Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-11-23
Huge Syndicate of Swind-
Iers Believed Uncovered
When Elaborate DenS Are
Discovered by Officers

Three sensational raids Saturday
personally conducted by Solicitor
General John A. Boykin, accompanied
by d squad of his office assistants
netted eight arrests, resulted in the
|. uncovering of what the solicitor says
are the headquarters of "wire-tap'
ping" syndicate which is said to have
cleaned up approximately 100000 IN
Atlanta since the middle of OCTOBER
and revealed what he believes to be
the most gigantic swindling opera
tions ever conducted in this part OF
the country. go.
The information disclosed by the
arrested men, all of whom are SAID
to have been customers of the syn
dictate, led Solicitor Boykin to the be-
lief that a gang of the cleverest con-
fdence men in America are now al
work in Atlanta. The solicitor also
asserted that the police and detec-
tive DEPARTMENTS of the city OF AT
1anta are failing sadly in their duty
to the people in allowing such dens
as we unearthed today to continue TO
exist unmolested.'
What the solicitor declares are the
business offices of the syndicate were
located by Solicitor Boykin, Assistant
Solicitor E. A. Stephens, Speclal
Officer Plennie Minor, and two OIL
the victims of the syndicate, IN the
first raid of the day on rooms 5oz'
s03 and 304 of the Southern Banking
building. .25 West Peachtree street.
earlv Saturday afternoon. Here elap-
oratelv furnished quarters were
found, with complete array OF lake
paraphernalia, telegraph instruments
bulletin boards. bogus money ana
eyerything else needed to perpetrate
gigantic swindle
solicitor Boykin then steered MS
SQUAD to s5 IL South Broad street.
Ha id not invite the police or city
detectives to accompany him. Ihe
solicitor said he ra;ded the place on
information furnished him carrier IN
tha dav. the source of which he re-
fused to d'vuigc at this time.
Farmer Is F1eeced
The officers were accompanied on
this and the first raid by H. c. Hol-
lsS. tho Aiken, S. c.. farmer, who
ALLEGES the syndicate fleeced him out
of s11 900 Friday on bogus horse
racing scheme. and by Wade Lamar,
another farmer, also of Aiken, who
admitted he came very near to con-
tributing the same amount to the
I syndicate by playing the ponies.
The complaint of Holley to the au-
thorities had resulted in the arrest
Friday afternoon of Abe Powers,
aho is now i'll the Fulton tower in
default of $4,000 bond.
At the Broad street rooms, said
hv the solicitor to be the headquar-
tiers of the syndicate, the officers
found trouble awaiting them. The
apartments were heavily barricaded,
and it required the use of iron bars
and bu'cher cieavers for thirty min
utes before an entrance was finally
forced into a suit of three rooms on
the third floor of the building. In
the rooms The officers found more
of the same kind of paraphernalia
that had been seized in the west tS
solicitor that the place had been
used by the same crowd which OPP
Grated il the Southern Bank build
ing.
The screens to the windows were
drawn and barricaded with iron
gratings. The doors were fastened
with solid steel locks. A perfect sig
nal system was discovered and dou-
BILE electric wiring system uncoV-
cred. In one room was large gam
ing table with several decks Of cards
and a dozen or two empty whisky
bottles scattered over the floor. A
telephone was on small table near
the door. The door which opened
into this room was of heavy metal,
practically impossible. Solicitor
Roykin and his assistants were forced
literally to beat their way in.
Raid Another Place
After a thorough examination OF
thew were being Utilized by the same
syndicate which operated the Peach
tree street Offices, Solicitor Boykin
and his men moved on 40 IL Central
avenue, where they were confront
ed with another perfect signal and
wiring system and by heavily barrl-
caded doors and windows, which
beating their way inside, the officers
climbed a narrow row of stairs which
lie dto an elaborate suite OF three
rooms. A young man who gave his
name as L. P Coe was the lone oc-
cupant of the suite when the Officers
/, arrived. He refused to talk and was
placed in the Fulton Tower pending
further developments.
Officers said Saturday night that
Coe recently was indicted. in supee,
rior court and placed under $4,000
bond on charges of embezzlement
from an Atlanta firm.
The Central avenue suite proved
to be even more deliberately fur
nished than the. West Peachtree
said he was inclined to the belief
that it had been used largely as a
gaming parlor by the. members OF
the Syndicate" and by customers
wi liked to have a pleasant place
to hang out while they awaited
news Of the fake races"
Asked for "dr. Mcbride
Whisky valued at $1,000 at cur
rent prices, a stock Of narcotics
mostly morphine, worth approx
mately $4,000, and great quaint
<o..i,uaa IN. pare T. Column a.