Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1916-10-28

which he worked, stole nearly half
million dollars and SO juggled the
books as 10 hide the shortage from the
directors and from the national bank
examiner for period Of two years.
The faro gang a band Of master
crooks. as well organized as though
for the development of a mining ven
ture. financed in advance for many
thousands ~ dollars. took the money
from the boobkecpcr as regularly as
he took il from the baHk-tDok it all,
but never aroused his suspicion.
The detectives OF the bureau OF in
vestigation department Of justice, un-
raveled the whole tangled skein and
revealed the ramtications Of one Of
the comrletcst schemes for the Illicit
acquisition of other peoples money
that the history of the crime of the
nation has ever developed.
The first incident that led to the
discovery Of this monster plot to de-
fraud took place when two most staid
and dignificd Of the stoIid citizens Of
BaiRbridge, Mass. happened to meet
outside the First National bank Of that
serene suburb OF Boston one sunshiny
afternoon. Their conversation led TO
an argument as TO whether there was
$4,000 or $4,000 in the endowment
Of an ornhanage, of which they were
directors. To settle this argument
they decided to have a look at the
hooks which contained the record of
deposits and Withdrawals.
SO these dignified guardians OF this
endowment fund approached the cash
ier's window in the First National bank
and asked for the balance in the given
account. The official turned automat-
ically 10 the ledger containing the in
active accounts OF the bank glanced
at the balance and automatically re-
ported the figures there revealed.
-Four thousand five hundred dol
lars" he said.
So was obtained the first revealing
fash into the affairs of this institution
which had stood as the conservative
financial bGlwark of the community
for a hundred years. Yet week
later. when the principal pass books
had been called in. and the experts
had completed their examination, tho
bank was shown to be hut a financial
= she'll Face Of those large inactive
atcounts{ tha any ".u.utau
its strength Eas founu 20 Ia. melted
away 4 hank of a Cap..r' oi but
100000, Il was soon shown that II
had been looted for more than $40O,-
0O0 Of the depositors' money.
a.. - a
a report was made to the department
Of Justice. ia Washington, which has
charge Of the prosecution Of violators
OF The national banking laws. Expert
accountants and Special Agent Billy
Gard OF the bureau Of investigation OF
that department were Immediately hur-
Tied t. the scene, When they ar
rived they found that one event had
Just trausulred which came near es-
t8blishiBE The facts as 20 the imme-
date responsibility for the shortage.
The booEkceper OF the bank had dis
appeared.
The bank was an institution which
employed but three men: a cashier,
an assistant cashier, and a hookkeep-
~. I ~ tfnC ~ stt ant u t.F NUN
keeper. Robert Tollman. fixed atten-
tion on him. and it was ultimately
demonstrated that he was the only
individual inside the bank who had
anything to DO with its misfortunes.
Special Agent Gard who handled the
outside work OF the Investigation.
found TOliman to be a youngster of
tuaDtvtb~an a mild avod IiL-ob ,boD
who made friends easily. lie was a
member Of one Of those old New Eng
land puritanical families that have be-
come institutions in the community in
which they reside. Back of him
were a dozen generations of repres-
sion. OF straight-edged righteousness.
At the age of eighteen he had entered
tho bank. and at twenty-three was re-
ceiving salary Of but 81 q week.
There had been no chance for advance
ment. Al twenty-one he had come
into $4,000 az an inheritance from
an aunt and this had been the one
event of his life. up to that time.
The governments expert account
ants Immediately established the
manner in which the funds of the
bank had been taken. AS bookkeeper.
Tollman did not have access 10 the
cash or securities. and was therefore
not considered as being in posi-
ton of trust. He was not even bond
ed. But beneath his eve there con-
Stantly passed those large accounts Of
the bank which represented its wealth.
II was about six months after Toll
man came OF age that irregular
charges began to appear against the
inactive accounts. At first they were
modest and infrequent Steadily they
strengthened and grew in size. Event
nally IL was shown that charges aver
aging $4,000 a day were being regu-
larlv placed against these accounts.
There were weeks during which the
bookkeeper had succeeded in alb
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