Omaha daily bee., 1921-08-03
Men Who Handled
Bluffs Mail Loot
Are Under Arrest,
Bankers Arrested in Chicago
Alleged to Be Brains of
Gigantic Robbers
Trust"

known 10 ponce ana OtnerS DeCauS
OF shady transactions, and Owen 1
Evans, his partner, and say they hav'
picked up the brains of gigantic
robbers trust" specializing in mai
robberies. IT is said the loot OBJ
tanned in these robberies will rur
into many millions of dollars ant
that men in every state will be in
volved before the entire scheme i:
laid bare. Immediately following
their arrest, Worthington and Evans
were rushed to the county jaid il
Waukegan and no one was permitted
to see or converse with them.
List of Robberies.
Among the cases which the federal
authorities claim Worthington and
his associates were connected, are
these mail robberies:
Toledo, O., February Y, l921-
Loot $l,000,0Q0.
Pullman, ILL.,, August 20, 1920
100000.
Dearborn Street Station, Chicago,
April E, l921-$350,000.
Mount Vernon, ILL.,, June IA, l92l--
$4,000.
Chicago, Avenue Postal Substa-
ton. Chicago, March a, l92l-$50,000.
Tocoa, Ga, September 10, 1920
100000.
Council Bluffs, Ia, November II,
1920-$3, 100000.
Minneapolis, December 3, 1920 =
$4,000.
Centerville, Ia, March q, 192l--
$4,000.
Oil Stock Theft.
In addition to this list, the govern
ment agents lay the recent theft of
$3,000,000 Sinclair oil stock in New
York City at the doors Of the
"trust."
Indictments against Worthington,
Evans and Is other men, whose
names are suppressed for service,
were voted by the federal grand jury
here. Worthington had organized
concern here, known as the Central
Securities company" Here, it is
claimed, the conspirators disposed of
the securities they had stolen to
reputable brokers and investors.
Worthington, it is now felt, was
given hint of the inquiry for his
individual office was recently closed.
Altered Liberty Bonds.
Among other charges is one that
the conspirators altered many hun
Jreds OF thousands Of liberty bonds
so they could not be identified in
order to make ..''em salable without
detection. The same course was
taken with securities and papers that
could be altered readily.
"ThiS is one of the biggest round
tips this office ever tackled" said
First Assistant United States Attor-
rey John Clinnin. at extends over
the entire country. The arrests of
Worthington and Evans, although
of the utmost importance, do not
scratch the surface. We have been
working on this case for long time
and arrested these two men because
we felt it would be unwise to leave
them at liberty any longer"
The indictment against Worthing-
ton is said to contain IA counts. He
was seen in the federal building to-
day, Immediately after his arrest,
but his only comment was that he
lad nothing to say at present.
His career is studded with ques-
tionable transactions from the year
1902. Little is known of him up to
that time. He was then considered |
to be a successful real estate dealer. |
In that year, however, his conduct
led to an investigation, which |
showed he had been sentenced to |
Sing Sing for swindling in 1898. His
sentence was commuted and he |
came to Chicago in 1902. Appar-
emily he went straight until 1906,
when he began the promotion of |
various concerns, all of which were |
shady. He then specialized in some |
questionable bank deals.
Changed Banks Name.
He became vice president of the |
American National bank of Kansas
City and promptly changed its name !
to the National Bank of the Repub-
lie. Later he acquired control OF |,
the Federal National bank of Chi
cago and was elected vice president,
but his record did not meet the ap-
proval of the Chicago Clearing |
House association and the bank (
after operating a few
months. Early in 1907 Worthington
became interested in the New Fowler |
Dry Goods company of Kansas City. |
1t went into bankruptcy in 1908 and
at that time, was
charged with having disposed of
$4,000 worth of assets without con-
sideration.
In September Worthington was
named as defendant in a fugitive |
warrant charged with issuing fraud
ulent notes in connection with the |
American bank. He started the |
American bank in Chicago and after
wards changed it to the American
Banking association. with capital of
S5OO,O00. 1t failed in 1914 and |
was charged with con-
cealing 100000 of its assets. The |
police and court records here are
thickly dotted with his arrests on
various charges, flights, captures and
always, somehow, managing to evade |
conviction.
Mail robbers arrested in Chicago
Monday had no connection with
the Council Bluffs robbery, accord
ing to Postal Inspector Coble of the
Omaha service, who worked on the
Council Bluffs case.
"The robbery across the river was
a purely local affair; if the Chicago
men had anything to do with it. l
haven't discovered how" he said
Postoffice Inspector Glenn of
Council Bluffs said last night that he |
had never heard OF the two men ar
rested in Chicago as the alleged
''b-ains" of the $3,500,000 at the