CO129-334 - Governor Nathan - 1906 [5-7] — Page 433

loware/

428

the man's arrest on the assumption that he had gone to his

native place in China, and $500 the amount of his bond was

recovered from his sureties.

5.

I annex copies of a report dated March 11th.

by Sergeant N. E. Gerrard, in charge of Sheung Shui Police

Station, on a preliminary investigation he made by Mr.

Orme's direction into the extent of Ip Wai Lam's embezzle-

ment and of one dated April 30th. by Mr. H. R. Phelips the

Local Auditor whom I had instructed to make a complete

enquiry into the amount of the loss, the circumstances that

made it possible and the measures that should be taken to

avoid such possibility in the future. The latter showed

that the total amount embezzled as far as it could be ascer-

tained was $3,403.08. The ascertained loss to Government

was therefore this amount less that of the forfeited bond,

1.e. $2,903.08.

The Local Auditor further reported that the

defalcations extended from October 1905 to March 1906 but

that the majority of them appeared in the receipt counter-

foils connected with the collection of Crown Rent in Decem-

ber, January and February.

6.

As the above mentioned reports were to my

mind prima facie evidence of neglect on the part of Messrs.

Thomson, Orme and Ross, I caused them to be referred to

the