Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1893-09-23
IN SLEEPS CLOTHING.
Boston Man Proves 10 Be
a Financial Wolf.
MANY IMMENSE SWINDlES.
His Intimacy With Moneyed Men
Helped Him in HIS Work.

boH VI lhllf lu'lIN a " avenue, n CnuTCu
member IN business man of supposed
high inkcrity, IL wanted by the police.
He was the senior rfeAUcr If the firm of
Richardson &; y gui.. leather dealers, of Dot
Congress 5, rect, which fniled short time
ago, and iti clai.u,d hat Le has been car.
rying on gigantic swindling scheme, In
which are involved some of the largest
banking houses of Boston, New York and
London. IL is beyond a doubt the most
extensive scheme to defraud that Boston
has ever seen. The biggest firms have
been bitten, and bitten deeply. An in-
dictment warrant is out for arrest of
Richardson. 1t charges him with securing
from one firm alone, by false pretsnses,
the sum of sl75, 600.
The total amount of Richardson's
stealings amounts to half million or
more.
At It Long Time.
This announcement, according to the
statements of many business men of this
city with whom he has had dealings,
much to their dscomforture, but mildly
tells the story of an alleged swindling
scheme that he has been guilty of for some
time
During recent years he has, through his
church connection, been associated with
such wealthy men IA the late Fred L.
Ames and 5. Endicott Pea 'ody, president
OF the American Loan and Trust company
1t was largely through his associations
with these well-known financers and the
fact that he lived in grand style on Com
monwealth avenue that he was so success
full in his swindling. which some people
claim was nothing more or less than a
gigantic confidence game"
The charges OF securing wrongfully the
enormous amount Of $l75, 900, accord ng TO
well-known banking concerns. does not
anywhere near cover his misrepresenta-
tions.
Many Heavy Losers.
The Immediate complainant In the case
is the firm of j. S. Morgan & Co., the Lon
don bankers, who are represented In this
city by Jacob q. Rogers as attorney. This
firm Is the heaviest loser by the crook edness
Of Richardson, but there are many other
well-known banking firms In the vicinity
of State street who are heavy losers,
among them being such well-known
houses as Kidder, Peabody e. Co. and
Barring Bros. Of London. Besides the
banks who are affected by the disappear
ance Of the leather merchant.
The first revelations of Richardson's
crookedness did not come until some time
after the failure Of the firm Of which he
was the head, which occurred early In May
OF the current year. Meetings of the
numerous creditors of the firm were held,
and then IL was learned for the first time
that the assets of the concern which was
rated at $500, 900 to $500, 900 were almost
nothing, while the liabilities were found
to foot up to t640, 900 in round fgnres.
Until within few we' ks the losers and
victims OF the firm said nothing, while
Richardson with his wife are known to
have been spending the summer apparent
ly happy enough at Newport and later
at York Harhor, Me. Finally Jacob c.
Rogers, representing J. S. Morgan, decided
to take legal steps in the matter, and with
the assistance Of his lawyer and police
inspector they laid their case before Dis
trict Attorney Stevens and the grand Jury.
A police Inspector made trip to Newport
and also to York Harbor, but he failed to
find Mr. Richardson.
His Modus Operandi.
According to the information cleaned
by the City Press reporter be is charged
with securing money from J. S. Morgan
e. Co. by means Of false pretenses amount.
ing to the sum of tl75,0o0. The transac-
tions by which he secured the money were
somewhat peculiar He secured it for no
other reason than that he was thought to
have money, and he did all in his power to
make people think that he was among the
richest men In the city, and he was looked
up to as bright, enterprising and most
successful leather merchant.
According to the best sources of infor-
nation and according to the transactions
that have come to light since the failure,
the defunct firm started in, In 1881, with
capital Of Just $500. Their capital has
not increased one unit since then, and, &C
cording to some people, they have not even
been worth so much. However, when
they failed they owed s640, 900, and IL is
alleged that since the firm started in busi-
ness they have drawn out for their per-
sonal use $4,000
1t appears that soon after the bus mess
had been started they secured good rating,
and this fact, together with the prom
insnt relations with Fred l.. Ames, s.
Endicott Peabody and Jacob c. Rogers,
only tended to give the banking people the
utmost confidence In the firm. Accord
ingly when Richardson as the head OF the
firm asked for letters of credit, even
though it be for many thousands Of
dollars, he was rarely refused. The result
was he secured from nearly all Of his VIC
Tins sums ranging from 60, 900 up.
Cool Psrforma mances.
1t appears that in recent tran sactions
with the Morgan firm and with Barring
Bros. 81 Co. aud Kidder, Peabody g. Co.
he was more than daring. 1t is alleged
that In most Of the cases he went to the
above named firms and represented to
them that he was going to receive a large
number Of hides and skins, ETC., and by
this means secured large amounts, on the
strength OF which he promised to pay the
firms the money just as soon a. he had
sold the skins aud hides, and In some cases
for the collateral he gave orders to the
bankers, by which il was thought that
they could secure the property on its ar
rival.
But IL is alleged that they then were gem
orally disappointed, a for some reason or
other there was difficulty In getting the