The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-11-17
Peter Van VIissingen Confess
es He Has Been Perpetrat-
ing Huge Frauds for Long
Period.
SPEED USED IN
CONNECTING MAN.
Secures From One to Fourteen
Years Sentence - Clever
Scheme of Securing Money
Disclosed.

Chicago, Ill. Nov. 17.-Confessing
his authorship of an endless chain of
forgeries involving more than 100000
Peter Van Vlissingen, for many years
| prominent real estate man and once
reputed wealthy, was indicted, tried
and sentenced to the penitentiary yes
| terday AFTERNOON. Last night he lodg-
ed in the county Jail, and today he was
taken to the Joliet prison to begin
serving sentence of from one TO four
| teen years.
The confession of the real estate
man revealed a scheme of systematic
and cunning forgery of notes and real
estate trust deeds and mortgages eX-
tending over a period OF eighteen
years. The genuine paper and secur-
tiles he counterfeited SO artfully as to
defy detection. and both the genuine
and the spurious he sold in widely
scattered parts of this country and in
Europe. The forgeries were tracings
made with the aid of an electrical trac-
ing device.
Unable to Meet Demands.
to liquidate the fraudulent paper when
it fell due and in that way avoided ex-
posure. but recently he became unable
to meet the demands of this endless
chain, and, despairing of further i'm
munity, confessed to his guilt TO two
friends he had swindled. 1t is esti-
mated that the spurious paper and Sc
curities outstanding at this time are
scattered among about twenty-five
holders and amount to about 100000.
All records for dispatch in the states
attorneys office were broken in the
indictment and trial of Van Vlissingen.
Within an hour and a half after the
charge was laid before the grand jury
the real estate man had been sentenc-
ed to prison. Last Saturday he con-
fessed his guilt for the first time to
two fellow real estate men-Thies J.
Lefens and William G. Seipp-to whom
he had sold forged mortgages. At
their instance Acting States Attorney
James J. Barbour called Van Vlissin-
gen to his office yesterday afternoon
at 3 o'clock and asked him to explain
the charges.
Makes Full Confession.
Van Vlissingen confessed all to the
prosecutor and wrote and signed a
| statement that he alone was RESPONSE
BILE for the swindles. Mr.. Barbour
then went before the grand jury with
the witnesses, and a few minutes lat
er indictments were voted and return
ed into court.
/ Then the fOrger, waving the right
of presentation by counsel, was ar
raigned before Judge Windes, where
! he repeated his confession following
the testimony of Lefens and Seipp.
| Judge Windes then sentencd the
| prisoner under the indeterminate law
and Van Vlissingen. after half an
hours further delay in the states at
/ torney's office, was led across the
bridge of sighs'' into the county jail
| Throughout his career in Chicago
! Van Vlissingen, though suspected of
crookedness in some quarters, was a
respected figure TO the community at
large. Yet all of this time the forg-
cry of notes and mortgages was one
of the principal branches of his bust,
ness. This branch he kept entirely in
his own hands, his own nephew, John
A. Vanderpoel. who was chief clerk
/ being ignorant of the swindles.
How Scheme Was Worked.
! Van Nlissingen would loan a sum OF
money and take a mortgage or a trust
deed as security. The notes and Sc
curities would be made out in due
! form. signed by the parties. approved
j by Vanderpoel and recorded with the
county recorder. The real estate man
then would lock himself into his pri.
vate office. where he had d desk spec.
tally designed 70 aid his forgeries.
| In the top of this desk was a large
| hole covered by piece of plate glass
and beneath which was an incandes
| cent electric light.
| Placing the genuine mortgage on
the glass he would cover it with a
similar blank form and turn on the
light beneath the desk Instantly
the signatures and notations on the
genuine instrument would be outlined
/ ~, ha hlanE fbon