The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1910-02-10
WARNS PEOPLE OF BIG TAKERS
Declares That the Laws of Spain VIII
Not Permit the Proper Punishment
of Men Connected With Big Swindle
and They Escape.

ed in Kenosha attempting to work the
old Spanish prisoner swindle on peo-
pie of the city the state department
of the United States government has
sent TO Kenosha statement in re-
gard to the swindle with a request
that it be given the widest possible
publicity. The statement is given
out under the seal of the state depart
ment and it is in part as follows:
The department of state, at Wash
ington, has received report from the
American Consul General at Barcelona,
Spain, in regard to the band of swind-
lers operating in various towns and
cities in Spain, who make practice
of writing to persons in the United
States respecting the Imprisonment of
a relative and the guardianship of a
child.
"The consul general states that the
alleged prisoner generally describes
himself as political prisoner from
Cuba; he is at the point of death and
has but one friend-the prison priest
whose good Offices he is en-
abled to smuggle an occasional letter
out of the prison fort.
"The prisoner is rich. He has a
fortune in cash on deposit in the Unit
ed States, but the certificate of deposit
is concealed in a secret receptacle of
his valise; the valise itself has been
taken possession of by the court at
Carthagena, which tried and con-
demned him, and will be held until
the prisoner or his representative has
satisfied the costs of the trial. The
prisoner has an only daughter; dying
in his prison, his sole thought is Of
this beloved offspring. He has no
friends or relative in Spain to whose
care he can commit her. In this
emergency his thoughts turn to the
distant relative in the United States
whom he has never seen and of whom
he knows only through hearsay or the
family tree. Will the distant rela-
tive assume the guardianship of the
darling daughter, and the darling
daughter fortune of aout $4,000?
If the distant Relative accepts the
trust one-fodrth of the prisoner en-
tire fortune will be the material re-
ward. The good priest will go at
once to the United States and take
the darling daughter with him. There
is but one condition: the ready, money
which the prisoner brought with him
to Spain has been exhausted; the dis
tant relative is therefore requested to
send enough to liberate the valise con-
tanning the secret receptacle and the
certificate of deposit. This, money is
to be sent to the good priest at an
address indicated, and, having receiv-
ed it, the good priest will at once Sc
cure the valise and start for America,
the Gland of the free and the home
Of the brave" with the daughter.
cit is a simple scheme, but present.
ed in such plausible way that almost
any unsuspecting distant relative" of
European extraction would be more
or less deceived by the glad prospect
of falling heir TO the agreeable custo-
dy of a darling daughter with big
fortune, and a one-fourth interest
therein as an additional recompense.
g For nearly twenty years these same
knaves have been practicing their
swindle and it is needless to suggest
that they are very carefully organized;
they have confederates not only in
the United States but in most other
countries. The confederates in ques-
tion select a man and find out all they
can about him; they get hold of fami-
ly names, family origin, and family
characteristics. This information is
transmitted to the rascals in Spain and
letters are at once written to the pros
pective victim. The. scheme is pre-
sented and developed in very plausi-
bic, way and many Of our fellow
countrymen have "bitten'' promptly
and cheerfully.
"Under the Spanish laws felony
must be contaminated before the po-
lice may act, and mere attempt to
obtain money by false pretenses does
not appear to warrant arrest. The
money must be actually paid over and
the prosecuting witness must be pres
ent in propria persona to testify;
otherwise prosecution would be use
less.
Recently the letters written to the
distant relative have varied somewhat
from the original; the political prison
er having become noted Russian
banker who absconded, leaving a de-
felt of some millions of roubles, killed
in a quarrel in England another Rus
sian, and finally took refuge in Spain,
where he was apprehended and charg-
ed with manslaughter.
every effort has been made By the