The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1892-02-01
DEFRAUDlNG BANKS.
Savings Bank Forgeries and How
They are Detected.
CLOSE MOUTHED OFFICIALS.
A New York Treasurer Tells About the
Difficulties In Keeping Track Of People
Who Try to Draw Money from the
Depositories of the Poor.

Few people from the outside ever get
closer to the business secrets of saving
banks than In the lines that file continu
ally before the little windows behind which
sits the teller II there are close mouthed
people in the world they are the men who
conduct the business of these repositories
of the earnings of the poor. From the pres
ident, back in some carpeted recess, to tn
watcher at the front doors no information
is ever volunteered by them, and answers
to questions Of bewildered inquirers ar
given right to the point and as short a
proverbial pie crust.
Therefore, when . savings bank official
talks of his business he generally says some
thing the public knows nothing about.
IL will tell you something that will sur
prise you," said Treasurer Quinlan, Of the
Greenwich Savings bank, to a reporter re
Gently, In n burst of confidence "You
wouldn't think that scarcely day passes
without attempts at forgery in a big city
savings bank like this. II Is no sinecure
to be paying teller in this or any Other
savings bank in this city"
With that Mr.. Quinlan tapped bell and
boy responded.
ASK the women's teller TO bring In some
of those attempted forgeries," said the
treasurer. The boy departed and pretty
soon the women's teller brought in a lot of
receipts and put them before Mr.. Quinlan.
They were stuck on a file and the lot was
nearly foot high.
"All these were filled out within few
months" said Mr.. Quinlan, "and this is
only the showing In the women's depart
ment The difference in the signatures on
these receipts from the genuine signatures
kept by the bank is all that enables the
teller to spot them as forgeries.
INNOCENT FORGERY.
Sometimes the signatures are close
enough to raise doubt as to their genu-
ineness. In most cases the applicants an
swer all the test questions, so you see a
paying teller has got to xercise consider
able Judgment"
"Do you prosecute all these casesW
"Oh my, no. Some Of them are inno-
cent attempts at forgery and some are
criminal"
The reporter confessed his ignorance of
what was an innocent" attempt at for
gerry.
''is where a person signs a receipt for, say,
Mary Jones, innocently. How Is thisp
the teller says This Is not the signature
of Mary Jones' oh. Mary Jones is my
sister, il the reply. She sent me here to
draw the money for her.
"Then the teller tells the sister to 90
back and get an order, or to tell Mary Jones
to come and draw the money herself. II it
Ii an innocent case the sister goes away
and does rs she is directed. If there is any
crooked work the alleged sister storms and
fumes and insists, and the teller quietly
hands her over to the police and prosecutes.
Sometimes the guilty ones go away
without making any fuss. In every case.
however guilty or innocent, we make a
note Of the circumstances In a book and
look out sharply that the proper person
gets the money on that account thereafter.
OF course we keep the receipt with forged
signature"
SEVERAL ACCOUNTS.
"Do you ever pay out to the wrong per-
SOM"
Seldom, indccd. Sometimes, however,
the shrewdest teller will get caught. One
young man went up to Sing Sing yester-
day for five years for extracting a small
sum from this bank on forged signature.
Another young man is just about to be let
out Of Elmira reformatory after serving q
sentence for the same offense.
Nor is that the only dodge they try to
work." continued Mr.. Quinlan. II re-
member when l was teller a good many
years ago q woman came to have the inter-
est entered In her book. She handed up
her pass hook, and it struck me that had
entered interest in pass book for the same
woman not long before.
Madam said. didn't enter up in
terest for you last weekY
No, SIR she said.
81 am certain. madam, I must have
done 80. Weren't you here week agop I"
mo, sir, l wasn't. Look at the book.
There is no interest entered there
That was true, but l was sure / had
seen the woman only short time before.
Well, investigated and found that it was
the same woman, but another account.
found she had thirteen different accounts
with the bank. Al that time one Of the
banks rules was 60 pay per cent. interest
on sums under $500; over that per cent.
was paid on the whole sum. To get that
additional interest the woman had opened
up twelve trust accounts all under $500 in
addition to her own. made her close up
all those trust accounts before she left the
bank. New York Tribune