Los Angeles herald., 1909-03-04
CHARGED WITH
NEW SWINDLES
FIVE COMPLAINTS ENTERED
AGAINST BROKERS
PoUNDSToNE EXPLAINS HOW HIS
MONEY WAS SPENT
Messages Containing News of Rich
Finds and Fortunes in Sight
Were Laid Before Him
Daily

The preliminary examination OF H..
Ellsworth Rowell, r. A. Johnson ana a.
c. LIE Baron, charged with SWINGING
J. M. Poundstono out of $lO,0OO ana
inducing him to place his name as Sc
curity on $4,000 worth of paper, which
resulted in his financial ruin, is set Tor
today in Justice Stephens court. but IL
is understood there will be postpone
ment for several days. The three men
are in the county Jail, charged with oD-
tanning money under false pretenses.
Five new complaints were filed IN
Justice stephens court yesterday, each
charging the passing Of checks drawn
on the Bank OF Commerce of Pasadena
and the Citizens National bank of Los
Angeles without sufficient funds to
meet payment. Johnson and Rowell
are jointly charged in one of these
complaints, while Johnson alone IS
| made the defendant in the other four.
The aggregate amount received on
these alleged worthless checks was
s1SO2. William D. Coleman, Eli Roger
and ]. M Poundstone swore to the
| complaints, which were issued by As
sistant District Attorney c. O. Nc
Comas.
The checks, it is said, were accepted
and cashed by Coleman and Roger
after Poundstone, the wealthy head OF
hardware concern, had been induced
amount of other worthless paper, 1t is
claimed, will be brought in later and
made the basis for other complaints
against the three prisoners.
AS Told by Poundstone
Details of the plan by which Rowell,
Johnson and LIE Baron are alleged to
have swindled Poundstone were made
known for the first time yesterday. In
June last year, according to Pound
stones story, Rowell induced him to
invest $4,000 in the purchase of a mine
forty miles from Tucson, Ariz The
mine, which Rowell said was owned by
German named Steinberg, was rep
resented as worth 100000. Poundstone
says he has discovered. it had no ex-
istence except in the minds of Rowell
and his associates
He was told by Rowell that Herbert
& Campbell of San Francisco, through
their Los Angeles agent, originally Of
fered $40 900 for the property and final
ly had purchased it for $4,000. Mean
time Poundstone had given Rowell an
additional $4,000 to be used in the pur-
chase of side claims and in paying the
expenses of a caretaker, r. L. Baldwin.
He discovered later, he said, that Bald
win was none other than LIE Baron,
sent to Tucson for the purpose of send
ing Rowell kilograms containing ficti-
the alleged swindle and deplete Pound
stones balance at the bank.
kilograms Received Daily
When Poundstone approached Rowell
for his share of the proceeds from the
supposed sale of the Arizona mine he
was told, he says, that the money had
been invested in an exceptionally rich
property near Chihuahua, Mexico, and
that plans were on foot to sell the Mex
lean mine at an enormous profit. LIE
Baron's base of operations were re-
moved from Tucson to the southern re-
public, and kilograms containing news
of rich finds and statements that indie
pendent fortunes were in sight were
delivered daily to Rowell and exhibited
to Poundstone for his delectation and
the enrichment of the alleged swindlers
Poundstone is now a bankrupt and
his daughters have been compelled to
seek employment in department stores.