The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1928-07-30
RING HAD Girls
TC PASS BAD
CHECKS

NEW YORK. July sO.A STARTLING
Tom o. crime peonage, whereby s.
group Of girls throughout the ma.
eson hired themselves out to pass
WsSthless checks on commission
basis. mas been revealed by q surety
company whose detectives havs
Deen searching cities between Chi.
cag0 ana New York iii an endeavOr
to locate the ringIeaders!
Existence Of the worthless check
riiig. which Is said to operate On
LOvel plan, was revealed 70 the
operatives Of the surety company.
when two girls. n years old. were
arrested May III Philadelphia and
gave the detectives the first leads
to the ring, existence BIT which had
already been suspected from the
unusually large number of claims
nlade by small merchants and de-
pertinent store owners who had
been defrauded.
Recruited Detected Girls
Company experts. who declared
that forgery and cneck frauds were
me fastest growing crimes in the
country said that the men Operat-
ing the ring gathered their girl
workers AZ railroad stations, employ
inEmE agencies and theatrical book
ing houses, depending upon detected
spirits among the girls to induce
them TO take up crime on q com.
mission basis. The headquarters for
the ring II thought to be IN CHI
cago.
The two girls arrested III PhiIa-
delphia and later sentenced for one
year each iii correctional institll-
ton save their names Doris PAM
say alias Helen Murray, and Betty
Todd. alias Mrs. b. HI Todd
They said they were offered -
soft job with good pay BY man
they met In Chicago while out Of
work IN the theater The agent 0e
In the event Of their arrest they
would be bailed out ana could jump
the bail bond When they were ar
rested Tor attempting to pass two
checks ON the same store In one
day the girls waited TO be hailed
out and when their crime sponsor
failed to appear police and detectives
drew the story from them.
Man Works With Girl
The method of operating. accord
Ing to reports made to the surety
company by detectives, required
that q man Tor the check ring work
with each girl. The couples stayed
at the best hotels and travelled all
along the Atlantic seaboard, leaving
behind trail Of worthless checks.
Upon arriving IN q city. the COM
pany reported, the man would de-
posff 5000 or $500 ii 81 bank, while
the girl searched out the name and
address Of some reputable citizen
from the telephone directory. Inc
money would be dep0sitde TN his
name When the blank check was
obtained the operator would send
out the gfrl 10 retail shops, armed
with forged fire insurance receipts
Tor Identification and many checks
made out TO her as the reputable
After the girl had made purchases
she would pay for them with large
checks. ret the change and direct
thai the merchandise be sent To the
address specified Hi the forged fire
insurance receipts In day In the
city the company estimated the
crooks would double their capital
through the change from purchases.
Just before the bank closed the de-
posftor would withdraw all or most
Of hts money. When the checks
from the stores arrived the cleanup
crew had left the city and messages
for relief were sent to the surety
companies.
1858 Claims Adjusted
In the last few years, the com.
pany reported 1858 claims for
worthless checks had been adjusted,
but 1t was impossible to determine
just how many Of these could be
attributed to the gang Of check
passers.
The scheme II said to be the most
daring since the arrest OF the ring
leader OF group OF check forgars
In Seattle d year ago, when II was
estimated that $170, 900 had been
mu1cted from small merchants
through forgery OF Pullman Com
pany pay checks.
In that scheme underworld print
shops were used on q nation wide
basis to print the pay checks OF
the Pullman Company. Along the
division points OF rails about pay
day there would appear men dressed
as porters or. conductors, cashing
checks which almost defied detec-
ton.
In recalling the daring Of forgers
one surety company official pointed
out that a year ago Il. M. Carson,
a prisoner in the Oklahoma State
Penitentiary on charge Of forgery,
forged . pardon from the governor
In his cell and succeeded in insert
ing 1t In the warden's mail. He
was released on the forged pardon
and later was arrested when the
prison authorities checked up. The
seal OF the State was stamped on
the paper with the detached mouth.
piece OF a telephone receiver. on
which crude design was cut.