The sun., 1907-12-12
]. G. JENKINS, SR., INDICTED
NEW PRESENTMENTS OF HIS
THREE SONS. roo.


burg Trust = Companies set Fort n
brooklyn Bankers Are Criticised.
The Kings county Grand Jury handed
down seven indictments yesterday against
four members Of the Jenkins family. John
g.. the father, and his two soTB. John c.. Jr..
and Frank, were presented for conspiracy
and perjury. Fred. the youngest son. was
named in the conspiracy charge. The
three sons already are under indictment
for forgery in the third degree in connection
with the affairs Of the Jenkins Trust Com
pany
The indictments fled yesterday had to
do partly with the affairs Of the Jenkins firm
and partly with the affairs Of the Williams
burg Trust Company. The father, who
is about 10 years old. was president Of the
latter institution up to a year ago. when he
was succeeded by his son Frank. John G..
Jr.. was president of the Jenkins Trust Com
pany until he was forced out after that
institution closed its doors and Fred was a
director of that company
All four were released on bail, the father
in $4,000 and the sons in s. 800 elch. The
sons are under bail of $1,000 each on the
previous indictments
The Grand Jury also handed down a
prcsentment in which it criticised the
directors of certain banks and trust com
panies in Brooklyn for their careless moth
Ois and recommended that the State bank
ing laws be revised both with a view to
defining more certainly the duties of direc-
tors and fixing penalties for failure to
perform them.
stephen Baldwin. counsel for the Jenkins
family, had been notified by District At
torney Clarke that the father and three
sons would he wanted in court. The Dis
trict Attorney sent out this word in answer
90 a formal notice which Mr.. Baldwin had
made that he would surrender any of the
Jenkinses in the event of their being in-
diCted.
Lawyer Baldwin showed up at the Dis
trict Attorneys Office at about 10 o'clock
with his four clients and five or six other
members of the Jenkins family or relatives,
including three women. The Jenkinse5
were kept waiting in the reception room
of the District Attorneys Office for an
hour and then word cane that the father
and three Sons were to appear before Judge
Dixie in the criminal branch of the County
Court.
The three sons didn't seem to he worried
much by the proceedings. As a matter
of fact. their experience yesterday was
pretty tame compared with tho time they
hal when they were arrested on the previous
indictment. The police had ord srs yes
terday TO make no attempt to Photograph
the men pending Justice Burr decision.
For the father, however the proceedings
were plainly an ordeal. He walked as III
he were in a daze and leaned heavily on
the arm of his son Frank The indicted
men were i'm the court room only a few
minutes. Lawyer Baldwin pleaded not
guilty for each of them, with leave to with
draw the plea or to demur to the indiu-
ments.
The conspiracy indictment agai,s st the
four was in blanket form Y alleges that
all of the defendants about January I. 1870 ;.
unlawfully and wiCkedly COuspircd to obtain
for themselves loars from the williamsburg
and Jenkins trust COMPANIES by means
forbidden hy law. II is alleged that in
carrying out the conspiracy they o1taned
large loans in excess of the amounts allowed
by law 10y pretending that the loans were
made 20 the employers Of the brokerage
firm of +. x. J. u. Jenkins Jr.
TO further carry CUt their unIviUl
purpose they arranged" says the lnliH-
ment, -to falsify the accounts ana rcroyCs
of the said trust companies and there by
conceal from he said corporations and their
directors the fact that they obtained such
money
The indictment alleges further that
whenever the State Superintendent of
Ifd!lkN required n report On Itr GO 'nOl'ftn
Of the cOmpInies II vas know'CGly falsticd
for the purpose OF covering up and con-
ceahng the excessive loans
Il l. also alleged that the Jeniinses
frauCul ,n'y and unlawfuly cOnSp.Ted , o
operate and mlnlgr tho affairs AMI huSl-
ness of the trIS' COnpln'ee that when
loans were made by eth Os tho trlia
companies on shares of stoC', AS collateri n
they withdrew and took frOa' tha con-
plnics such shares and substituted in their
place other shares of less valup.
The indictment alleges that the de
PENDANTS obtained from the Williamsburg
Trust Company loans amounting to Si2i ,0W
and from the Jenkin TTus. Company lodnS
aFGregltinC S5?6OO0.
The indictment for perjury against John
O. Jenkins. the father, setss forth ihPt on
August o, 1903. while he was presfcnt of
the Williamsburg Trust Company, ne signed
and swore to q report made to the STATE
Banking Department in which he said that
there was no loan indirectly made to him
in apv amount. The indictment slys
that Charles II. Reuter-. an employee in
the +. T. J. q. Jenkins. Jr., Company. then
owed the Will msburg Truss 1921 900,
which had been borrowed indirectly for
Jenkins.
The Indictment for perjury against John
G., Jr, alleges that on August %. 1915,
he reported un er oath that no person or
firm owed the Jenkins Trust Company
directly or indirectly more than 10 per
The capital and surplus at that time wgs
$3.50, 1s5. as and The brokerage firm Of +. 4
J. G. Jenkins Jr. had indirect loans aggre-
eating S526.OOO
The perjury case again Frank Jenkins
in based on report made by him TO tho
State Banking Department on June 4, 1907.
The indictment alleges that he made the
statement that the only loan made by the
Williamsburg company, Of which he was
then president. TO his father WAS one of
$4,000. At that time. il is alleged. the
father had loan of 81 u, 600 through Charles
H. Reuter-. who is connected with the brok-
erage firm.
Here is the presentment handed down
by the Grand Jury:
In the course OF our investi cations into
crimes committed in banks and trust com
paniPs in this county We have found that
the several boards of directors OG these in
stitutions are composed.of men of high stand
ing in commercial and financial circles and
whose names have properly inspired con
hdence in depositors and have attracted
business to the institutions
We have found that most of these direc-
tors have regarded their position as mere
formality that many of them seldom attend
the meetings of the board. and when they
do attend such meetings they discharge
their duties in a perfunctory manner, showing
little regard for the safety and security Oi