Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1914-06-11

defrAUdlnG an insurance company.
Brooks case will 80 to trial at Dallas
in about ten days.
Creates 4 Sensation.
So much secrecy was maintained by
| the government and the officials Of the
| Mystic Workers that not even hint
OF the fraud was allowed to leak out
and when II became known here it Gre
ated a sensation among the delegates
attending the convention.
Mr.. Allen dictated the following his
tory of the case:
Since the last meeting Of the SUI
preme lodge at Milwaukee. :, has been
discovered that fraudulent claims have
been filed In four instances one of
| these prior to the Milwaukee meeting,
the other three since that time.
July 80. 1911, some individual Civ
ing his name as Walter Oliver made
| application to Fort Worth lodge No.
| 1854. This person shortly afterward
! left Fort Worth and was reported to
| have died of typhoid fever in Houston
Tex. Oct. %, 1871. The beneficiary
named in his certificate was James d.
Oliver, his brother. Information OF his
death came in the form of a letter
/ from the beneficiary.
All Fictitious Names.
Proofs regular in all particulars
We're filed following the notice of death
and the claim was allowed at the No
vember. 1911, board meeting. Careful
investigation has disclosed the names
of all persons used as witnesses in the
proofs were fictitious; that there was
no such minister. no such physician no
such undertaken. and no such notary
public as purported to sign the claims.
| In this case, j. d. Brock, state man
ager for the Mystics in Texas. called
special meeting of the Fort Worth
, lodge for Monday night. November 20,
{, 1911. and asked to have all members
out SO they could make quite a cere-
mony Of the payment of the insurance.
The special meeting was called. Mr..
Brock was present and had the war
rant, but said the beneficiary could not
| be at Fort Worth. but that he would
4! give the warrant to him the next day
!! in Dallas. This warrant was cashed by
! some person. on the Identification of
| Mr.. Brock. at the Guaranty State and
Trust bank. November p. 1911
Accidental Discovery Of Fraud.
The first intimation that this was.
or might be. fraudulent claim, came
when State Manager Drummond of
Missouri went to Texas to make an in
vestigation of the field work. Thru his
acquaintance with Mr.. Hendricks. sec
rotary of the Fort Worth lodge, he was
informed of certain suspicious crcum-
stances and Mr.. Hendricks co-operated
to assist ferreting out the crime.
Soon to Stand Trial.
THE most careful and painstaking
investigation was made. involving
persons in twelve or fifteen states and
! the Dominion Of Canada, with the re-
suit that we now have a man named
Paine. who was at the time district
manager of the E. F. u, in Dallas.
Texas. in Jail. j. D. Brock has been
indicted on three separate counts and
is now waiting trial on bail. Both
Brock and Paine will go to trial with
in the next ten days for forgeries
"The sworn statements of large
number Of witnesses have been OBJ
| tanned by our Investigators and the
United States secret service, totaling
perhaps forty thousand words.
1T is safe to predict that no less
than ten and perhaps eighteen or
twenty persons before this prosecution
/ ks ended will be serving time in the
lcuSIdl v.
$50 great was the caution necessary
to exercise that with full knowledge
Of the criminality Of our state manager
he was permitted to act ostentiously as
state manager but. in fact he trans
acted no business and we made him no
payments until his arrest on May. 1914.
To have given any publicity whatever
to these matters during that time
would probably have resulted in COM
plete failure Of the prosecution.
Had His Nerve.
"To show the nerve and daring Of
Brock we only speak of the Oliver
case. He photographed warrant
on a postal card and sent one to the
head Office andr distributed others in
Texas, for the purpose of showing how
promptly the Mystic Workers paid its
death claims.
Brock also organized a health and
accident association and when his Of
flee effects were seized by United
States secret service operative in May
Investigation disclosed that enough
fraudulent claims had been prepared
by him. or some person for him. and
were on file, to absorb practically all
he moneys paid in by the members or
his association This was necessary in
order to pass the scrutiny of the in
surance department of Texas, and his
own frauds in those cases simply
show the wickedness of his makeup"