Omaha daily bee., 1908-01-08
Amount Involved Said 4 Z E1
cess Of o4Oo,O a.
DRAWN FOR HIS BRoTHL
Mercantile Bank, Of Which /
President, Victim Of the Raj
EXPLANATION OF HIS ATToRN

NEW YORK, Jan. IF. Augustus HeinEe
v-as arrested today by a United states
marshal on an indictment charging MN
with having illegally cRshed check on
the Mercantile National bank He was held
IN S5oooo ban after entering q plea OF not
guilty 10 the indictment.
-1,,s amount Of the check which he is ac-
r,,aed Of certifying falsely was S62"S
T4einze appeared IN court with counsel ana
announced that bail would be furnished
immediately.
Heiuze who has had remarkable ca
reer as a mining engineer, promoter oI
varioos mining companies, especially lnose
of developing copper properties ana "ilhlh
the last year or two as flnancer' was
president of the Mercantile National bank
rntu October last At that time there
were heavy Withdrawals from the bank
due 20 a rspid decline In the stock OF the
United Copper company. in which Heinze
was heavily Interested. Heinze resigned
from the presidency Of the bank. Charles
w Morse. the shipping promoter, VINO hau
been associated with Heinze In various en-
terprises. retired from the active manage
rnent Of several hanks which he controlled
and Il was the great unrest precipitaied
nv these changes that brought about q
ru1rninstiou Of the city's financial troubles
9rpsraIly and the panic which was IN fun
SWAY IN the latter days Of october. II
has been reported ever since Heinzes re-
tirement from the Mercantile that the teo-
eral government was making rigid m
,,ssti9ation Of the affairs Of that bank and
others with a view 70 prosecution OF the
pers,ns responsible for any unlawful act
that might be discovered.
Heiuze is also accused Of illegal certifca-
tion Of other checks amounting to $4,000
IN or about October H. According to his
counsel. Edward Lauterbach, abundant col
lateral had been deposited 10 cover these
cshecl,s Many OF the checks were payable
"a the order Of Otto Heinze & Co.. OF which
firm F. Augustus Heinze's brother Is
member.
p. Augustus Heinse gave bail in the sum
Of $4,000.
Merely Error I'm bookkeeping
Mr. tAue-rhael,. -contsnuine shis. sexFlsna-
t,on of Mr.. Heinze-s arrest, said his client
supposed these certifications were properly
entered In the books Of the bank. He &C
clared that II was merely matter oI
bookkeeping which his client supposed nae
been properly attended to that Gay. II All-
nearE, however. Mr. Lauterhach continued
mai sone Of the entries may have gone
nv until the next morning and that 1t was
unon this that the indictments were based.
Bau for Eeinze was furnished by surety
cornpany He Is 10 appear before Judge
Chatfield tomorrow for pleading
The Indictment which Is a lengthy docu-
rnent. alleges that Heinze made the over
Qualifications In his capacity as presioeh'
of the Mercantile National bank The va
rious counts OF the Indictment give the
several checks alleged 10 have been over
certified. amounting in all to $OO"0
The indictment WI be found under sec
t,on 5OeS Of the revised statutes Of the
United States. which says that an Official
OF a bank found guilty Of such actor
ix liable TO not less than five nor more
than ten years Imprisonment
RidEely Not Informed.
WASHINGTON. d. C., Jan. 7-Referrinl
~ the arrest today in New York OF r
Augustus Heinze for illegally certifying
a check on the Mercantile National bank
Comptroiler Ridgely said he knew nothing
about the details Of this particular tran
saction. when the trouble with the Mer
camille National bank began the comptrol'
,.r said that he had sent special repre-
santatiye 10 try 10 Cooperate with the dis
,rirt attorney and he had no doubt the
action brought today was one OF the results
OF the investigation
when questioned as TO wehther he looked
,Ear other arrests on other charges, M
rzidrely said that :. was rare thing for q
National bank to fail without the Officers
having violated the national bank acts
while he knew Of no specific case Of fraud
he would not be surprised II other csse'