The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1890-07-12
HOW BANKS ARE ROBBED.
A Bank President Says that Any Bank Can
BE yictimized without Detection.

A Bank President Says that Any Bank Can
BE victimized Without Detection.
There isn't bank in this country
that cannot be safely robbed. said
the president of one Of the strongest
banks in this city the other day.
The remark was made in the
course Of conversation about the
conviction OF George Hamilton Pell,
the bank wrecker. The bank presi-
dent in question was not surprised at
Pelps conviction. He said that the
operations of Pell and his associates
had been known to a good many
bank officials long before the truth
came out, and tae conviction OF Pell
should have come long ago. 1t
wasn't suspected, of course, that
wrecking was in progress, but Pelps
scheme of check kiting was familiar.
When three or four bank presi
dents who are intimate get together,
the speaker said, they are apt to
compare notes. They ask each other
questions.
repeat, said the tinancier, "that
there is not bank in the country
that cannot be safely and successfully
robbed. The robbery can be done
in one way in spite Of all precautions
The individual bookkeencr is the
man who can do the, work if he
chooses. 1t is my belief that in all
the cases where check kitcrs and
check jugglers get in bank they
are IN collusion with some of the
bookkeepers. False entries can be
made, entries can b. withheld, and
it is almost impossible to discover the
fraud If the bookkeeper is in col
lusion with depositor the game is
easy. When checks are presented
and paid, the Cancelled check goes to
the bookkeeper who has the alpha
betical list under which the deposi-
tors name comes. He needn't enter
it, and when he balances the book
there need be no note Of it. The
Cancelled check is not returned as a
voucher, and SO, of course, the bank
book shows larger balance than
belongs to the, depostor. If the de-
positor understands the game and is
dividing the spoils with the book
keeper the scheme can be kept up a
good while. The accounts would
apparently be all right and the Bank
Examiners would have hard work to
discover the fraud.
Efforts are made to prevent such a
contingency, to be sure, and we have
as good a system as any in our bank,
but we could be robbed, nevertheless.
Every time the teller takes in check
and casheS it he writes the amount
and the patrons name on a slip OF
paper. Then he turns over the
cheek, after it has been cancelled, to
the bookkeeper to whom it belongs.
Every night the slips are read and
the corresponding check must be
produced by the bookkeeper. This
is good so far as it goes, and l know
no better. But in order to carry on
the robbery referred to it is only
necessary that the bookkeeper and
the teller be in collusion. The nee
essity for collusion on their part, Of
course, increases the risk, because
the number of robbers is doubled,
but that is all. We have never suf-
fered, so far as we know, and under
this system don't think we will, yet
at the same time | couldn't swear that
we hadn't been robbed today. have
the utmost confidence in our clerks,
but the most successful embezzlers
are those in whom the bank have the
most confidence. Where this slip
system is not in vogue nobody know 5
what has happened.
The very recent case of the Second
National Bank of Jersey City proves
that. A bookkeeper, trusted for many
years, was found to be acting in col
lusion with friend Of his outside the
banks. An examination Of the books
revealed nothing. So far as such evi
dence went there was not enough to
convict the culprit. 1t was only be
cause an old chum turned States
evidence that it came out that the
bank had been robbed for years by
the individual bookkeeper in collusion
with number of outsiders.
The swindle amounted to SIS, 900,
SO far as the testimony was obtained,
but it may have been $50, 900 or
$4,000. The books have nothing to
tell. There may be guilty depositors
who kept clear of detection, and they
may have swelled the amount of the
theft thousands of dollars. This is
only cne case, and the surprise of
the president of that bank is a sur
prise that almost any of us might
have suddenly thrust upon him.
No way of absolutely preventing
bank robbing has yet been discov
cred. There are more methods Of
wrecking banks than those employed
by Claassen and Pell The worst
wrecker may be the sedate, quiet,
courteous old bookkeeper whom
everybody loves and the officials all
trust.-N Y Mail and Express.