other charges he was ordered to come up for sentence within two years if ca.ied upon.