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CIRCULAR NO. 164 FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF N E W YORK M a y 9, 1919. STOLEN GOVERNMENT CHECKS T o THE B A N K S AND T R U S T C O M P A N I E S IN THE SECOND F E D E R A L R E S E R V E D I S T R I C T : As Government warrants and checks drawn on the Treasurer of the United States are received by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York subject to final payment by the Treasurer of the United States, the Government having for m a n y years exercised the right of returning at any time such warrants and checks which for a n y cause have not been considered good, we beg herewith to transmit immediately to the banks and trust companies in this district the following letter, copy of which has been received today from P. J. Ahem, Operative in Temporary Charge, U. S. Secret Service, New York District. New York, Room 746, Custom House. M a y 9, 1919. >, D I R E C T O R OF THE C L E A R I N G H O U S E , NEW YORK CITY, N. Y. SIR: I beg to submit to you the following numbers of Government checks which were stolen from the office of Major James E. Young, Q. M. C , Governor's Island, New York, N . Y., during December, 1918, some of which have been raised and passed in this city and in Philadelphia. T h e y are being presented by an officer, or by a man wearing the uniform of an a r m y officer, who states t h a t he wishes to make up a payroll and asks t h a t the proceeds of the check be given him in certain bills, t h a t is so m a n y hundreds, so m a n y fifties, and so on. This man presented one of these raised checks a t the Liberty National Bank on Saturday, April 26th, 1919, which was refused, and another a t the Garfield National Bank, on Saturday, M a y 3rd, which was cashed, the latter check being raised from $290.47 to $8290.47, using a Todd protectograph in raising the a m o u n t of the check. T h e description of the man, as given to this office, is, a r m y officer, about 35 years old, 6 ft. tall, slight build, good looking, sharp features, very small light moustache, and light brown or auburn hair, and wears the marks showing the rank of lieutenant; of course this cannot be authentically s t a t e d : 65269 50316 50053 56890 64838 56862 56894 56927 50036 56902 56889 56892 50047 56893 56926 50049 50050 56904 65286 53562 50045 56899 65199 48582 52248 50039 56891 56928 56900 56896 50048 56895 50038 56930 56903 56898 50111 T h e Symbol N o . of all t h e above mentioned checks is 20258. Please notify all banks to be on the lookout for a man of this description, or anyone else, who m a y present a raised check signed b y Major James E . Young, Q. M . C , Governor's Island, on which a protectograph is used. T h e protectograph was not used on the original checks. Your immediate attention to this m a t t e r will be greatly appreciated. Respectfully, P. J. A H E R N , Operative in Temporary Charge. If a n y of the above numbered checks should be presented, the U. S. Secret Service requests t h a t t h e p a r t y presenting same be held for whatever action t h e Secret Service deems proper to t a k e in t h e premises. L. H. HENDRICKS, Cashier
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