The Sun.
London, England, 1860-12-04 00:00:00

THE GREAT FRAUDS IN THE LEATHER

TRADE.

COMMITTAL OF FIVE OF THE ACCUSED.
At the Guildhall Police-court yesterday, Lewis
Robert Poole, of the late firm of Poole and Bryan,
of Northampton, boot and shoe manufacturers ; Mr.
Roger Dawson, a solicitor, of Northampton ; Mr.
James Cooke, a tanner and currier, of Walsall;
George Billingham, a furniture broker, of North-
ampton; Thos. Chapman. an innkeeper, of the same
town ; and Frederick Walter Ventris (Messrs.
Quilter and Ball's, the accountants', clerk), were
again examined upon the cLiarge of conspiring
together for the purpose of cone acing and embez-
zling property to the value of £1.200 and upwards,
with intent to cheat and defraud the creditors of
the'bankrupts Poole and Bryan.
Sir R. W. Carden presided.
Mr. Van Sandau conducted the prosecution, and
the following gentlemen appeared for the accused:
—Mr. Best, instructed by Mr. Waldron, for p.00le•
and Billingham; Mr. Sleigh, instructed by Messl's•
Pilgram and Joy, for Chapman ; Mr. Murphy, fen'
Mr. Dawson ; Mr. Ebsworth, for Mr. Cooke ; and
Mr. Hubert Wood for Ventris.
Mr. Dawson said, before any•evidence was taken
he wished to. explain why the record of the action
which he had commenced on Mr. Cooke's behalf
for the recovery of the goods in question had been
withdrawn. Since these proceedings had been
taken Mr. Cooke had changed his attorney in that
action, for which purpose his present solicitor
deemed it advisable to withdraw the record, but
the action was still pending.
Spittle, the detective officer, was then called upon
to produce the documents found upon Mr. Dawson
when he was taken into custody, and two of them
were then placed in the hands of a witness of the
name of Holloway, who identified the handwriting
of one of them—which purported to be the state-
ment made by the witness Beard, who signed it at
Mr. Dawson's office—as the handwriting of Mr.
Dawson. The other document, which purported to
be an order in Mr. Cooke's name for the delivery of
the goods to his agent, Chapman, and bore a receipt
in the name of Chapman for the goods, the witness
also declared to be in Mr. Dawson's handwriting,
including all the signatures.
Sir R. W. Carden asked if that document was
the original or merely a copy.
Mr. Dawson admitted the handwriting, as it was
only a copy of the orginal order.
Some further evidence having-been taken,
Sir R. W. Carden said he had given the most
patient consideration to this case. It was a very
important inquiry, and upon looking at the evidence
carefully, he had come to the conclusion there was
not sufficient to induce him to send Mr. Dawson
before a jury. In all the evidence which had been
adduced there was nothing to prove any complicity
on the part of Mr. Dawson in the concealment of
the bankrupt's property; and the letters taken from
him did not, in his opinion, make the case any
clearer against him. Although no respectable soli-
citor would be anxious to receive such letters from
a client, there was nothing in them to prove the
charge of subornation of perjury—in fact, the whole
of them appeared to bear reference to the action,
and the evidence throughout showed Mr. Dawson
to have been acting for Mr. Cooke rather than for
the bankrupt Poole. Mr. Dawson was therefore
discharged.
Mr. Van Sandau applied that the documents
should be impounded.
Sir R. W. Carden said they would, of course,
remain in the possession of the officer. With regard
to bail, he would not accept it for Poole under any
circumstances; and he took that opportunity of
stating that the levity of conduct displayed by Poole
and Ventris throughout this investigation was most
discreditable to them.
Bail was then taken—Chapman in two sureties
in £2OO each, and his own recognisances in £5OO ;
the sureties for Billingham were fixed at £lOO each,
and for Mr. Cooke in £250 each; Ventris was unable
to procure bail.
The charges of perjury were not proceeded with
on account of the lateness of the hour.

ENORMOUS FORGERIES ON _4 LONDON
FIRM BY A LIVERPOOL TEA MERCHANT.

