Show ARES ED FOR ILONS s Northern Pacific Stockholders Sue Henry Villard Et AlIT Al-IT IS A VERY GRAVE CASE Fraud of the Worst Kind Plainly and Forcibly Alleged I It Is Claimed That Through a Conspiracy I I Entered Into by Villard and Others They Lined Their Pockets with the Coin oi the Realm NEW YORK Sept 13John Swope of Pennsylvania one of the stockholders of Northern Pacific Railroad company on behalf of himself and other stockholders stock-holders has begun an action in the supreme su-preme court against Henry Villard Charles L Colby Colgate Hoyt Edwin H Abbott the Northern Pacific railroad Thomas F Oakes Henry C Rouse and Henry C Payne its receivers and the Chicago Northern Pacific Railroad company com-pany to compel the individual defendants defend-ants to make a restitution of millions which it is alleged the Northern Pacific company was deprived of by means of fraud The complaint alleges that Vii lard Colby Hoyt and Abbott in September Sep-tember 1S89 owned land at Harrison street and Fifth avenue Chicago upon which was then being constructed a grand central passenger station and also controlled the Chicago Great Western company Bridgeport and South Chicago railroad company and the Chicago Harlem Batavia railroad company which operated lines a railroad road within the limits of the city of Chicago The value of the land mentioned men-tioned and the railroad properties is said to have been 8000000 in March 1890 1890Swope Swope charges that these four men in September 1889 conspired to defraud the Northern Pacific company by selling to it through themselves as directors all this Chicago railroad property and land for a price in excess of its value so they could make an exorbitant profit to themselves them-selves personally in fravd of the Northern Nor-thern Pacific company By thiS scheme they received about 18500000 For the purpose of disguising the conspiracy con-spiracy the Chicago Northern Pacific Railroad company was organized by Vii lard Colby Hoyt and Abbott in November Novem-ber 18S9 with a capital stock of 399000 f9OO secured by a mortgage on the property of the Chicago Great Western company I is alleged that 19950000 in bonds were delivered to the four men in question ques-tion in payment for the different properties proper-ties mentioned and shares of the capital stock in tho three railroads in Chicago were assigned to the Farmers Loan and Trust company as trustee Villard and associates then made to themselves as owners ana in control of the Wisconsin Central company a lease for ninetynine years of all property prop-erty of the Chicago Northern Pacific company subject a lien of a 30000000 mortgage and other outstanding mortgages mort-gages Then the Wisconsin Central company was leased to the Northern Pacific company com-pany on a mortgage for ninetynine years Viilard was then chairman of the Northern Pacific company and two of his associates were directors This was arranged so that in addition to a profit of 510850000 already realized by them in bonds they would be entitled to about I onethird of the profits to be derived from the operation of the Chicago Northern Pacific soon as it became selfsupporting The purpose pur-pose of the suit ia to have them restore to the Northern Pacific or the Chicago Northern Pacific 10850OCO of bonds and 94250 shares of stock obtained for the Chicago properties I An accounting is sought at a fair market value of the property at Harrison street and Fifth avenue Chicago also of three Chicago railroads and after deducting de-ducting f7049000 encumbrances upon that railroad that Villard Colby Hoyt and Abbot be adjudged to deliver to the Chicago Northern Pacific company all the bonds of the company received by them in excess of a fair market mar-ket value of the property its face value also an accounting of the sum of money contributed by the Northern Pacific Chicago Northern and Northern Pacific Pa-cific and the payment of the interest on the 130000000 mortgage and to pay over 91250 shares of the capital stock of the Chicago Northern Pacific derived by them for its par value |