Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-08-13
LAUTERIO DEFALCATION
The Smooth Way in Which
They Were Worked
A, A. MONTANA ALSO ARRESTED.
The Ex-AuditOr Charged with Forg-
cry, and Others Will Probably
be Implicated in the Robbery.

So far as is known the defalcations of
the county officials, Frank Lauterio and
whatever other persons are connected
with the steal, amount to $S 900 in round
numbers. 1t was a very difficult matter
to trace these embezzlements of the
public funds because of the way in which
they were carried on. The Grand Jury,
which has been in session for some
months past, has done its work in a very
thorough manner, and it is to their faith
fulness, and that of the Supervisors and
of the present County Auditor, that the
discovery is due. This is the way the
defalcations were carried on: Most of
them were done by raising the amounts
of the warrants ordered drawn, and the
greater part of these raised amounts were
in jury payments. A warrant which
called for So would be raised to $22, or
something like this. Another method
pursued was to interlineate the orders of
the Board of Supervisors. A list sent to
the Auditors Office from that of the Clerk
is often found with several linterlineations.
Where warran were raised, the raise was
inserted in the list sent from the Clerk s
office, as we'll as in the warrant Where
an interlineation was made, and war
rant wanted to cover it, the book of war
rants was taken, and wherever a mistake
had been made in drawing warrant,
or in filling out stub, and there were
many such instances, made, perhaps, in
stead OF cancelling the warrant, it was
Just laid back and the next one filled in.
Che defective one was duly numbered in
perfect shape. Here was the needed
warrant to draw a fraudulent order on.
The money being obtained, the stub was
destroyed whole books of stubs were
spirited away in order to complicate the
matter, and the warrants, after being
cashed, checked up in the Treas
urer's Office and sent back
to the Auditors office, were
searched over and these fraudulent ones
we're distracted and destroyed. 1t was a
very complete scheme of robbery. At
the time these robberies of the county
were committed, no duplicate list was
sent to the Treasurer's Office, but that
official cashed any warrant presented in
due form. Now there is duplicate list
sent by the Clerk to the Treasurer, and
he checks off all warrants by this when
presented.
The Grand Jury employed Mr.. Black
man to expert the books, and he found
it most difficult task to discover the
embezzlements. No ordinary sys-
the accounts balanced to a dot. The expert
checks, and in this way, while any two
- t1o ,to ,,,ityht mt II r;pbf
the third leg of the triangle would
prove to be too long or too short, and
thus point to the defalcation. But so
well concealed were these robberies that
it is very likely that the whole amount Of
the steal is not yet known. Only a
most thorough search of the books will
reveal the full truth.
AS to the capture of Lauterio the story
is like this. 1t had been supposed that
Sunday, June 10th, was the last time
the ex-Deputy Auditor was in town. He
had been reported as travelling to Mon
rovia with woman in buggy that day.
1t eeems the woman was Mrs. Lauterio
and that they went to Devils Can on took
their lunch and returned home In the
evening. The next day Lauterio learned
that an effort was on foot to
have his bondsmen give him
up, 30 he concealed himself
until Thursday, when he and friend
drove away in buggy by way of Pasa-
dena and Monrovia to DEVILS Canon.
The fugitive states that he had been
urged to go away and get into Mexico in
order to save certain "friends" who are
implicated in the steal. This was the
object of his flight. He went to the
DEVILS Canon, in the mountains above
San Bernardino, and his friend returned
with the buggy.
M. G. Agulrre, Sheriff of Los Angeles
county, has been unceasing in his
eff rts to discover Lauterio, and
many is the false scent he took
to find moonshine at the end. Lauterio
took job of chopping wood in the
canon, and worked away for six weeks.
Some of his friends at times visited him
from Los Angeles, and he was waiting to
get some money to go off to Mexico.
One OF the wood-choppers named
White, a half-breed, came down to
ago, and "blabbed" about where Lau-
terio was concealed in the camp. A
friend of Aguirre heard him, and came
Sup to the Sheriff's office and "put Martin
onto" the matter. The Sheriff
made three several trips to the
caflon to get the fugitive, but
failed in every one of these.
Lauterio's friends here each time got
him warned that Martin was on his trail.
The fugitive had pair If large field
glasses, with which he watched the roads
and saw everyone that approached the
camp. When the Sheriff came along,
Lauterio took to the brush. Aguirre at
last made up his mind that some one was
watching him and "giving him away" to
the man he was after, 30 he went down
to San Bernardino and told the Sheriff OF
that county where Lauterio was concealed
in the brush, and asked him to watch
the place night and day until
he had to come out. For thirty-siX hours
the defaulter went without even drop
of water. and then he had to come out
and give himself up as he did, and was
brought in here last Saturday. That
night Aguirre visited him, and made an
arrangement with him to make a clean
breast cf all to him on Monday. Yester-
terday the Sheriff visited the ex-
Deputy Auditor, and on informa-
tion then received, yesterday even
ing A. A. Montafio, the ex-Aud-
tor, was arrested on charge
of forgery, connected with the warrant
business. Montaflo's bonds were fixed
at $500, and his bond was made and
he released, Colonel / h. Dunkelberger
and General E. Bonton going on the bond.
The Sheriff knows more, but will not
ffS,s. - 81 nrxr