Evening star., 1955-02-20
Suspect Surrenders
After Police Nab Two
For 'Wireiap Center
sy he A.,eeies.d Pres.

by HE Assoeloisd Press
NEW YORK. Feb. ia 80
year-old occupant Of an East
Side apartment. where police un-
covered an elaborate wiretar
setup. surrendered today to au-
thorities and was placed under
arrest.
Frank B. Shannon, accom-
panied by an attorney, appeared
in the Office Of District Attorney
Frank s. Hogan after a l3-State
alarm was sent out for him in
the probe of the mysterious
Manhattan overlapping center.
Mr.. Hogan ordered Shannon
charged with wiretapping. a fel-
ony under the malicious mischief
section Of the New York penal
code.
Earlier today. two telephone
company employees were arrested
in connection with the case.
Conflicting Statements.
Meanwhile, there was a puz-
zling conflict of statements from
high authorities as to the ex-
tent and importance Of the cen
ter's operations.
Mr.. Hogan said his investiga-
ton so far indicated it was only
a local setup and relatively un-
important.
He said it was able to tap
telephone circuits of only one OF
several exchanges serving the
important business and resi-
Dental section east of Fifth
avenue in mid-Manhattan.
And, he added, only about Is
telephone lines actually had been
tapped during the last five
months.
Could Listen in on U. N. Phones.
Previously Police Commissioner
Francis w. H. Adams said the
center was capable of listening
in on telephones in all exchanges
Of the area.
These serve the United Ma
tions, foreign consulates, many
big and important business en-
terprises and some of the city's
most exclusive hotels and resi-
Dental sections.
Neither the District Attorney
nor the Police Commissioner
gave any details as to what the
center's exact purpose may have
been.
But Mr.. Adams denied it had
any connection with Serge Ru-
binstein, slain multimillionaire.
who repeatedly used phone taps
to gather business information
and check on girl friends.
Existence of the center, To-
Gated in an apartment at $50
East Fifty-fifth street, was
brought to light publicly by the
New York City Anti-Crime Com
mittee. Police kept mum after
raiding it nine days ago.
Want Full Scale Probe.
The committee didn't say how
1t learned of the operation, but
told legislative leaders in Al
bany about it in an effort to OBJ
tain full-scale probe of city
wiretapping and tighter laws.
Committee officials said they
believed it was used primarily
for business purposes. but
claimed phone taps were used
widely elsewhere around town
for everything up to blackmail.
The two phone company en-
'ployes arrested early today after
hours of questioning were iden-
titled as Carl E. Rub, 80, and
Walter Asmann, 20.
They were charged with max
ing connections in the telephone
company Office so that conver-
sations on tapped lines could
be monitored in the Fifty fifth
street apartment.
Hearings Set Tuesday.
Bail of $1,000 each was set
pending hearings next Thursday.
They were released from City
Prison after posting the bonds.
but both refused to talk to re-
porters. Asmann said only, I've
told everything to the District
Attorney"
Asmann's father, who refused
to give reporters his name but
said he also had been a tele-
phone company employe, work.
ing there for 40 years, said his
son was a Korean War veteran
and the father of two children.
He's never been in trouble
before" the father added.
lost