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LATEST NEWS. THE WATERLOO CUP. Black Fury beat Lapal, and won the cup. THE ASSIZES. [Continued from Page 7.] FRIDAY. A PECULIAR CASE OF ALLEGED FRAUD. His lordship took his seat at ten o'clock on Friday morning, when an interesting case of al- leged "fraud was heard by a special jury. This was a joint claim by M. E. Abraham, Glanadda, Bangor, a widow, and John Glynne Jones, Ban- gor, who sued as the administrators of Ellen Abraham and James Tomkinson and Henrv Platt, the then partners in the firm of Messrs Williams and Co.'s Old Bank, against Richard Griffith and Grace Griffith, Caerorion. Llan- degai. The plaintiffs alleged that the defend- ant Grace Griffith fraudulently obtained from the bank the sum of JB200. the moneys of George Abraham, deceased, and that the defendants also received the sum of JB300, the moneys of the plaintiffs, and the defence was simply a denial. of the allegation. Mr J. Bryn Roberts, M.P., and Mr W. Cadwaladr Davies (instructed by Mr J. Glynne Jones) appeared for the plaintiffs, whilst Mr E. Honoratus Lloyd and Mr Arthur Hughes (instructed by Messrs Carter, Vincent, Douglas Jones, and Co.) defended. Mr Bryn Roberts, in opening the case, said that not only was a large sum of money in- volved, but it was his unpleasant duty to open up a case of alleged gross fraud. There would be no dispute on the question of whether a fraud was committed or not, but the question to be decided was whether the fraud could be brought home to the defendants. Mrs Griffith I had a niece named Mrs Abraham, and Mrs Abra- ham was the wife of a signalman named George I Abraham, of Bangor. On the 10th of February, 1882, a brother of Mrs Abraham died, leaving her some property, and the personalty amounted to JB1700, and the realty was afterwards sold for JB750. Mrs Abraham, unfortunately, took to drink after coming into the money and the farm called Tyddyn Morfydd, in Anglesey, was sold and conveyed by Mrs Abraham for JB750 on the 2nd of June. She died ten davs afterwards. Her husband could not find any trace of the money, and Mr Glynne Jones, the solicitor of Mr Abraham, communicated with the defend- ants, stating that he had been informed that they took away the title deeds of Mrs Abra- ham's property, and asking for them back. They were not sent; and Mr Thornton Jones (who at that time was an articled clerk to Mr Glvnne I Jones) went to see the defendant. He saw Mrs Griffith, and found him very uncommunicative, and very reluctant to give up everything. But Mr Thornton Jones did obtain the title deeds and documents, which were referred to in the letter as having been taken away. The Judge How came they to take it away? Mr Bryn Roberts: Mrs Griffith was an aunt of Mrs Abraham, and had attended her in her last illness. Mr Thornton Jones went again to make inquiries as to the purchase money, and as to what had become of the proceeds of the sale. He was informed that defendants knew nothing about them, and Mr Glynne Jones failed entirely to trace anything about them. Time passed-fifteen years passed—before any trace could be found of the proceeds of this sale; but a misunderstanding arose, which led to a dis- covery, and eventuallv to this action. That arose from the fact that Mrs Griffith had an- other niece, to whom she had made certain con- fidences in 1882 and 1883. This angry dispute occurred in 1897; and, as they often found when certain people fell out. certain people got their own. Mrs Griffith told this niece that she and Mrs Abraham had been to a bank in Carnarvon, and deposited £ 500— £ 200 in the name of Mrs Abraham and J3300 in her own name,- and he thought she said it was a gift. His Lordship Mrs William Jones (the niece) fell out with Mrs Griffith, and then told this story? Mr Bryn Roberts, proceeding, said that Mrs William Jones, the niece of Mrs Griffith, was the wife of a quarryman, and they lived close by, but their house was small, and the family increasing. In 1882, Mrs Griffith suggested to her that it would be better to get a lease and build a new house, and she added that she would lend her niece money for it. About that time, in the same year, she stated that she had been with Mrs Abraham shortly before her death at a bank, and had deposited JB200 in the name of Mrs Abraham, and L300 in her own name also, that after Mrs Abraham's death, she had been to the bank at Carnarvon, that the manager asked her if she was Ellen Abraham, that she said phe was. He asked her if she could sign her name, and she said, "No;" but afterwards she signed her mark. She .drew out the J3200 and the interest, and Richard Griffith was stand- ing outside at the time. That was what Mrs Griffith told Mrs Jones. The disagreement arose in this way: It seemed that money to build a house had been advanced by Mrs Griffith to Mrs William Jones. Afterwards, a mort- gage was given in the name of Richard Jones (a brother of Mrs Griffith), and that mortgage was called up in 1897, and payment enforced at the time of the Penrhyn strike, when the men were out of work. They considered that a very cruel procedure to enforce the mortgage at such a time. and to sell the house over their heads. In their anger and indignation, they divulged these confidences to Mr Pentir Williams, who informed Mr Glynne Jones of what had passed. It was then Mr Glynne Jones's duty to ascertain all the facts which he could discover. The sale took place on June 2nd, and on June 5th there was a deposit in the Old Bank of JB200 in the name of Ellen Abraham, and the number of the