LIVERPOOL, Monday.
This forenoon Mr. Richard Woodward Powell, a
partner in the firm of Scott, Powell, and Co , tea
merchants, of this town, was placed before the
magistrates at the police court, charged with having
forged a signature to a guarantee for £5,000, and
also with having forged signatures to biils of
exchange amounting to nearly £2,000, with intent
to defraud Messrs. Abso!om, Crocker, and Town-
send, merchants, of London. The court was much
crowded with merchants and others interested in
the case.

Mr. Robinson, of the firm of Lowndes, Robinson,
and Lowndes, solicitors, said he had the honour to
appear on behalf of Messrs. Absolom, Crocker, and
Townsend, of London, who charged the prisoner
with having forged the name of John Scott, sen., to
a guarantee to them (the prosecutors) for £5,000,
and also with forging, as the endorser, several bills
of exchange—viz., one bill for £462 16s 2d, another
for £484 2s, and a third for £482 is 6d.
From the statement of Mr. Robinson, it appeared
that in July last the firm of Scott, Powell, and Co.
were considerably indebted to Messrs. Absolom,
Crocker, and Townsend, tea merchants in London,
and these gentlemen being unable to get their
money, sent one of their representatives to Liver-
pool for the purpose of obtaining a guarantee that
their claim would be paid. In pursuance of this
instruction a guarantee was drawn up, which was
to have been signed by Mr. John Scott, sen., father
of Mr. Scott, of Scott, Powell, and Co. After
some negotiation it was intimated that Mr. Scott,
senior, having previously given a guarantee for the
firm, refused to give another, and it was then ar-
ranged that bills should be drawn by the firm, and
accepted by Messrs. Absolom, Crocker, and Towns-
end, and that Mr. Scott, sen., should endorse those
bills, the proposed guarantee being abandoned.
The bills were accordingly drawn, accepted, and
endorsed ; but on their becoming due they were
met, and on Mr. Scott, sen., being called on for pay-
ment as the endorser, he denied that he had ever
signed any such documents. In consequence of
this application was made at the office of Scott,
Powell, and Co., where Mr. Scott was not to be
found, but Mr. Powell (the prisoner) was there,
and he was taken into custody by Laycock, the
detective officer. _ .

Wm. Laycock said that on Saturday he went to
the counting-house of Messrs. Scott, Powell, and
Co., where he found the prisoner, and took him
into custody, telling him at the same time that he
was apprehended on a charge of having forged the
name of John Scott to a guarantee for £5,000, and
also for having forged the same name to a bill of
exchange for £462 16s. The prisoner, on this
being stated, said :—" I have nothing whatever to
do with it. I have several times cautioned Mr.
Scott about that before now." On taking the pri-
soner to the police station and searching him, the
witness found three tickets for " left luggage" at
the railway station. He (Laycock) proceeded there,
and found three portmanteaus, containing several
suits of new clothes, £lOO in gold, a medicine
chest, and a case of revolvers. All these the pri-
soner acknowledged to belong to him,but they were
not addressed to any one, or to any place. On his
person 'Aycock also found between £9 and £lO in
cash; and in the safe at the counting-house there
was a further sum of X 270. _

