Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1891-08-29
HOW II WAS DONE.
The L0Oting of the keystone
Bank, Philadelphia.
Confession of the Ex-Assistant
Cashier.

In Letter 60 Ex-Bank Examiner win.
lam p. Drew He Tells How the hooks
OF the Bank Wero SkillfulIy NHanipu-
lated to Hide the stealings which Have
Been Going ON for Over Ten Years.
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 29.--Ex- Assist
ant Cashier Charles Lawrence, of the
keystone bank, has written statement
OF the methods which were used
| TO deceive ex-Bank Examiner Drew.
Lawrence is now in the Eastern peni-
tentiary, serving out his term Of seven
| years for completely in wrecking the
bank. The letter is as follows:
PHILADELPHIA, Pa, Aug. 8, 1891.
Colonel William H. Drew:
DEAR SIR-I beg to submit to you the
| Following circumstances as to the manner
In which you, as national bank examiner,
was deceived in your examinations of the
Keystone National bank In the first place,
permit me to say that, in general, every
means possible were used to both swell
the assets of the bank and to diminish the
liabilities.
There was no regular method adopted,
but at one time some means were resorted
to, at other times some other plan sug-
gested itself. l can, therefore, only tell
you In general way of the various things
done to deceive you, without specifying
any particular time at which the particu-
lar Justification was made. First, as to
the individual ledgers. These came within
the scope of my own knowledge, and are
facts with which / am personally ac-
quainted. As to other departments, my
M lnfIFr 4
and heard, and, therefore, am about to
draw pretty strong inferences. The indi-
Nidual ledgers were altered at least twice
every year-about the time you were
looked for This was done by ms since
1880, and the methods pursued were vari-
Gus. Sometimes whole pages were alb
stracted. Mostly false balances were
made by altering the pencil figures.
Large balances were decreased and over
drafts wiped out. Sometimes false credits
were posted 70 an overdrawn account so
that your attention would not be drawn
to the ledger more minutely by an over
drawn account, when you might possibly
see something else to excite your suspicion.
Sometimes false checks were posted to an
account having large balance, so as to
reduce liabilities. This, you can readily
see, required alterations and re-alterations
to very large extent, because, If n check
had been falsely posted to an account, and
then the party drew ON the account him
self in the regular course of business, you
will see that II necessitated rearrange-
ment OF his account, and corresponding
change in some other account.
This was done to the extent of probably
$780, more or less | cannot tell any
nearer than that
Now, know that on the ledgers there
were memoranda carried as cash which
represented the amount Mr.. Lucas owed
the cash drawer. This was replaced at
the time Of your examination by real cash,
which was temporarily borrowed some
times by means of a due bill book, some
times by means of a certificate of deposit
or by the president obtaining loan
The bills discounted were swelled by the
introduction of fictitious notes. These
were intended both to swell the assets and
to take the place Of other bills discounted
which 1t was thought best not to let you
see, as it might excite your suspicion and
put you on more inquisitive examina.
tion. This, l believe, gives you general
idea of the various methods pursued. OF
course have not gone into minute details,
but have dealt in generalities. A volume
might be written upon this subject, but
my ability in that direction is very limited,
and / trust that you will find this sufil-
cient to show you how difficult it was for
you or any one else to discover the true
condition Of the bank
With sincere regrets for the part took
In deceiving you in the above matter, and
with the assurance that it was not with
the petty desire to deceive you, but with
desire to carry out the Instructions of my
superior officer, feeling that it was my
duty to do so, and finally having once
been caught in the meshes and finding it
impossible to extricate myself, am, re
spectfully yours, CHARLES LAwRENoE.