Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-08
OLD SPANISH SW|NDLE
Confidence Game Carried On
for Many Years.
MONEY EASILY WON
ADVANTAGE TAKEN OF GULLIBLE
AMERICANS.
Urged by Pathetic Letters to Send
Money to a Relative, Dying Des-
titute in Prison.

uCuto IN ET1Sou.
The State Department has received report
from the United States consul general at
Barcelona, Spain, in regard to the band OF
swindlers operating in various towns ana
cities in Spain, who make practice OF
writing to persons in the United States re-
speeding the Imprisonment OF relative and
the guardianship Of child.
The consul general states that the al
legged prisoner generally describes himself
as a political prisoner from Cuba: he is at
the point of death and has but one friend
the prison priest through whose good
offices he Is enabled to smuggle an occa-
sional letter out of the prison fort.
The prisoner is rich. He has fortune
in cash on deposit in the United States, but
the certificate of deposit is concealed in
secret receptacle OF his valise the valIse
Itself has been taken possession of by the
court at Cartagena, which tried and con-
demned him. and will be held until the
prisoner or his representative has satisfied
the costs of the trial. The prisoner has an
only daughter; dying in his prison: his sole
thought is Of this beloved offspring: he has
no friend or relative in Spain TO whose care
he commit her.
n 1ouCuluS opPCoi.
In this emergency his thoughts turn to
the distant relative in the United States
whom he has never seen and of whom he
knows only through hearsay or the family
tree VIII the distant relative assume the
guardianship of the darling daughter-and
the darling daughters fortune of about
$4,000? If the distant relative accepts the
trust one-fourth of the prisoners entire
will 10 reward.
good priest will go at once to the United
States and take the darling daughter with
him.
There is but one condition: The ready
money which the prisoner brought with
him TO Spain has been exhausted. The dis
tant relative is therefore requested to send
enough to liberate the valise containing the
secret receptacle and the certificate OF de-
post. This money is to be sent to the
good priest at address indicated, ana
having received II the good priest Will at
once obtain the valiSe and start for Amer
lea. the land of the brave and the home of
the free" with the darling daughter.
Other Letters Followed.
The above is generally the first letter OF
the series 1t is quickly followed by an
other in which the prisoner pathetically
states that his strength is rapidly failing
and the end is near. He beseeches his
dear. distant relative to assume the trust
and be a loving father to the darling
daughter.
The third letter is from the good prison
priest himself who in brief, touching terms
and hopelessly bad English. announces the
death of the unhappy prisoner The good
priest adds that the darling daughter Is
under his care; he is ready TO put ms
promise into execution and start for the
United States soon as he shall have re-
ceiyed the necessary funds from the distant
relative. The good priest frequently in
closes with his letter bogus newspaper
clipping announcing the death in prison
at Barcelona of the famous Cuban patriot
(sometimes called Augustin Lafiente); the
newspaper notice also speaks cunningly of
the confscated valise and the darling
daughter.
1t is simple scheme but presented in
such a plausible way that almost any I'M
suspecting distant relative" of European
extraction would be more or less deceived
by the glad prospect of falling heir to
the agreeable custody of a darling daugh-
ter with a big fortune. and a one-fourth
interest therein, as an additional recon-
penSe.
Must Be Kept Secret.
Naturally, the first impulse of the dis
tant relative Is to ask lawyer or judge
or some other authority what course he
ought to pursue in the premises, but as
he thinks Of doing this his attention Is
taken by the warning in the prisoners
letter beseeching him not to mention the
matter to any living soul lest the secret
of the valSe and the hidden receptacle be
indiscreetly betrayed
The valise, after all, with its concealed
certificate of deposit is the key to the
situation and possession must be taken of
it before anything can be done or said.
This $50 cunningly set forth by the priS-
oner) is very evident to the distant rela-
tive, and so he quite frequently preserves
the secret intact, and instead of consulting
a lawyer writing to the American con-
sui general at Barcelona he quietly sends
a draft for the sum demanded to the
good priest and awaits results. OF course.
he waits in vain and the poor dead pris-
oner'' and the good priest and the
pass out of his life forever, leaving him
only Nhe uncomfortable memory of the
money he so cheerfully contributed to the
confidence game.
Carried on for Years.
For nearly twenty years these same
knaves have been practicing their swindle.
and 1t is needless to suggest that they
are very carefully organized; they have
confederates, not only in the United States,
but in most other countries. The con-
federates In question select a man and
find out all they can about him; they get
hold of family names, family origin and
family characteristics. This information Is
transmitted to the rascals In Spain, and
letters are at once written to the pros
pective victim. The scheme is presented
and developed in a very plausible Way
and many of our fellow countrymen. have
bitten promptly and cheerfully
Under the Spanish laws a felony must
be consummated before the police may act,
and a mere attempt to obtain money by
false pretenses does not appear to warrant
arrest. The money must be actually paid
over, and the prosecuting witness must
DE present in propria persona to testify
otherwise prosecution would be useless