Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931), Friday 27 September 1907, page 7


MADRAS BANK FAILURE

SIR G. ARBUTHNOT IMPRISONED.

LONDON, September 26. A

The trial .of Sir George Arbutbnot, head of the firm of Arbuthnot & Co., of Madras, was concluded yesterday, the accused being sentenced to eighteen months' rigorous im-prisonment on criminal charges in connec-tion with the failure of his firm late last

year.

The circumstances connected with the failure last year of Messrs. Arbuthnot and Company, of Madras, one of the oldest private banks in India, and the allied firm in England, Messrs P. Macfadyen and Com-pany, bankers, of Winchester House, Old Broad-street, E.C.,1 were of a singularly tragic nature. The London branch had to transmit a sum of £50,000 before October 20 last, and for some time previous to that date Mr. Patrick Macfadyen, usually a per-son of cheerful demeanor, was observed to be looking harassed.On the morn- ing of October 20 he received a telegram from Madras which proved his death-blow.

The telegram ran:—"Cannot remit any

funds. Money still going out. We must stop payment on Monday." Almost pre-cisely at the moment the doors of the bank were closed the lifeless body, of Mr. Mac-

fadyen was found in the Old-street tunnel of the City and South London ''tube." It was ascertained that the liabilities of Mac-fadyen's bank were £476,00, and the assets £20,000. The liabilities of the Indian busi-

ness were estimated at £1,000,000.

The arrest of Sir George Arbuthnot was

effected in consequence of separate insol-vency proceedings in connection with the failure of the Madras firm, the charges against him being:—(I) Cheating in respect of a fixed deposit in the name of the Rajah Krishna Badahur; (2) breach of trust re-specting the Madras Equitable Assurance Society; and (3) breach of trust in mis-appropriating the funds of Arbuthnot's In-

dustrials.