The sun., 1900-12-09
MILLIONS GOT BY FRAUD.
OPERArIONS Og rHE SEgfS0 0iN0
JrsT RHOHEN TP
Within four Years rh.v Have Ficeccd M-r
chants 0ut of One uili,on Dollars at
t"av. and More Probably out Of Two
Credit Frauds by witch Many Frms
Have Lost - Worked iu MANY ways.

ehants Out of One mutton Dollars at
iea''. and More Probably out Of Two
Credit Frauds by witch Many Firms
Have Lost worked In Man, wa,s.
within the last four years gang ~ thirty
i've swindler-, operating IN groups Of three
and four At time. have robbed morch'nts
of goods aud investors ot cash 10 the amount
OF more than million dollars possibly two
millions Their principal Operations have
been IN this city. hut their schemes have
extended all over the country and their VIC
tins are numbered by the thousand The
richest firms In the country have been taken
In equally with the humbcst tradesmen.
one By one the schemes OF the swindlers have
be'n exposed and In most casos arrests
have been made Yet up TO the present
time no, one Of the gang hns received severer
sentence than a few months imprisonment.
a year or two az most
Some Of the swindles exposed have been
the most profitable In the last ten years
The newspapers have devoted columns OF
space to them altogether Each a. the
police put an end to il. has been succeeded
by another, usually the old swlndle In another
place in a slightly varied form. and the public
has been fseced again. Throughout, the
man whose brain originated the whole series
OF frauds rarely appeared in operating them
and he escaped. Several OF his hackers are
stl free. though In trouble and under cover
from the police. but he was captured last week
He Is now In the Tombs under heavy bail,
and the police think that after camping on
his trail for four long years they at last have
him where they want him.
His name is Henry Seelis and he IL now
- He is an Austrian Hebrew. stooklly
built and keen eyed He has been In the
swindling business six years, the police say.
and this Is the third time he has been ar
rested Twice before he got out by jumping
his bail He wont get chance 10 do that
this time. though hs oonfederates would
put up a good sum 20 get him out from be-
hind the bars His capture now ia believed
70 have headed of n gigantic lead company
fraud in Chicago. which had not yet matured.
but OF which the police learned from papers
found In his possession
Seelg has not been directly connected
with all OF the svindes perpctrated by
members Of the gang which took his name.
Some Of his confeierates after learning his
methods initiated them on their own ac-
count though tn " usually went TO him for
advice In other schemes he was repre-
sented by his brother. Franz, whose picture.
with Henrys. Ia In the Rosue's Gallery at
Police Headquarters. Fran, Seelig ia now
somewhere in the West. He was there pre-
sumably with view 10 helping along the
lead swindle, when Henrys arrest nipped
it before it matured The public loss through
all of the schemes in which the two figured
or which were originated by them and carried
out by their associates the police put at
81 600 Ooo at least That is the lowest figure.
The total is more likely double that sum
Not even the swinders themselves know
how much was lost through them Their
operations have been so involved. 80 large
and 50 numerous that few thousands more
or less count "a nothing
The Seeig plan of swindling was simple.
II was briefly, by putting on bold front and
posing as a respectable irm, to get all the
goods possible on credit. TO dispose OF them
for what they would fetch either on the spot
or by slipping them away and TO skip our
with the proceeds. The plan was varied
in different cases. Sometimes the members
of the gang working particular swindlo
would fool their victims by assuming the
name OF a respectable firm with high com
mercial rating At other times two or three
fake concerns would be started at once. each
In different business. established In hand
some quarters. and each giving the other
as a reference to its financial stability.
Sometimes Il store would he opened and
substantial sum deposited In a bank, refer
encs. being then given 10 the bank. OF course
before the day OF reck ming came. the deposit
would be withdrawn. At other times, stilI,
the swind!ers posed as bankers ana brokers
and bought out SINAI! tradesmen on notes
worth Just the paper they were written on
and no more Before tho tradesrnan DIS.
covered that. his store had been cleared
Of his good. ard my ,S hsd h,. been au'uoheo
1t was a game which offered opportunities
for endless variations ana II was highly
One line day the new store OF The iine oii.ces
were empty, the goods and the purchasers
had vanished and the iirms which hGd loGr eY.
70 sue Sometimes, however. ihe s0Indlcrs
were so bold that they stayed 90 fHce II out,
sianrnent or declar ed themselves bankrupt
IT WASH easy 70 pro-. ttrlt d'?i1nss, "a, n; ani
It a's1 was 90 dincnt 70 iT prov" it aH1tigs els
The law itself seemed 70 protect the criminals
"a purchase of propeIty by means OF false
pretouce Is not criminal where the false irc,
tence relates to the purchasers means OF
abinty to pay. ure,> ~" Ir"t"nce i made
in writing and sign by the pcrson to hr
charged The criminal laM was tnr only
meai's of getting at the swinder-, ana IN most
Cn.cs They were shrrwd enough to arrange
It so that no statements in writing Were made
bv the persons directly concerned othrrs
did that If il was nrC1 -sery. and 80 all OF the
gang kept out or thought they Eert OUT OF
danger 80 secir" was thls position thht
when wO Di ''ls -N l'luItT~ were thuEHi 'li
months ago practically red-handed ia getting
posscsson Of slOO,OHO worth oi goods, Nlgis-
trRtc Hogan, before Vnpm theT N"to
rai.ned, declared that though the intent u
dctraud was plain he didn't ~"e how thei
could he prosecuted as there was nothing
but verbal ~tItemeuts on which 20 proce,d
II" did mold them, however, and they are sti'l
awaiting trial
Srnlir's swindling career. so FAR as the New
YORK police nrc concerned. began in 1895.
There was then doing business d" Greenwich
-tr.ct u mighty rp-pe, ted grocer named BERT
hold Blank Mr. Blank wns well known all
through the trade, and his rating In the books
ul tho commercial agencies was very hlch.
Scnlic his brother Franz and his hrother-in-
law Mil,igtu Mp,2ner. established themselves
iu an oiilC" in Murray street around the corner
a. Il Blank, grocer, and sent out TO who!c-
sllcrs all over the country orders Tor goods,
lhcy were not particular as u the klnd they
dcal' in Ninea. cigars, canned goods, ma
Chiuorv. ANYTHING that would bring money.
But there was no hesItpti N about seud'Qg
ANYTHING to berthold Blank, "a the whole
sllcrs supposed the man - be phO SEA ~"
orders and the goods came, carloads Of then.
- IA I that the SNiudlors w"r" hard put - IL
to receive them and got rid of them quick
enough They did get rid ot them however.
Thev received half n million dollars worth
Of stock. and they sold 1t for s30D.uUu. Then
INSPECTOR To,s who wa- thpn Only capt7in,
got uU the sr,ipdlcr-' track On the dHt tha
police took charge oi"R Blanks" oiIl"a letters
Of oVrrdu. debts were received. All OF the
-. Nl Ia ~