deposit note was 3639. On the same day, there was a deposit also of B500 in the same bank, and the number of the deposit not was 3638, al- leged to have been paid in by Mrs Grace Grif- fith. Now, the prosecution alleged that this J3300 was the property of Ellen Abraham, who died seven days afterwards. On the 5th of June, 1883, both the deposit notes were pre- sented at the bank. Interest on the J3300 was paid over the counter, and a new deposit made in the name of Grace Griffith. With respect to the J3200. the interest should be paid over to whoever presented these notes, but this was not endorsed by Ellen Abraham, and probably that was the reason why the interest was not paid over, but was added to the deposit, and a new deposit note was made for J3205. On the 22nd of June, that note was presented at the bank, and the bank clerk would give evidence that it was presented by a woman who represented her- self to be Ellen Abraham. This woman did not sign her name, because she said she could not write her name, and placed a cross to it. Not only had Mrs Griffiths told Mrs Jones, these con- fidences, but she had also told Mrs Lewis, who at that time lived at the Halfway House be- tween Bethesda and Bangor, and at the Royal Oak, 'Rachub. The money advanced to Wil- linm Jones amounted to JD200, and was ad- vanced in three instalments of JE67, JE67 and E66. Now, when further application was made to the defendants, after this discovery, they said they had never been in the bank, and that they had no money on deposit in any bank in Car- narvon, but they afterwards admitted that a deposit had been made in her name by a brother, Richard Jones. They further said they had no account to render inasmuch as they had never had anything to do at any time with the estate of Mrs Abraham. Mr E. Honoratus Lloyd admitted that the plaintiffs were the executors of George Abra- ham, and the administrators of the un- administered estate of Ellen Abraham. He did not sav that the L300 was a gift; for in that case the Statute of Limitation could have been pleaded, and there would have been an end to it. The defendants would say that it never was her money. They had told the plaintiffs that the farm was sold for JB750, but they never had that JB500, though they had a JE500, which, however, was a different sum. As to the JB200, which the defendants were alleged to have had, there was no doubt that the bank parted with it to somebody, but they denied ever having had it. Mr Jones, manager of Lloyd's Bank, Llan- dudno, who was then cashier at the Old Bank, Carnarvon, gave evidence. He could not say whether the defendant Mrs Griffith was the woman to whom the JB200 was paid out. Mr Glynne Jones, Mr Thornton Jones, and Mr R. H. Pritchard, Bangor, gave further evi- dence. Mrs Sarah Lewis, Gwernydd, a niece, was then called, and said that Mrs Griffith had told her that she had been with Mrs Abraham in the bank at Carnarvon, and placed JBSOO in. Mrs (;riffith also said that she had gone to Carnar- von to take out the P,200, which lay in the bank in the name of Mrs Abraham, after her death. Mrs Griffith further also said that Richard Grif- I fith was with her, but that he remained outside. Mrs Griffith told her further that the banker had asked her if she was Mrs Abraham, that she had replied "Yes," but that she had said she could not write and had made her mark. She was on good terms with Mrs Griffith. Cross-examined: She had not spoken with Mrs Griffith for twelve years at least. Witness admitted being a sister of Mrs William Jones. At this stage, the witness, who had been giving evidence in Welsh, gave an answer in English. His Lordship said he was going to make a declaration now. Out of this prosecution there might very possibly come a prosecution for perjury, and if there was a persecution for per- iurv whoever was prosecuted had a far better chance of making ont that they had been mis- understood. If the evidence was given through an interpreter of course there was a chance of the witness being mistaken, and perhaps the intetpreter also. This witness could speak English perfectly well, as could be seen by the outbursts of evidence in English. He would not allow her to speak Welsh because she pre- ferred it. Witness I cannot speak it perfectly. Tht* Judge You speak it quite perfectly. The witness, on being further cross-examined, said she did not take much notice of what Mrs Griffith had said, and she did not think her a very wicked old woman. Witness believed her when she said she had represented Mrs Abraham after her death at the bank and obtained her money by fraud, yet she did not think she was a very wicked woman and a swindler. His Lordship It was only a bank, you know. Witness, proceeding, said she did not take much notice of the matter until her sister was sold out. Mrs William Jones, Bryntwrw, sister of the last witness, was next called. She said she did not understand English. The Judge -(to Mr J. T. Roberts) Ask her, 'Do you know English?" Mr J. T. Roberts did so in Welsh, and the witness said she did not understand it suffi- ciently to give evidence. His Lordship Then let her be sworn in Welsh. The witness then proceeded to give evidence bearing out the statement made by Mr Bryn Roberts relative to the lending of the money. She recognised the hand- writing of her aunt on a number of documents tproduced). She thought also the signatures "Richard Jones" had been written by Grace I Griffith on the receipts for the interest for the money lent. (Proceeding.)

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