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 119

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The essential question which will deside the

issue as to who must bare the loss is whether or not the

sigatures on the cheques are genuine.

Both Mr. Messer and Mr. Black repudiate their

sigatures as forgeries.

not

The repudiation appears to be based/on the

dessimilarly between the repudiated signatures and the

ordinary signatures of these officers (though Mr. Messer

would point to an unusual lack of visibility in the pen

grooves and to his signature being too near tomthe dotted

line), but on their belief that they could not have been

induced to sign cheques for such large amounts in favour

of unknown persons without being prompted to give to the

supporting vouchers such rigid scouting as would have

brought to light the fraud.

If Mr. Dallin's recollection of the conversation

at the bank in correct Mr. Black's suggestion that he

should return to the Treasury and see if there were any

vouchers would go far to destroy the value of any evidence

which he might give basing his repudiation on such belief.

Mr. Dovey's report points out certain pecularities

in both the signatures which occur in all three of

the cheques.

These pecularities are sufficient to give rise

to some suspicion that the signatures may be forgeries.

To convince a jury that the signatures are forgeries

we have got to go much further than showing grounds for

suspicion.

Every one of the pecularities which Mr. Dovey points

out can be found in some small percentage of cheques which

bear undisputably genuine signatures. Except the placing of

Mr. Black's signature in relation to the word"Cashier".

There is no single point in the formation of any letter,

the placing or spacing of letters or any integral part of