Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-12-30


an ordinary guy with an over
sized bump of curiosity. This
ordinary guy, virtually single
handed, exposed a Communist
conspiracy funneling millions OF
dollars a month into Red China
to buy American war materials
Before he was through, he
broke three counterfeit rings
dried UP a thriving black mar
-----~-~--
Thirteenth Of series Of eondenso ton.
from new book by The Stur'.
Pulitzer pize-winnins investisotivs
reporter.
~~>--~-~-~-~-
ket in postal money orders and
persuaded the Government to
change several long standing
policies for handling money
matters in the Pacific.
While he was tracking down
counterfeiters and Communist
agents, both American and
Philippine authorities worried
plenty about the logged inspec-
tor with the wide Irish grin
who seemed so unconcerned
about his own safety. They
warned repeatedly that with
millions of dollars at stake, he
could get hurt in trigger-happy
Manila.
I've got my orders to stop
this Communist conspiracy" he
would say with stubborn cheer
fitness, land, by golly, I'm 60
ing to do it,"
The full story of what he
exposed was discussed at cabi-
net sessions as it developed,
but it was kept under wraps for
more than a decade because of
international implications. Now,
for the first time, Frank Ogden
can be given credit for his one
man war against Communist
aggression.
The story of Frank Ogden's
solo war began in April, 1850,
. when he was making a routine
inspection tour of Hawaiian
post offices and turned up some
puzzling Chinese symbols on
the backs of money orders.
Marks Are Translated
From his years in Hawaii, he
was aware that Philippine
workers on the coffee and pine
apple plantations regularly sent
money back to their families via
postal money orders. Routinely,
their wives cashed the orders at
banks or post offices in the
Philippines. The orders Ogden
was turning up had never gone
into the Philippine postal sys-
tenn or they wouldn't have those
chop marks on their backs.
With the help of a Chinese
scholar to translate the marks,
Ogden traced the money orders
from Manila to Hong Kong and
from there to banks on the
American mainland, usually
New York. The banks appar-
emily credited the Hong Kong
people with the dollars and sent
the money orders back to Ha-
wall for repayment.
Ogden's first report brought
word from the San Francisco
post office that it was also get
ting demands for repayment of
money orders routed via Hong
Kong. In New York, Postal In
spector w. ]. Skau found that
Hong Kong firms there we're
being credited with $4,000, 900 a
month in United States money
orders and Treasury checks.
And poStmasters in Hawaii and
Guam also reported that in two
months, $1,250,000 worth of
money orders had been routed
back to them for repayment via
Hong Kong and mainland
banks.
Ogden had photostatS made
Of the chop marks appearing
most frequently on the backs of
his growing collection of money
orders. And because he was
curious about a chop mark that
appeared only once, he had a
picture made of that, too.
Money Behind 1t .
All the money orders, he no.
ticed, showed destinations
throughout the Philippines and
yet every one of them got to
Hong Kong.
There's money and organ
ization behind this" he told
himself. And in the Orient,
that means Chinese"
In a confidential letter to his
immediate boss in San Fran
cisco, he theorized that If the
syndicate collecting the money
orders was backed by the Red
Chinese, they would be getting
millions of dollar credits to buy
supplies for their war machine.
Soon after Ogden's letter
reached the chief postal in
spector in Washington, william
Y. Chan, a clerk in the San
Francisco post office, discovered
a group Of money orders that
looked different from the
others. All we're purportedly is
sued at the Army Post Office
In Okinawa APO 239-and all
were counterfeit.
Then, a few days after that,
Rear Admiral Francis p. Odds,
commander Of naval forces in
the Philippines. asked Wash
ington to send a postal inspec-
tor to the islands. The admiral
had been told Of wholesale buy
ing Of postal money orders by
sailors and the Philippine wives
OF American servicemen. He
suspected the orders were being
sold on the black market.
Frank ogden was inspecting
the Guam post office when he
was ordered TO Manila 10 in
vestigate possible black mar
katipu and COMMUNICATING NJ