Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-12
LAND SWlNDLFRS
BROUGHT TO BOOK
IS POLICE THEORY
WOMAN AND THREE MEN IN
PRISON
Recent Fraudulent Deals in San Diego
Property Are Laid to Door
of Quartet Held on
Suspicion"

The numerous reports of forged
property are believed to have been ex-
planned by the arrest of an alleged syn
dicate of land dealers. who are con-
fined in the city jail with charges of
suspicion booked against their names.
Those who are in custody have given
the names of Mrs. Laura L. Bryant,
Louis Chiaffino, John II, Hawley and
Harry Hancock, and they will be held
pending further investigation, as it is
believed that more arrests will be made
before the numerous land frauds in
Los Angeles county have been salts
factorily adjusted.
That bold syndicate of clever
swindlers has been captured is the
opinion of the Los Angeles police, and
that more arrests will follow is eX-
pected also a further list of the per-
sons who have been victimized through
the workings of the gang, assisted by
"a pretty woman.
That the syndicate operated from
Los Angeles is evident from letters
found in possession of the persons ar
rested, and it is also believed that
Chiafiino is the leader of the gang. 1t
is said that Chiafiino was under suspi-
cion several months ago for bogus real
estate deals in Long Beach, but he de-
nies all accusations and states that his
arrest is an outrage and that he can
prove his innocence.
Detectives of San Diego and Los An
geles have been working on the case
for two weeks as result of numer-
Gus complaints, and Thursday Mrs.
BRYANT and Chiaffino were arrested as
they came from the All Night and Day
bank. The arrests were kept secret in
hopes of catching others of the gang,
and yesterday Hawley and Hancock
were taken into custody.
Large Sum Involved
1t is alleged that Chiaftino is one of
the shrewdest real estate men that
has operated in Southern California fot
years, and his peculations are said to
amount to many thousands of dollars,
according to the police.
The game said to have been worked
by Chiaffino is that he looked up a
number of lots adjacent to Los An
geles. the owners of which are non
residents and obtained false titles to
the same by means of confederates OPP
Grating in different localities.
1t is said that these lots in the San
Diego case were given to the real es-
tate dealers of San Diego to dispose
of, the firms being the E. j. Swayne
company, Home Investment company,
Button brothers, Martha Ingersol Rob
inson company and the Stoke &
Sloane company. all of San Diego.
According to the police theory, Mrs.
Bryant and other confederates of Chi
affino were given deeds of land owned
by S. p. Swackhamer, formerly of
San Diego, now of Union, Ore.
A dispatch to Union revealed the
fact that Swackhamer has not disposed
of his property and an investigation
followed.
The money for the sales was to be
placed in the Union Title and Trust
pieces of the property were sold to
different parties the Stoke 1& Sloane
company became suspicious and a de-
coy message to the All Night and Day
bank resulted in the arrest of Chi
affino and Mrs. Bryant as they We're
leaving the. bank.
The plan of the syndicate was to give
false deeds ana sell the property which
they did not own at sacrifice, making
the proposition that as t. land had
been sold at a sacrifice the promoters
could not afford to have the money
placed in escrow and must be wired
to Los Angeles at once
Various persons were anxious to grab
at the opportunity to get valuable land
at small prices. But in dealing with
tconfederates it is alleged Chiaft1no
made arrangements for signed checks
with the date omitted, so that he could
collect the checks at any time