New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-02-10
ACCUSE SIX OF FRAUD.
Lazoyer and Too City Employees an
Sez0er Claim Indictments.

Six indictments were found yesterday by the
grand jury of Kings County in the sewer claim
frauds, which are said TO have cost the city
hundreds of thousands of dollars in the last
three years. Among the persons indicted ard
William o. Miles. lawyer; Martin ]. McMahonI
chief of the Department of Sewer Claims, and
John B. Scanlon, examiner of sewer claims,
both from the Controllers office; Daniel Casey.
a contractor; Charles NJ. Wells and Frank NJ.
Wandell. jr, clerks in Miles's office. Miles, Nc
Mahon. Wandell and Wells were afterward ar
raigned before Judge Crane and pleaded not
guilty to the charge conspiracy to defraud.
They were held in 81 800 bail each
by coincidence Miles trying a sewer
case in the Supreme Court yesterday, and Dis
trict Attorney Clarke permitted him to COM
plete his case before arraigning him. Miles has
tried more sewer cases than any other one law
yer in the last year, his judgments amounting
to 100000. 1t has been rumored for several
days that he was to be among the first indicted.
After hearing the Indictment Miles protested
that he innocent and said that if the city
should pay all the legitimate sewer claims that
might be pressed against 1t, the cost would be
somewhere near S20OO0OO0
More indictments to follow within a few
days, according to District Attorney Clarke.
who last night issued the following statement:
grand jury has selected Mr.. Miles and his asso-
ciates as tie individuals who are to be solely
prosecuted for the Offences said to have been
committed in relation to the fraudulent sewer
claim. The grand jury has not finished its Ia
bors. 1t will proceed from this to investigate
the cases in which other lawyers appear as at
torneys of record. Mr. Miles and his Were
considered by the grand jury first because Mr..
Miles, by all odds, has brought more of these
cases against the city for sewer damages than
any other lawyer, and also because by mere
chance 1t happened that his cases were the first
called to the attention OF the grand jury.
Controller Metz when he saw the record of in
dictments found by the Brooklyn grand jury,
said that great mistake had been made in in
Guiding the names of McMahon and Scanlon.
both employees of the finance department Ex-
Controller Grout. with James f. Mckinney and
j. 7. Mahoney. the former and present head of
troller's Office Mr.. Metz said, would appear for
them, and testify that the acts for which they
indicted were performed under orders of
the Controller Mr.. Metz has had prepared a
statement which shows how the city has been
mulcted. He attributes great part of the cost
to the city to the inefficfency of the Brooklyn
branch of the Corporation COunsePs office.
The finance department attributes the ease
with which the lawyers got up the cases against
the city to the abandonment of the per diem
scheme of examining the claims. The per diem
men, their discharge from the department,
became runners, and sold the information they
had to the claim lawyers.
Mr.. Metz said that the conditions had been
known In the Controllers office for several
months.
Undoubtedly some of the claims were genu-
absolutely fraudulent show damages grossly
exaggerated"