The San Francisco call., 1897-07-20
Money Lenders at Los
Angeles Duped by a
SWindler.
Pacific Coast Steamship Com
pany Clerks Novel
Methods.
Disposed OF Numerous "Shaved
or Altered Claims Against
His Employers.

ers of an aggregate lace value OF between
$4,000 and $4,000. purporting to have
been issued by the Pacific Coast Steam
ship Company in settlement OF claims OF
losses and damages, are found to be in e1
istence in Los Angeles in the hands OF
money-le nders, and it is to-day declared
all are forged and worthless. Represen-z
tatives of the steamship company claim
that gigantic conspiracy has been gong
on here for months by which great
amount of money has been made by some
persons. As a result there are prospects
of a criminal prosecution being 1nsti-
tuted and q certainty of numbers OF civil
suits which may help to throw light upon
the steal.
Careful investigation discloses these
facts: J. w. Kapus, shrewd young man
who for about five years was clerk for w.
Paris, local agent of the Pacific Coast
Steamship Company, lost his position
last March, having resigned by request OF
his employer, who thought the clerk had
too much private business to enable him
to properly attend to that OF the steam
ship company.
Previous to that time and up to the
present, it appears, Kapus has be en- doing
large business in buying or shaving"
claims against the steamship company. It
is said that he would receive information
that a certain shipper would be entitled to
claim for some amount, say $1,000, and
would go to him with an offer to buy the
claim at a discount for ready cash, which
otherwise would not be forthcoming until
the matter had run the usual time con-
suming course. Thus an agreement would
be reached for about $500.
Kapus, by his own admission, would bor-
row from some moneyed man the amount
and give to him for security a voucher for
the full amount of the cl aim. The ear
| Iier ones were eventually paid back from
| receipts of the next loan, Kapus in each
case dividing a big rake off with the
money y-lender.
| 1t is stated that the operations began
with the loss of the steamer Colima, when
| a great number of claims were filed
against the company, and the enterpris-
| ing clerk turned a snug. profit to his &C
| count.
As shippers were inclined to magnify
| the amount of loss they had sustain ed,
they were all the more willing to compro-
mise on discount basis, and. the vouch-
ers being considered as good as gold, no
difficulty was experienced in obtaining
ready cash upon them. Some OF the
shire est money men in the city went
| into the deal, and as a result now hold
quantities of the vouchers for which they
| may never receive cent.
1t is charged that many ii not most OF
| these vouchers are entire forgeries. Each
genuine voucher should bear the sigma
ture of the claim clerk, the chief account
ant and also the initials or full signature
of the general agents-Goodall, Perkins d
Co. On these forged vouchers, it is said,
all the autographs are spurious, and these
have been denounced by the company's
agents as bogus.
Some of the vouchers instead of being
forged as to signature are genuine In that
respect, but raised in amount. Thus 1t Is
tnat some vouchers issued in regular form
for some sum, $50 for instance, turn up in
a money lenders hands bearing the os-
tensibe face value of $500 or even $4,000.
The reckless abandon exhibited in the
making of these forged or raised vouchers
is something marvellous, and that profess
sional money-lenders who are expert on
shaving" negotiable paper. should be
taken in on them is past belief. Yet De
Pepper, who is a wealthy Randsburg
! mine-owner is said to hold $500 worth OF
the vouchers some portion of which may
| possibly be worth something, but with
| changes against them.
DR.. Kuns has $4,000 of the claims, but he
| is confident he will get the money. Other
men, the majority of them wealthy doc
tors, hold amounts great or small. and the
| holders differ as to the prospects OF ever
| realizing on them.
When w. Paris, the local agent for the
steamship company, became convinced OF
| what was gong on, be set about to lnves-
| tigate, after communicating with the
head Office in San Francisco, but he found
great reluctance on the part OF the In
yestors to admit what they had put into
the pool of the young Napoleon of finance.
Not until to-day was he able TO approxi-
mate the total amount of the alleged for
geries, ana it approached the $40, 600 mark.
| Young Kapus at first did his banking
at the National Bank OF California, but
| he became angry because an overdraft
would not be honore ed and transferred his
account to the Citizens Bank. At both
/ establishments he created suspicion by
the great size of his account, but neither
bank had any business with him except to
handle his deposits.
! After Kapus left the steamship com.
pany's mploy he, with partner, engaged
| in the mems furnishing business on
Broadway under the firm name of Parry
| & Kapus, and there continued his busl-
ness of shaving" claims.
All of this Kapus admits. but he denies
that he did any forging. When seen to-
day by The CALL correspondent Kapus
said that his connection with the matter
was only that of buyer of claims, just as
persons buy city and county warrants At
| discount.
| He said If any of the vouchers were
| forged the work must have been done in
the San Francisco office. He declares he
is innocent of any purpose to defraud, and
| has employed an attorney to look after
| his interests.
| Certain holders of the denounced vouch-
ers have also sought counsel. They assert
| that the documents they hold are true
| upon their face and not different from
others they previously held, which were
| paid, and they will undertake to force the
company to pay them.
None of these holders as yet evince an
| inclination to bring a criminal action
against any one while hoping for settle
ment but that they display great uneasi-
ness is shown by the fact of their employ
ing legal counsel.
representative of the steamship COM
pany is expected to arrive from San Fran
cisco tomorrow.
FIRES I'M SHdHTA E0RESTC