Evening star., 1927-03-06
MILLIONS ARE LOST
| ON FAKE ESTATES
SIR Francis Drake Case Tops
Bait to Fleece "Suckers"
Over Country.


estates Of fanciful proportions bark
3ng back even to that colorful SIX
teNnth century British mariner, Sir
Francis Drake, are the means by
which genealogical sharks, shysters
and unprincipaled f1nanciers pry mil
lions yearly from the gullible.
A latent longing for the illusory
gold at the rainbow's end drives
thousands of credulouS persons to
feverish search OF family Bibles and
ancestral records In hope tabled for
tune will be theirs.
They are told by alleged agents OF
such estates as that of Drake, Anneke
Jams Bogardis, Sir Hugh Mosher and
So9eph Wilson Ingraham that for $25
Or more they will get proportionate
share Of untold millions.
1000 Per Cent Profit.
A profit OF 1000 per cent is prom.
2sed, and ii is explained that the fees
collected are used for court costs,
lawyers and investigators. Widows,
disabled veterans and those of moder'
ate means have been generally selected
as victims. Activities of the agents
were once confined to persons having
names similar to the estates they were
supposed to be attempting to recover
for heirs, but as the game progressed
ally OIlS WIN IldO Tic ilOllNy was "a
customer
Investigators for Flint Grinnell,
chief of the Chicago Better Business
Bureau, found that a vice president
of a city bank was interested in one
OF these schemes He promised tre-
mendous returns for money invested.
but was too clever to put his name
to a receipt.
Sir Francis Drake.
Probably the most picturesque of
the propositions is that of Sir Francis
Drake supposed to have died intes-
tate. leaving millions of dollars in
English banks, as we'll as rich lands.
The estate. so the story goes, was un-
disturbed FOR many years until some
heirs" took steps to gain possession
of their rights. Legal difficulties
arose and litigation has continued to
the present day.
Persons by the name of Drake are
informed by agents that they are en-
titled to a share of the estate and will
be admitted to the proceedings on
payment of a fee.
The same game and story is fol-
lowed in other estates" of which
there are about 25 in the United
States, totaiing approximately six
billion dollars. Any of the bogus
geneologists can provide a family
tree" proving the ''heir' a direct
descendant. 1t is not necessary to be
actually in direct line, the geneologist
attends to that.
Field Is Unlimited.
The field of suckers" is unlimited,
for as the years roll on, the numbers
of heirs" to the great estates
increase
Postmaster General New has issued
a fraud order denying the use of the
mails to the Coate-Coppoek Estate
Corporation of Philadelphia. The
corporation was organized to recover
the 'Coate-Coppock estate" for the
heirs
Horace j. Donnelly, solicitor for the
Post Office Department, said that the
enterprise was based on an alleged
family tradition that the Marina
duke estate" and one Moses Coppock
''and others owned about 200 acres
of Venango County land in Pennsyl
vania. 1900 acres in Chester County
and 976 in Philadelphia. and that on
July %, 1916, these persons gave a
99-year lease to Caleb MendahaIl and
others.
Many heirs have been inveigled
into paying over money to the pro-
moters of this scheme, Mr.. Donnelly
said, by false representations of al
legged evidence and proof of the ex-
istence of the estate and prospects of
its early recovery.
Heirs" of BOgariis.
Most fabulous of the stories of
wealth is the one told heirs of
Anneke Jams Bogardis, who was a
resilient of New Amsterdam in the
latter part of the seventeenth cen.
tury when New York City was a
province of Holland. The properties
claimed are the holdings of the Trim
ity Church Corporation and estimated
to be worth more than 81 ,000, ,000, 600,
with an annual income of about
$3.50, 600.
Claims to the Trinity holdings have
been defeated SO often by court de.
cisions, running back to 1749, that
they should be regarded as mythical,
believe authorities of the church, who
have attempted to dispel the delusion
, and protect people against schemers
The Bogardis heirs are numerous,
however, and the task hard.
Some months ago the National Bet.
ter Business Bureau explained the
early history of Wilmington, Del, be-
cause of stories which have led some
members of the Springer family to
hopes which were regarded as un-
likely to be realized. There was
meeting recently at Dayton, Ohio, of
the Edwards family heirs.
From Kansas City come reports,
the Chicago Better Business Bureau
said. of another Anneke JAMS Bo-
gardis organization. In Cleveland the
bureau there reported members of the
Smith family received requests for
contributions to a Smith memorial.
Investigation showed the Smith who
sent out the requests had lost inter