The Sun.
London, England, 1862-08-28 00:00:00

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EXTRAORDINARY FRAUD.

AT JSCONDING OF HER MAJESTY'S CONSUL

AT THE DARDANELLES.

(From the Slapping and Mercantile Gazette.)

A most extraordinary but deep-laid scheme has
rf.cently been disclosed, in which suspicion attaches
o no less a person than Mr. Calvert, her Majesty's
consul at the Dardanelles, and sub-agent to Lloyd's
(who has since absconded). The accusation is, that
in the early part of last year Mr. Calvert wrote to
Mr. W. Abbott, carrying on business in London,
and a relative by marriage, to effect an insurance at
Lloyd's for a friend of his (Mr. Calvert) at Con-
stantinople, whom he named Hussein Aga, a, for
1:12,000 on a Turkish ship, the Possidhon, lying in
Turkish waters, loading with oil for Falmouth or
Cork, and directing him to raise money (L 2,000)
,ou the bills of lading to be remitted to him, and
afterwards, a further advance of £l,OOO on another
bill of lading for the remainder of the cargo ; and
that afterw•lrds he, acting in capacity of sub-agent
to Lloyd's,, -telegraphed to Lloyd's that a large ship
had been 'seen in flames off the coast of Lemnos.
The Possidhon not afterwards being heard of, he
made a, representation that it must have been the
PossieAVion that was seen in flames, and sent the
necessary documents and certificates, with the
offi .cial seals of the consul, to establish the claim
r' inst the underwriters for the total loss of
'LhePossidhon. Circumstances occurring of a sus-
-picious character, induced the salvage committee
,connected with Lloyd's to make inquiries at Con-
stantinople, and the result proved that neither the
Possidhon nor cargo ever existed ; that there was
no such person as Hussein Aga ; and that the bills
of lading, clearance papers, certificates, and docu-
ments were all fictitious. The affair, it will be seen,
has been brought before the government by the
salvage committee, and Earl Russell has dismissed
the consul, and another gentleman has been ap-
pointed to the office. The case is somwhat compli-
cated, but the subjoined details, being extracts of
letters wTitten by Mr. Calvert, will explain all the
circumstances

" Dardanelles, Jan. 23, 1861.

" A Turkish friend, who has the management of
come extensive olive groves near Adramytti, which
belong to several of the great pachas at Constanti-
n 3 pie, is at present on the point of shipping a cargo
f)f oil, which he has requested me to address for sale
to some person in England in whose integrity I can
repose implicit confidence, and with whom his
money would be safe when encashed. He will re-
quir3 but very moderate advances, and only after
the bills of lading are placed in my possession. I
feel, therefore, that I could not do better than con-
-Ide the business to you, &c. . . For the present,
however, the brig Possidhon, a new vessel, built in
the Danube, is about to begin loading the cargo of
oil in question, and will take from 200 to 230 tons
weight of oil, to be delivered in any port in the
United Kingdom, this vessel calling at Falmouth
ar Cork for orders. You had better, therefore, in-
sure at once in your name, and at their
value, 200 tons of olive oil, to be shipped as
above mentioned in the Gulf Adramytti; and
when you receive the bills of lading you may
then insure the rest of the cargo. I trust you will
have sufficient funds in hand to enable you to do
this ; and as soon as you get the bills of lading you can
ohta.in an advance on them from a broker, and re-
place the money whenever it may suit.
(Signed) " W. CALVERT.
To W. Abbott, Esq."

" Dardanelles, March 6, 1861.

