The San Francisco call., 1908-07-15
MAKES ATTORNEY
PARTY TO felony
H. L. COrsOn Arrested for AS
sisting in Abduction of IA
Year Old Clara BanOvich
Mother of Girl Said TO Have
Received S4OO for Agreeing
to Let Daughter Be Taken

= OAKLAND, July 14-More than four
months after Il year old Clara Bano-
Aich had been kidnapped to save from
ssrial and possible conviction Clio Cor
dani. a fruit dealer, Attorney II. i.
--Corson. with offices at Seventh street
and Broadway has been arrested on a
charge of compounding a felony and
lodged in the city jail with his al
legged accOmplices.
These supposed accomplices in the
rdorestalling Of Cordanrs trial, who
were arrested by Detective Hodgkins
at different times within the last few
days. are Mrs Mary Stanley, a gypsy
fortune teller, who is the mother of
Clara Banovich; Lee tsanOvich, the
brother of the unfortunate girl, and
Eadu Tahar Ben Mohammed, an Ara
bian sheik and theatrical man, said TO
be the chieftain Of all his tribesmen in
the country. The information in the
hands Of the police is that Hadji acted
-as an agent for Mrs. Stanley in the
negotiations that led to the kidnapping
that Mrs. Stanley received from agents
of Tony Cordani S400 for taking her
daughter to Oroville and there holding
her in hiG4lg and that Lee BanOvich
agreed To The abduction and was paid
800 TO keep silence.
HadJ Tahar. who styles himself a
Mystic Shriner in the Masonic order,
and who formerly conducted the
Eighth street vaudeville theater is
Raid TO have been brought into partici-
patton in the alleged crime by Mrs
Stanley, who asked him to act as her
agent. The money which was paid the
woman and her son is said by them to
have come from Tony Cordani who
was arrested on suspicion for the same
crime and at the same time that Gio
was taken prisoner He subsequently
was released, and is said to have
turned his activities toward freeing his
brother. Now both the Cordanis have
disappeared.
Clara BanOvich, il is alleged, was
elured by the two brothers into a room
sn the Avon house, in San Pablo avenue
and intimidated with a revolver Clio
COrdani, who with Tony was then ar
rested. was charged by the girl with
assault and held in jail under heavy
bonds. He was arrested on Febreary
Is and his preliminary examination was
set for the next month. Tony, mean
time, was set free.
The Banovich girl then was living
with her mother and brother at 514
Fourth street Ten days before the
date Of the preliminary examination an
agent Of Tony Cordani approached
Mrs Banovich in her tent, where she
told fortunes, and tried TO bribe her
10 take the girl out or the city. The
woman. according to her confession
demanded $4,000, and later $1,000. She
was offered s400 and accepted the Of
fer. Her son came forward for 500
and was silenced. he says, by the pay
ment
Mrs. Stanley demanded the money al
once, and COrdani volunteered to pay
ii 10 Hadji, who should hold it until
the plot had been carried out The
woman objecting to this, Attorney
CorsOn, il was charged, became a fac
tor in the case.
The money intended for Mrs Stan
ley is said TO have been given to Cor
son, who held $3.50 until the charge
against Clio Cordani was dismissed, ad-
vancing $50. Mrs. Stanley kept her
daughter in Oroville according to the
compact
Corson, who was away from this city
for some days, was arrested by Detect
I've Hodgkins in his Office this after
noon. The police assert that they have
confessions from all the others impli-
Gated, which were the foundation of the
criminal charge against the lawyer