Four members of an alleged gang of confidence men were formally Charged with fraud by the Municipal Advocate in the First Specal District Court yesterday in connection with the alleged swindling of Y.20,830 from a Chinese' silver "broker named Sze Chungtang, a partner of the Tai Shan Trading Company, Nanking Road.
The persons charged with the crime were P. Kondenko, P. Tretiakoff, both Russians, L. Hoodan, a Persian gyps; and Liu Kung-hai. Two others a rested last week, J, Mihai and Tsoong Hsau-zung, were released yesterday on account of lack of evidence against them.
The case, dates back to November, 27 when an exchange transaction was to have been held in the Paramount Hotel where the victim appeared with Abe above-mentioned sum of Japanese money in exchange for Chinese bank notes of more face value.
The accused were alleged to have made a favourable offer which attracted Sze to the hotel. Some of the accused, it was alleged, showed up at the hotel and one of them opened the envelope in which the Japanese notes were contained. He examined the Japanese notes, looking at them near a window and later sealed the envelope with wax.
The accused left, stating that they would return with the Chinese notes in an hour's time, but they failed to show up. When Sze opened the enveloped later he discovered that all his (Japanese notes had been changed for glazed paper.
The hearing was adjourned for a week,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.