" I have just heard from Hussein Aga about the
cargo oil per Possidhon. It appears that he has
nut been able to complete the cargo as soon as he
expected, and it will probably be another fortnight
before the vessel starts. In the meantime he has
sent you a bill of lading for the portion of cargo
already on board, and has drawn on you for £2,500,
and sent the bills to me to negotiate. In the pre-
sent state of the money market there is not the
Tightest chance of my being able to do so, but I
have already advanced him £5OO which I borrowed,
and shall do my best to get him a further supply
to satisfy him for the present, and in the meanwhile
.shall hold his bills on you. I hope that you will be
able to get an advance of £2,500 on the bill of lad-
ing, which you should send me in cash as soon as
you can ; and when you get the bill of lading for
the balance you would get £l,OOO more advanced,
which would enable you to replace the money paid
for insurance policy, pay freight, and anticipate, if
requisite, on your commission. . . Please to
telegraph to me when you are certain of being able
to send out specie for Hussein Aga only, as all mes-
sages which arrive here by telegraph are known
shortly after all over the town. You need not be
very explicit. You might say, for example—' Have
obtained amount (or whatever portion of it), and
will forward same (specifying the day).'
(Signed) " W. CALTERTe
" To W. Abbott, Esq."

" Dardanelles, April 3.

" Yours of the 21st of March is duly at hand.
The enclosure for Hussein Aga has been sent to him,
with a translation. You have, however, made a
mistake in acknowledging the receipt of the bills of
lading for 1,020 quintals of oil, whereas it should
he 3,020. I have therefore rectified the error
in the original.
that the bills of lading for the balance of the Pos-
aidhon's cargo will be forwarded by you by this
mail, but I have not yet heard of the arrival in town
of Hussein Aga's clerk. After writing to you to
obtain advances on the cargo of the Possidhon, I
very soon came to the conclusion that it would not
be possible for you to succeed in doing anything
that way ; and now that you confirm my expecta-
tions, I have sent word to Hussein Aga that if he
require funds he must negotiate his own drafts to
the extent for which he has value on you, but that
I Can give him no further assistance beyond £5OO
alt!v.dy advanced, and for which I will make shift,
nAI hest can, till you can make me a remittance.
,
Abbott, Esq." (Signed) " W. CALVERT."
Another letter instructs Mr. Abbott to effect an
insurance on the oil for £12,000. The bills of
lading were sent shortly afterwards, and the in-
Fatrances were effected. The premiums became due
on the nth of 'May, and on the Bth of May Mr.
Abbott obtained an advance of £1,500 from Messrs.
Bevan, Cole, and Harris, oil brokers, on deposit of
the bills of lading and policies of insurance. The
Premiums were paid at the proper time out of the
vessclsailefd same month
money so advanced.
On the 4th April Mr. Calvert issued a clean bill
u health (which is the same asa..Cllsatonmd•ibtowuases
the
era Adramytti
clearance in England) of the Possidhon,
there spccified that the
on the 6th April. On the 28th o
the post of gent to
Mr. Calvert, who also filled
Lloyd's, sent to Mr. Black, Lloyd's agent .fa
might breetoll-
stantinople, a loss, in order that it
o netihe
graphed to Lloyd's. It was as follows :
e
night of the Bth April, a vessel had been seen, 40
miles off the Island of Lemnos, furiously burning, a
heavy gale of wind blowing at the time."
The Possidhon not arriving in England when
she became due, and Mr. Abbott being pressed by
Messrs. Bevan, Cole, and Co., who had made the
advances, wrote to Mr. Calvert on the subject. In
due time a reply was received. It was as follows:
"Dardanelles, Aug. 8, 1861,

" You seem to be expecting news of the Possid-
ton from me, whilst I am expecting to hear of her
from you; but, as you say, her remaining out so
tong is beginning to become a serious matter.
Strange to say, I hear nothing of Hussein Aga,
who is somewhere between this and Syria, I be-
lieve, but do not know the precise locality.
"To W. Abbott, Esq." (Signed) "W. CALVERT,
"Dardanelles, Aug. 28, 1861.
" I have not a word yet. from Hussein Aga, which
is very provoking,
to say the least, and all I can do
for yen at pr(sent, in this matter is to send you a.
o-tificate (for which phase credit, me 55.) showing
date of the Possidhon's clearance. She did not,
40wcvert start till April 6, hut as she has not been
Heard of sine!, 1 roust confess that I begin to enter-
tain very serious apprehensions on her account. In
she will be identified with a
fact I now fear that
vessel wbich was met at sea on the night of the Bth
April lest, 40 miles o$ Lemnos, burning furiously,
.
ivlailat a heavy gale of wind was blowing at the