CO129-510-14 Report of committee of enquiry into discrepancies and losses in government departments in Hong Kong... 21-4-1928 - 24-10-1928 — Page 114

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are known to him by name

the names on the three

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cheques are entirely new and unfamiliar.

Mr. Messer states that he invariable checks each

cheque with the accompanying documents and cannot conceive

of himself signing cheques for such amounts as those

involved without first satisfying him that the firms were doing Government work and that the accompanying

vouchers had been passed by the examination branch.

Mr. Black emphatically denies that the signatures

are his.

His reasons given in the statement taken from him by the Treasury Solicitor are:-

"(1) The names of the payees are unknown to

me. This being so and the amounts being large, I should have looked with particular

care into the accompanying vouchers. I

know, as I have said, all our large con-

tractors, and should have challenged any

such sized payment to anyone other than a

regular contractor.

(2) I always scrutinize with particular care

the vouchers relating to large cheques. As Treasury payments go these are very large

(3)

payments.

I always require large cheques to be

crossed unless the payee has specially

requested that the cheque be left open.

We have a list of those contractors who

have requested that their cheques be left

open.

When we cross cheques we use a crossing

These three cheques are crossed in

stamp.