George Absolom, the Manchester representative
of the firm of Absolom, Crocker, and Townsend,
said that, in obedience to im;tructions which he had
received, he came to Liverpool to obtain a guaran-
tee from Messrs. Scott, Powell, aZid Co., which it
was proposed should be signed by Mr 6eott's father ;
but Mr. Scott explained to him that his father
having already given a guarantee for the firm,
refused to give another ; but Mr. Scott, jnn., sug-
gested that they (Absolom and Co.) should draw
bills, which Scott, Powell, and Co. would accept,
and his father would endorse. This course was
ultimately agreed on, and the guarantee was with-
drawn. Three bills were prepared by Messrs.
Scott, Powell, and Co., and these being endorsed
by the name of John Scott, were sent to London.
One of these bills was for the sum of £462 16s. 2d.,
another for £484 25., and the third for £482 18. 6d.
The prisoner was present when the bills were de-
livered to him, and, in fact, checked them off in the
bill-book. The endorsement of John Scott, which
was put on before the bills were accepted, or sent
to London, was a forgery.
Mr. Cobb said there was no evidence whatever
to show that the prisoner was in any way con-
nected with the forgery. From the evidence there
seen:_ed no doubt that the name of John Scott
forged by some one; but the question
was, who forged it ? He remarked
had bee':
rthemataiMnirn.groiit7 jdun., was absent, and that Mr.
Scott, sen., refused to appear unless compelled to
do so.
In answer to a question from the bench,Laycock
said Mr. Scott had said to him he would not appear
unless he was compelled to do so.
. .

.
Mr. Cobb continued—ln point of fact there was
no evidence of forgery whatever, and, if possible,
still less of the prisoner's connection with it.
Mr. Aiken said it did not seem to him at all
likely that a partner of a firm could be present,
and indeed take part in transactions amounting to
thousands of pounds, without knowing something
of what was going on. The forgeries, if they were
forgeries, were undoubtedly committed in favour of
the firm of Scott, Powell, and Co. He therefore
thought tnere was sufficient evidence to remaa the
prisoner. He was remanded to Friday.
In answer to an application to have the prisoner

admitted to bail, Mr. Aiken drily remarked— Ile
.prisoner's appearance here has been altogether the
result of what might be termed an accident, an Ltd if
allowed to go 'away there was no saying what o ther
accidents might arise. He had better remai n in.
custody.

THE FRAUD BY A BANKER'S CIE. K

AT SHEFFIELD.

Mark Rawlins, of Machinbank, banker's cic
was brought before the magistrates at Sheffield, on
Saturday, on a charge of defrauding the Sheffi, eld
and Rotherham Banking Company to the extent of
about £l,OOO. It appears that some years ago t he
prisoner had an account at the bank in which he
was a clerk, as co executor under the will of h is
father, for many years registrar of births and deal, is
at Sheffield. The affairs of the trust were woun d
up a considerable time ago, but during a period t
more than a year the prisoner has occasionally ha, d
large deficiencies in his receipts as counter cashier
of the bank, and has given cheques on the execu—
torship account for the amounts of the deficiencies,.
Strangely enough, though there were no funds int
the bank to the credit of the executorship account),
Otese cheques have been accepted and placed to the
debit of the account, and the frauds were continued
with ut discovery until Friday last. The cheques
have thc en mostly for large amounts, the two last
being gj ven—one on the sth 'Sept. for £l6O, dnd
the other o.n the 7th for £l4O. On Friday the ac-
counts came under investigation at a meeting of the
directors of ihe bank, and the discovery of ths
fraud resulted in the apprehension of the pri3oner,
on a warrant, re4ther late in the evening.
Mr. Gould,
wA," appeared for the prosecution,
said the facts having transpired only yesterday,
he was not yet
prepared to go into the elm.
He might mention,
'
Aowever, that since the appre-
hension of the prism er on Friday evening, it
had come to the know-lodge of the directors that
there was a deficiency in his cash that day to the
amount of £55, which ottm prisoner had taken
during the day to apply to his own purposes. This
he should be prepared to pro ye at the proper time.
So far as was at present ktiown the amount :ab-
stracted was about £l,OOO. The bank held the
policy of a guarantee society for £l,OOO, which he
hoped would hold them harmlesal from any consi-
derable loss.
Mr. Chambers, who appeared fat' the prisoner,
offering no objection, the prisoner was remanded
until Wednesday next.
The prisoner, who is a married man,- with one
child, has hitherto been considered a most res pect-
able and trustworthy young man. He w,as ft
direetor of the Athenaeum, the salaried secretor y of
the School of Art, an active promoter of the IVle-
chanics' Library, and was intimately connected with
several other societies. He was also a man of the
most steady and temperate habits, but appears to
have lived at home in a style beyond his income.