New-York tribune., 1907-08-07
FAKE TRANSFERS EASY
BIG lSTR1W BOND SCHEME.
4ppleby Case ReceaIs .S7cindie-
Mau Be $50 900 900 Bogus Deeds.

Of the Dry Dock Hotel. at No. 347 Bowery, as
told in Yesterdays Tribune there is uncOv-
cred gigantic straw bail syndicate. the mem
bers of which stopped at neither forgery nor
perjury in giving bail bonds. and whose opera
tiOns the District Attorneys office says are
made possible by the little care which some
police magistrates exercise in accepting sureties
Incidentally, Register Frank Gass. in talking
Of the of Bough who is charged with
fraudulently transferring a tenement house be-
longing to Charles Edgar Appleby, of Glen Cove
Long Island, and having the deed recorded, sa1d
that under the present system in his office there
is way Of detecting spurious transfers or
property He said there might be on file in the
office S-00Oo0 or $j00Ooooo worth of illegal
deeds without his knowing it. Under the sys-
TEN a man who does not watch his real estate
holdings closely might some day, he said. dis
cover that all his property had been decided
away
Boueh who is well known to the police and
Patrick Moore, empoye Of the Title Guar
antee and Trust Company. who was arrested IN
connection with the case, appeared yesterday
before Magistrate Steinert in the Tombs court
The men are out on 1000 ball Mr. Appleoy.
the complainant. is eighty-three years old' nut
( rather active for a man of his age. He mas a
round face full Of color and his gray hair Is
brushed back from a high forehead, from uhue'
which shine a pair of sharp, gray eyes ne
from Eleventh avenue to the North River ana
his holdings include the Central Park Riding
Academy and the Circle Theatre.
After the preliminary wrangle between coun-
sell K Henry Rosenberg. who represented MI
Appleby I'm the criminal proceedings began the
J latter's examination Maurice Meyer. appeared
for Bough. and Morris Goodhart for Moore.
The hearing attracted large crowd I" the
! courtroom Mr.. Appeby was nervous ms l'p"
tremhled as he answered the questions Of coun-
hrrT
strong and he spoke with considerable emphasis.
J often laughing at the efforts of MI Meyer VINO
! cross-examined for the defendants, to trip him.
/ Mr. Appleby was himself a lawyer until twenty
years ago He testified that he purchased the
. property Nos S33 and So Eleventh avenue.
+ which. II is charged. was fraudulently decided |"
Edith Stonebridge from Joseph Meter on May
= 1877. and has held II since thcn without ais
} pute The original deed was offered in evi-
dence. The forged deed was marked for idenu-
fcation. Mir, Appleby denied that the signature
was his. on the outside Of the deed was
stamped the word Expedite" which was put
there in the Registers office to hurry its record
ing Mr.. Appleby said. also, that he did not
authorize the transfer Of his property. He did
not know Bough Moore.
It developed during the examination that in
! 1886 Francis PrenderEast had been indicted for
perjury In swearing that he owned the same
property He was acquitted.
The hearing was adjourned TO tomorrow
morning.
When Moore vas arrested he explained that
! BouRh. who had given him the deed for re-
cording told him he wanted the original quickly
10 enable him to 90 on bail bonds. Edith stone
! bridge TO whom the conveyance IS made. is also
known on the Boxery. II is said. Carl Becker.
+ who also is known 10 the police. is now In the
Tornbs under the name Of Joseph DrisColl MI
/ Miner Assistant District Attorney, says that ne
/ e a notorious straw bondsman. Mr. Miner
connected him with Bough because the name OF
| the same notary public appears on the deeds
/ which they are charged with forging Inc bIS-
! triCt Attorney is also looking for IhoIhaS + :,
/ CONWAY who in 1906 gave the house No o>l
/ Eleventh avenue another Appeby property, as
! security on the bail bond Of Alexander Blunleh-
/ stock charged with grand larceny. Ah'ther
Of the same coterie IS said 10 be Mlchaei D.
CONWAY. s.,
pocLor oneratpd with remarkable daring
orferinp his worthless bond five times in one day
before the same magistrate The business -
conducted a 10 per cent basis tht ooIlu ,'
receiving 500 for n S1.TD bond lhere nav
/ tan numerous forfeitures. and usually II IS
only In such cases that the worthlessness OF 'ne
bond Is proved The magistrates, 1t is sald eA-
ercise little discretion in the acceptance Oh
bondsmen- l.
John Bough has long criminal record. and is
free now his own recognizance on an ola m
dictnent He is said TO have some politlcai IN
nuence on the Bowery which has been seVerai
times exercised In his interests
Register C;ass said yesterday that there was
no way in which he could protect property own
ers against forged deeds and illegal conveyances'
illegal transfers there may be on file IN thls
oA1ce" he said: there may be S5OOOco WORTH
| or there may be S5y000oOtp worth, and there
ts no way by which may know the fact.
..rver,- paper offered for filing in this office
&c nIaced in the filing clerks hands, and his
first duty is 70 see that 1t is properly executed
! before a ntoary public. If it is he has no dis
( cretton in the matter but under the Ia" must
| accent the paper and file It
! ..1,here is no way by which 1 detect 1t. In
! order TO detect spurious transfers | would nave
IN have force of men 10 examine titles Whlcn
T have not and. besides.I would have to have
| another force of men whose business would he
70 verify signatures and persons. and under the
1oy T have neither, and, in addition, the law
gives me no discretion in the matter. When a
naner has been duly attested before notary OF
! = commissioner of deeds with the statement OF
tho notary or the commissioner duly appended
10 the effect that the affiant is known to the
notarv or commissioner Oh It's face the paper
&c regular and / must accept IL on lis race
value as genuine. The person wronged must
enlist the prosecuting authorities OF the cour
crime cofnnlitteu nave ho 9"'H
mower or discretion"
Mr. cass said that he poweress TO adopt
anv new system for the detection of frauds
The Register further explained that under the
new law which went into effect on July i. there
is one additional safeguard. in that all no
tsries must register their signatures with the
Register and a clerk is detailed TO compare
l these SIGNATURES with those on all papers filed
"There is one defect in that law, however
ba added land that is that it does not provide
for the filing of the signatures OF commission
ers Of deeds and If commissioner of deeds
wants TO run the risk of filing false deed anc
L Going TO prison there is no way for me al
Register to prevent 1T
Y >,o,,ncrc7 civil WAR SOLDIER DEAD