Forgers

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ADISTINGUISHED and learned criminal jurist tersely described forgery as “the false making or materially altering, with intent to defraud, any writing which, if genuine, might apparently be of legal efficacy in the foundation of a legal liability.” The crime, in a general sense, is the illegal falsification or counterfeiting of a writing, bill, bond, will, or other document, and the statutes generally make the uttering or using the forged instrument essential to the offense. The uttering is complete, however, if an attempt is made to use the fraudulent paper as intended, though the forgery be discovered in season to defeat the fraud designed. The intent to deceive and defraud is often conclusively presumed from the forgery itself. If one forge a note, or name, word or even figure upon a note, and cause it to be discounted, it is no defense whatever to the charge of forgery that he intended to pay the note himself, and had actually made provisions that no person should be injured. Forgery, attended as it is with such ruinous consequences, is easily perpetrated, and detected with much difficulty. It was one of the capital offenses years ago, and at the present time the punishment is severe, the Penal Code of the State of New York making the sentence, upon a second conviction for forgery in the first degree, imprisonment for life.

As compared with the other criminal classes the number of professional forgers in the United States is very small. All told there are not more than two dozen expert penmen and engravers who prostitute their talents by imitating the handwriting and workmanship of others. Few as are these swindlers, occasionally they suddenly launch forth some gigantic scheme, flooding the principal cities with their spurious and worthless paper. The operations of the forger are not by any means confined to this country and Canada. The bankers of Europe have been fleeced by them, and conspiracies hatched here have almost caused financial panics in England and on the Continent. But little was really known about the ingenious plottings and secret schemes of forgers and counterfeiters until the celebrated international criminal, Wilkes, made a confession of his doings. The statement made by the shrewd rascal while in prison in Italy, a few years since, is the most interesting document of its kind in existence. It covers a long period—nearly twenty years—and tells the inner history of one of the greatest bands of forgers that has ever been organized. The notorious penman’s confession is given in full in another part of this book.

The professional forger is a man of great ability, and naturally a cunning and suspicious sort of an individual. Cautious in the extreme, he prefers to work in secret, and probably never more than two of his most intimate companions know what he is about until the counterfeits he has produced are ready to be put in circulation. So guarded is he, in fact, that while imitating the signature of a banking firm, duplicating the bonds or securities of a large corporation, or printing the delicately executed notes and currency of a country, he never permits any of his friends to enter his secret workshop. It is the proud boast of one of the most notorious of these swindlers, that while at his nefarious work no man, woman, or child ever saw him with a pen in his hand.

Some of the most prominent forgers are chemists, and by the aid of a secret mixture of acids, they are able to erase figures in ink from the face of notes without destroying or damaging the paper. Thus genuine orders upon banks or brokers for a few dollars are easily raised up into the thousands. Others, having a talent for imitating handwriting, especially autographs, fill out blank checks and notes to suit themselves. Photography has also recently been successfully applied as a means for transferring fine tracing, delicate engravings, and even signatures.

Away in the background, although plotting and planning daring work for others to execute, the forger runs but few risks by following a system calculated to protect himself against the annoyance of arrest or the danger of conviction. He keeps aloof from the several members of his band, and in most cases is only known to his manager, the go-between and guiding spirit of the gang. This is one of his best safeguards, and no matter what slip there may afterwards be in the effort to secure money upon his spurious paper, he is able to baffle all attempts to fasten the foundation of the crime upon himself. He employs as his manager only a man in whom he has the utmost confidence to conduct the negotiations, and the latter is generally a person of such notoriously bad character, that no jury would accept his uncorroborated testimony should he prove unfaithful. There have been instances, however, in which the manager has also been the capitalist and'leading plotter. Such men are to be found in the best walks of life, and although having a good social standing their means of existence is a mystery to many. These are the most careful go-betweens, and they also have guarded ways of putting the forged notes into the hands of the agents of the “layers down,” the title by which those who finally dispose of the fraudulent paper are known.

The organization of a forger’s gang is unlike that of any other class of thieves. It has many subdivisions, all working in concert, and still but few of the operators have any acquaintance with the leading spirits in the vast conspiracy. The poor tools who risk their liberty never know the penman or engraver whose work they handle, and the forger, on the other hand, does not wish an acquaintance with them. He knows them simply by reputation as a good or ordinary “layer down,” just as their standing may be.‘ Then there are the quiet agents, who gather information and rarely appear in any criminal proceeding. These have a wide circle of acquaintances, many of whom are reputable merchants and brokers. During pleasant chats in the bar and reading rooms of hotels and at fashionable resorts, much useful information necessary for the carrying out of large plans is gleaned.

