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Story
August 3, 1855
Daily American Organ
Washington, District Of Columbia
What is this article about?
In July 1854, railroad defaulter Mr. Tuckerman deceived an experienced accountant examiner by using marked paper and private marks in the ledger to falsely certify the company's stock shares as 28,584, matching legitimate holdings of 28,534 to avoid detection.
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OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
How It Was Done.—From the Boston Traveller we copy the following as illustrative of the manner in which Mr. Tuckerman, the railroad defaulter, contrived to elude detection from examining committees:
In July, 1854, a gentleman who had been an accountant for thirty years, distinguished for his unequalled accuracy, and whose integrity was above suspicion, certified that he had examined the various books, and that from the certificate book the number of shares held in the company was 28,584.
In this last case a piece of gross deception was practised upon the examiner. The treasurer having previously marked upon a sheet of paper certain amounts of stock to cover in the aggregate all the stock held by the share-holders and issued legitimately, handed the sheet to the examiner to be footed up, while the examination of the stock ledger was going on; and then Tuckerman, having checked the ledger by private marks, so as to prevent him blundering, read sums to have been entered in the ledger as the whole number of shares. The shares so read off by Tuckerman amounted to 28,534, that being the whole legitimate stock of the corporation, and this aggregate corresponding with the list held by the examiner he had pronounced the ledger to be correct.
In July, 1854, a gentleman who had been an accountant for thirty years, distinguished for his unequalled accuracy, and whose integrity was above suspicion, certified that he had examined the various books, and that from the certificate book the number of shares held in the company was 28,584.
In this last case a piece of gross deception was practised upon the examiner. The treasurer having previously marked upon a sheet of paper certain amounts of stock to cover in the aggregate all the stock held by the share-holders and issued legitimately, handed the sheet to the examiner to be footed up, while the examination of the stock ledger was going on; and then Tuckerman, having checked the ledger by private marks, so as to prevent him blundering, read sums to have been entered in the ledger as the whole number of shares. The shares so read off by Tuckerman amounted to 28,534, that being the whole legitimate stock of the corporation, and this aggregate corresponding with the list held by the examiner he had pronounced the ledger to be correct.
What sub-type of article is it?
Deception Fraud
Crime Story
What themes does it cover?
Deception
Crime Punishment
What keywords are associated?
Railroad Defaulter
Stock Deception
Ledger Fraud
Examining Committee
Financial Elusion
What entities or persons were involved?
Mr. Tuckerman
The Gentleman Who Had Been An Accountant For Thirty Years
Story Details
Key Persons
Mr. Tuckerman
The Gentleman Who Had Been An Accountant For Thirty Years
Event Date
July, 1854
Story Details
Mr. Tuckerman, a railroad defaulter, deceived an experienced accountant by providing a marked sheet of legitimate stock totals and using private marks in the ledger to read off 28,534 shares, leading the examiner to certify the books as correct with 28,584 shares.