2.
16
(a) The fact that the Adjutant placed such reliance
on So King Man as to allow him to make disbursements
although he was not secured;
(b) The apathy of the Chinese firms and contractors
concerned who do not appear to have taken any
action to ensure that their accounts were paid
promptly;
(c) The acceptance by the Adjutant of So King Man's
statement that some of the payees, having no
banking accounts, required uncrossed cheques,
which were subsequently negotiated by So by means
of forged endorsements. Requests from Chinese
payees for open cheques are, it may be stated,
by no means uncommon.
4.
I am satisfied that these losses did not
occur through any intrinsic defect in the departmental system of accounts. I have caused the financial arrange-
ments of the office to be examined by the Treasurer and
he reports them to be satisfactory. I concur in this view.
It will be seen that the frauds required carefully planned
forgeries for their execution and no financial system can
in itself be proof against forgery especially when combined
with apathy on the part of payees. I am equally satisfied
that sufficient fault and neglect does not attach to the
Adjutant to render him liable to be sur charged with the
losses. Major Wolfe-Murray is a military officer lent to
this Government for a short term and for the purpose of
maintaining the efficiency of the Volunteers. His primary function is to superintend the training and discipline of
the corps and in entrusting to So King Man a portion of
the financial work of the department, he merely followed
a
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