A banker’s clerk, fond of billiards or horse-racing, and living above h'is salary, while in bad luck meets an agreeable friend at the track or around the green baize table. The forger’s secret and most dangerous agents grasp the situation at a glance, and hidden behind their apparent good-nature is a plot for plunder. The clerk’s losses make him desperate, and he never declines the proffered loan. It may be only a small sum, but it is the first step towards his downfall. He has become entangled in the clutches of a sharper, and at short acquaintance stands ready to follow the advice of his generous friend. When it is suggested that blank checks, or better still, ones filled out if procured by him, no matter the means he resorts to to get them, will bring him in a supply of ready cash, he grasps the opportunity. Rarely does the firm suspect, when at last the forgeries are scattered broadcast, that their fast-living clerk is really responsible for the counterfeits. The reckless young man, tainted by the success of others, will in a short time attempt to imitate signatures himself. Not having served a proper apprenticeship in ways that are wicked, the forgery is apparent. Caught in the act, he is sent to prison, and forever afterwards is an outcast from society.

The clerk’s experience demonstrates but one of the insidious methods of the crafty forger and his agents. He has other schemes, most prominent among which is using the dishonest broker. Under cover of a legitimate business they dispose of considerable worthless bonds and securities. It often happens that stolen, forged, and counterfeit bonds are hypothecated for loans by some tottering firm, and are never redeemed. Bankers duped in that way, rather than make public the fact that they have been taken in, prefer to bear their losses and make no effort to prosecute the swindler.

The men who for a small percentage dispose of forged paper or handle counterfeits are mostly ex-convicts or novices in crime. Some of the check passers operate according to system and others depend upon circumstances. Several of the principal means taken by those who utter the spurious paper can be briefly explained. A forger, only one of whose notes was ever refused, always furnished his operators with duplicate drafts. One of these simply endorsed upon the back would at first be presented at the bank by the “layer down.” The latter being a stranger, the teller would naturally decline to honor the note without proper identification. Then the “layer down,” after remarking that he was not well acquainted with financial matters, would take the check and leave the institution. The second note, properly certified and endorsed with the signature of the firm whose genuine check had been imitated, would be handed to the operator by an accomplice on the street. After a brief absence the man would return to the bank and get the money, the teller supposing the identification to be freshly written. The presentation of the identified check first would not have been regular, and the wily leader never permitted any of his tools to run such risks.

The forger has another plan for depleting the bank account of a firm whose name he is using without authorization. It is to have at least three layers down. The rule is, if the first man comes out all right a second is sent in, and if he succeeds the third follows. Here the operations end for the day, and afterwards a watch is kept upon the bank until it is closed, and also upon the broker’s office, the signature of which firm is being forged. Should no unusual commotion be observed at either place, it is taken for granted that the victim’s account is large enough to be drawn from still further. A day or two later other checks previously prepared are presented in the same way. Upon the slightest sign of discovery the “layer down” and his lookouts disappear as quickly as possible, one covering the escape of the other. In the selection of the men who cash the notes old favorites are sent in first, as the chances of detection are then at a minimum. As the account drawn upon may give out at any moment, and then there would be questions to answer, the last men are required to possess plenty of nerve. The amount of a firm’s account in bank is always a matter of guess-work, and therefore risky, though the forger’s rule is to select wealthy concerns, leave a wide margin and work up gradually.

The forger has but little trouble getting the numbers for the checks he intends using. Just before the close of business on a Saturday afternoon one of his agents calls at the broker’s office and sells some genuine bonds, and in payment asks that he be given at least two checks, explaining that he desires to send them by letter into the country or some other place. They are never refused, and therefore the forger thus manages to get the last numbers of the checks issued by the firm. This gives him all day Sunday to fix the figures on the forgeries, and he is ready to operate without fear of detection from that source first thing on Monday morning. The genuine checks several days later reach the bank through some reputable business firm, but in the meantime they have passed through so many hands that it is next to an impossibility to trace them.

A common, yet dangerous scheme, which has been carried out many times with success by check raisers, is like this: A member of the gang is first sent to purchase two drafts payable at a bank in another city. One is made out for a small amount and the other for a considerable sum. In a few days the purchaser returns the large check to the bank saying that he was unable to use it as he had intended. The amount it calls for is refunded to him and the redeemed check in most instances destroyed. Then, having a clear field before him, the forger forwards the small draft raised to correspond in number, date and amount to the large one to some distant city for collection. As the genuine draft has in the meantime been torn up, there is rarely any difficulty in getting the raised one cashed, and sometimes the deceit is not discovered at the bank of issue. Many cashiers have spent hours going over their books on account of a shortage, and all the trouble and annoyance was due to a raised check.

