New-York tribune., 1906-12-25
CUSTOMS PLOT CHARGED
BIG FURRTER ARRESTED.
NGsi Important Case tn Years, Say
Federal Officers.

N alleged plot 10 defraud the federal govern
Taer; of large sums was unearthed yesterday by
United States Marshal Henkel. Bernard
Dr7ieker. head Of the FUR importing firm OF B.
Drucker 6 Co. Of No. &c Bond street and Jean
Massee. n customs broker. of No. so Beaver
street. were taken into custody. This is re-
gardod by the authorities as one of the most
Important customs arrests in years. The men
were held in $4,000 bail yesterday. which was
furnished.
The complainant was ". D. Crenshaw, a spe-
cioI employe of the Treasury Department. who
alleged that the accused men had conspired TO
6e'-aud The government of sums then legally
Juo which should have been pai7 by Drucker
as duiy importation. The complaint fur
the~ charges that the defendants together made
ao entry npon an importation of FUR clippings"
81 bales on December !. 1906, from Germany
which hey declared 10 be worth SS1.55 marks.
bur which the government alleges was properly
worth $50 marks
The accused men were represented by Joel NJ
Marx and William H. Byrnes who denied that
'he'~ clients were guilty of the crime alleged.
The fur clippings imported by Drucker & Co.
come IN bales, and are cut from the whole skins
by foreign manufacturers in making up fur gar
Tnerts. Several fuTriers import the clippings in
ha'es. match them as best they can, and turn
out the cheaper class of boas and nluffs caps.
etc. The government assesses duty on the bales
ar 10 per cent ad valorem According TO the
Information Of the government, this undervalua-
tion Of the prices alleged to have been paid for
the bales has been going on since last summer.
Massee said he had been in the business for
many years and that he had nothing to do with
the valuation of goods he assisted in getting
through The Custom House The importer
brought him his invoices. the accused broker
said and on them he had the duty assessed
which he paid. If any undervaluation was made
n had nothing whatever to do with it, he de-
clared His arrest, he said. came as a surprise
end he thought he would have no difficulty in
proving his innocence. Mr.. Marx said he
thought the government had made an error in
its valuation.
This man buys CLIPPINGS at so much a
pound" he said. Should they happen TO be of
the most valuable skins. such as seal. Persian
lamb. chinchilla, mink, sable and the new fash
ionable caracul, he is a winner. Should they
BE- skunk rabbit. squirrel. dog astrachan. ETC.
n Quits loser or comes out even. He can never
tel until he goes through the bale and takes
out the scraps one by one.
The German furrier might have been making
e Russian sable coat fog some grand duchess
sn6 that bale OF clippings be worth more than
the next four or five that follow it, and all at
the same price a pound. He pays so much hit
or miss as il Were. Now. I fancy the govern
ment took one or two Of these bales and valued
tho skins. scrap by scrap. and thereby got a
total exceeding the price named by my client.
with a little plain figuring the whole motive
falls 10 the ground and the government is shown
10 have been overzealous: Now, the complaint
SAYS my client valued the bale at 381 marks, or
81. The duty that would be 81 10 They al
lege the real value was 1880 marks or 1896.
The duty that would be $39 so. or S32 50 more
than we paid. Now. do you think furrier Of
reputation and customs broker Of repute
would 60 into a conspiracy to defraud the gov
eminent 10 secure the trifing profit Of $32 50
a bale? Does IL seem reasonable that business
men would risk going to jail TO defraud the
government out Of a duty on 10 per cent ar
rIcle? II il were 60 per cent or something run
ming away up in the thousands Of pounds with
p duty Of S1l2 a pound let US say. II might seem
rea easonabe, but not with anything dutiable az 10
per cent and so cheap fur clippings"