The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-11-25
INDICTED AS SWINDLERS
MILLER AND LESLIE, CHIEF AND
SECRETARY, FLY.
THE POLICE ARREST THE CASHIER
A Glittering SwndIing Concern Defraudng
Thousands by Promises of 10 Per Cent
Weekly Dividends, Now in the
uorde IS tba poI;oo
Hands of the Police.

New 1OrK, NOV. Z4.--N lllHam II.
Miller, head of the Franklin Syndicate,
which has accepted the deposits of thou
sands of persons in Brooklyn under
promise of paying dividends Of 10 per
cent, or $50 per cent. per annum, and
Cecil Leslie, his secretary, were indicted
by the Kings County grand jury today.
Bench warrants were issued for the ar
rest of these two men, but up to quite
late hour tonight neither had been
found the police saying that they had
disappeared in the afternoon. Tonight
the police raided the premises occupied
by the Franklin Syndicate on Floyd
street There was a great crowd of
people around the building, and the po-
lice surrounded it. Inspector Brennan
arrested Louis Miller, brother of the
head of the syndicate and cashier of the
concern and took possession of $4,000
in cash. There were forty employees en-
gagged at work in the offices and these
We're allowed to go.
1t was stated by Louis Miller to the
police that the offices were then in the
hands of ex-Sheriff Daily, of Richmond,
to whom, he said, the concern had as
signed. The charge upon which Miller
was indicted was that of conspiring to
defraud The district attorneys office
in Brooklyn has been at work ON the
case for some weeks, so prominent have
MIXERS operations become in that time.
The presence of the police caused great
excitement. When they entered the
office they were informed that at g
o'clock tonight the concern had made an
assignment in the borough of Manhat-
tan to James Daily, ex-sherif of Rich
mond. Chief of Detectives Reynolds
said that the police were the assignees
now and put Daily off the premises.
Daily has been in the employ of Miller
for some time past. OF the $4,000
taken possession of by the police, some
thing more than $1,000 in cash was
found in the syndicate offices. From
the record which the police had made of
today's deposits lit was evident that a
portion of the money had been removed
from the offices, and Louis Miller, the
cashier, who was arrested, was called
upon to make AN explanation. He at
first refused but ON being threatened by
the police, said that Miss Annie Cory,
an employe of the concern, who lived
in house adjoining the offices, had
been given the possession of a large sum
of money in the morning by the head OF
the firm. The police went to the adj
joining house where they placed Miss
Cory under arrest, and after an eX-
tended search they found nearly $4,000
concealed in an old lounge in her apart
ments. The woman then declared that
she had this money in her possession for
the purpose of paying the employees of
the syndicate The police, however, took
possession of the money and gave Miss
Cory her liberty
HISTORY OF THE CONCERN.
William t. Miller began the Franklin
Syndicate in very small way, locating
his offices among the poorer classes of
Brooklyn and making one feature of his
business the acceptance of very small
sums of money and the alleged invest
ment of them for the poor people. He
claimed that by inside tips on the stock
market he was able to reap large and
quick profits, of which he was willing
to pay u large percentage to his clients.
He paid the interest on the principal
cdtH A6ch anu HIS buAAiNcc iihSACttSSN'
Within the past few months he adver-
tised extensively and in all parts of
Brooklyn could be found men who could
tell wonderful stories of the weekly divi-
dends Then some of the financial con-
Germs in New York began to look into
the business of the Franklin Syndicate,
and not only did many of the prominent
financiers denounce as preposterous the
offer Of 10 per cent. interests on money
invested, but, some of the banks refused
to accept Miller's account or to do busi-
ness with him.
1t is claimed that Miller was simply
the representative of syndicate of men
who had been engaged in conducting
blind pools for years. The very fact that
the newspapers and financial circles be-
gan to make Investigations aroused the
public interest TO such an extent, and
at the same time in some quarters the
public cupidity that it is said, within
the last week Miller has received de-
posits of hundreds of people, aggregating
a daily amount of from $4,000 to
$4,000. 1t is easy to see, under these
circumstance, how the Franklin Synd-
cate could readily pay 10 per cent. of
this amount week and still make
money.
Not only were the people living within
the limits of Greater New York large
depositors with the Franklin Syndicate,