The photo-lithographic process of check counterfeiting first came to light in this city a few years ago. The checks were presented by a smart lad who invariably succeeded in cashing them. He was caught at last laying down one of the worthless notes, and had it not been for an accident he might then have escaped. The cashier to whom it was presented, while examining the draft, noticed that it was blurred, and on submitting it to experts, his suspicions were confirmed. It had been prepared with such accuracy that the stamp on it could not be distinguished from an authentic one. The forger, however, had not been satisfied with his work, and essayed an improvement by the use of chemicals, which in the warmth of the carrier’s hand, had blurred and discolored the paper. The lad when cornered made a clean breast of it, and said that his brother-in-law had employed him to procure genuine checks and carry forged paper to the bank.

A man who appeared to be prudent, careful, conducting his transactions after the best methods, and on the strictest business principles, opened an account, a few years back, with one of the city banks under the name of Clarke. He soon won the confidence of the bank authorities. At first depositing moderate sums of money he created the belief that he was engaged in legitimate commerce, and he only called in his deposits as might any ordinary merchant. He always kept a balance in the bank and seemed in no hurry to push his affairs to extremities. The money on deposit was in certified checks of another bank, and Clarke and his credit was established, to all appearances, on a very comfortable basis. Suddenly the notes began to assume an alarming magnitude. They came, too, in unusually rounded figures, $4,500 and $6,500 looming up on their faces. The suspicion of the cashier was aroused and an inquiry was set on foot. Clarke’s dealings were discovered to have jumped to such an altitude that it was at once decided that something must be wrong.

The authorities at the second bank were consulted, the checks were examined and at once their real nature became apparent, and they were pronounced forgeries. Both banks were amazed. Their consternation increased the more closely they tested the checks. Each additional discrepancy discovered proved that the forgeries were not ordinary ones, and it was more than likely that they were being perpetrated on other institutions and probably for large amounts. These checks, so many of which had passed current at the bank of certification, had been printed and stamped on specially manufactured paper and signed with a regularly prepared ink. The writing was done in a bold, free hand that challenged detection by its freedom and similarity to that of the treasurer of the Western Union Telegraph Company. They were lithographed imitations of the genuine checks of the bank, with a slight difference in the safety test, the numbering and the ink, but in rush of business these trifling defects could not be remarked. The forgeries were admitted clever beyond all experience, and no fault was found with the teller for certifying them as genuine. In those cases the layer down was a poor youth the bogus merchant had employed in his sham office at a salary of a few dollars per week.

Forgers who make a practice of defrauding the banks of the smaller cities, first establish confidence with the officials of the institution they intend to plunder. This is done in a very simple manner, but one that generally proves successful. Several weeks before the forgery is attempted the advance agent of the gang hires and opens an insurance or real estate office in the vicinity of the bank. At the latter place he makes a number of bona fide deposits and has some business transactions, which are simply the transfer of money from one city to another. Then when he is beyond suspicion he lays down for collection a draft for a large sum, which bears the forged signature of a genuine depositor at a bank in a distant city. Upon the presentation of the paper the officials telegraph to the bank it is drawn upon, inquiring if the person or firm whose forged signature it bears is a depositor in good standing there. The answer being satisfactory, at least three-fourths of the amount called for by the check is willingly advanced by the bank of deposit, to the forger’s trusted agent. In due time the counterfeit is forwarded for collection through the regular business channels, and when it finally reaches its destination its character is discovered. The insurance or real estate office has in the meantime collapsed, and the forger and his tools have vanished. A smart gang, with a dozen or more advance agents, have been known to dupe in a single year over forty banks throughout the country, netting, with a small outlay, about $160,000 by their operations.

Storekeepers and business firms have been swindled time and again by a peculiar class of forgers who seem to be satisfied with a few hundred dollars, and sometimes less. In all large cities these men succeed in operating extensively with raised or worthless checks. After a small purchase the forger presents the draft in payment, and should he be questioned, generally gives some ready reference. In his off-hand way of dealing with his victims the layer down is careful not to give an inkling of his true character till they have fallen a prey to his deceptions. When one of these criminals is run down as many as one hundred and fifty complainants appear to prosecute him.

Sometimes it happens in altering checks that the chemicals leave a blur upon the paper that cannot be erased. As the notes, although for small amounts, are genuine, the forger not willing to lose money even in experimenting, has been known to burn off the portion of the paper that he had unsuccessfully tampered with. Then one of his friends writes to the bank by which the draft was issued, stating that it had accidentally been partially burned, giving the date of issue and the amount it called for, and requesting that a duplicate be forwarded to the writer. To confirm the accident story, the fragments of the check are enclosed in the envelope. The duplicate asked for is generally received by return mail.

The craftiness and audacity of the professional forger may be better understood by the recital of the following actual occurrence:

Six years ago a band of international criminals left this city for the purpose of robbing foreign bankers with the aid of a large supply of well-executed counterfeit circular notes. The men were scarcely upon the high seas before the conspiracy became known here. Without delay cablegrams were flashed across the ocean warning the European authorities of the entire plot, and giving the names and accurate descriptions of all the operators. Notwithstanding the warning, the forger and his assistants landed without detection, and made their headquarters in one of the largest cities. In the course of a few days after his arrival the chief conspirator, who was traveling as an American tourist, desirous of becoming familiar with the faces and workings of the detectives, secured a letter of introduction to the Chief of the Bureau or Department of Criminal Investigations. He was well received, all the workings of that branch of the police service were explained to him, and he was pleasantly entertained for half an hour or more by the head of the force himself. During the chat the conversation turned apparently incidentally to forgers and counterfeiters. The detective, thrown completely off his guard, unbosomed himself to the bogus tourist. On the desk before the former lay the important message sent from New York concerning the band of forgers. It was an official secret, but the detective had no scruples in confiding it to his visitor. Telling the latter that his department was in communication with similar institutions in the United States, the Chief of one of the largest detective forces in Europe picked up the message and read it from beginning to end to the sham tourist. It was startling and unexpected news to the forger, but he controlled his alarm and resumed the conversation. At its close the noted criminal shook the hand of the police official who had unconsciously and gratuitously furnished him with so much information, and drove back to his hotel. The forger and his band disappeared from the city that night.

The counterfeiting of bonds and securities, for some unaccountable reason, seems to be at a standstill at present, and there is no likelihood that it will be resumed for some time to come. It is also a significant fact that all the leading spirits in that line in this country now devote their time and talents defrauding banks and brokers by forged drafts. They have tired most probably of the stupendous schemes which took years of constant study to perfect. It is well to remember, too, that all the recent attempts to flood the foreign market with forged paper have proved disastrous failures, in consequence of the timely warnings sent abroad from this city. The fabrication of the Brazilian and French bank-notes, the Missouri State Soldiers’ pay securities, the Central Pacific and Morris & Essex Railroad bonds, are the latest conspiracies frustrated. Spurious greenbacks are not as numerous now as they were a few years ago, and coin counterfeiting has entirely passed out of the hands of the professional coiner.

The genuine and false names of the forgers who occupy a high rank in that illicit calling will be found in the annexed list:

Charles O. Brockway, alias Vanderpool (14).—Charles Becker (18).—William E. Brockway (32).—R. S. Ballard, alias Bullard (35).—Robert Bowman, alias Hogan (39). —Colonel A. C. Branscom (97).—George Bell (193).—Lester Beach (17).—George Havill, alias Joe Cook (15).—Edward Condit (42).—Hugh L. Courtenay, alias Lord Courtenay (58).—Joe Chapman (see records of Nos. 16, 18, 202, and George Wilkes). —Henry Cleary (see records of Nos. 37, 193, and George Wilkes).—Isaac Hooper (see record of No. 172).—Edward Darlington (36).—J. B. Doyle (see records of Nos. 31, 32).—Charles Denken (see records of Nos. 38, 41).·—C. J. Everhardt, alias Marsh Market Jake (38).—Joe Elliott, alias Joe Reilly (16).—George Engles (see records of No. 18 and George Wilkes).—Charles Fisher, alias Purdy (41).—Charles Farren (see records of Nos. 13, 193.)—Robert Fox (see record of No. 37).—Valentine Gleason (see records of Nos. 8, 55, and George Wilkes).—Andy Gilligan (see record of No. 13).—Bertha Heyman (122).—John Hughes, alias John O’Neil, alias Jason Smith (60).—Charles Ward, alias Hall (104).—James Lee (108).—George Little, alias Tip Little (172).—Luther R. Martin, alias Martin Luther (31).—William H. Lyman (see record of No. 39).—Franklin J. Moses, alias ex-Governor Moses (98). —Steve Raymond, alias Marshal (55).—John Pettengill (198).—Charles Williamson, alias Perrine (202).—Walter Pierce, alias Porter (see records of Nos. 38, 41).— Augustus Raymond, alias Gus Raymond (26).—Walter Sheridan, alias Ralston (8).— Andrew L. Roberts (see records of Nos. 8, 55, and George Wilkes).—Freddie Reeves (see record of No. 112).— Charles Smyth, alias Doc. Smyth (112).—Charles R. Titus, alias Dr. Thompson (40).—Albert Wilson, alias Al. Wilson (37).—D. S. Ward, alias Capt. Ward (57).—George Edwards, alias Lynch (see record of No. 16). —Nathan B. Foster.—William E. Grey.—Clement Herring, alias Old Man Herring.— Louis Siscovitch.—Ivan, alias Carlo Siscovitch, alias Adams.—Elijah Alliger.—Susan R. Buck.—Charles B. Orvis.—G. W. Pontez.—George Wilkes.

See regular index for further particulars.

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