| Show Weird Twist in Law Kickbacks Prove to Be Legal For Marine Insurance B By Frederick C. C Othman V WASHINGTON I I am a bitter bitter bitter bit bit- ter man today As a taxpayer I was took So were you you and and andon on such an unlikely item as worth of locomotives for Poland Makes quite a tale We Ve lent the millions to Poland I a couple of years ago through the thc import export-import bank Then she organized in New York the Polish-American Polish Supply Co to buy the steam engines There were a lot of em They had to tobe tobe tobe be shipped by boat So of course they had to be insured The Poles hired one Gustave W. W Vogel to forward this iron mountain of freight And he went to Kurt Jachman Co an insurance brokerage firm organized organized organized organ organ- in 1942 to buy his policy against disaster at sea A few weeks later he hc had an idea He asked Jachman to boost the rate 15 above what hed he'd already been quoted and kick kickback kickback I back the difference to him in cash So far in long green folding folding folding fold fold- ing money which money which we ve taxpayers thought was going for iron horses horses horses-he he has received And two cents which he got in the form of copper pen pen- nies It All AIl Was Vas Legal Well Vell sir the U. U S. S senate composed also of taxpayers is what you might call sore A special subcommittee headed by Senator Clyde Hoey of North I Carolina is investigating and the weird thing about all this seems to be that it was legal Vogel got the money largely in inthe inthe inthe the form of 1000 bills to use as ashe ashe ashe he pleased and there doesn't seem to be much that we can do about it The senators sent up their demon accountant Carmine S. S Bellino to go over all the books He found where Jachman had given Vogel the in cash all right but he could trace only of it to Gustave's Gustaves Gustaves Gustave's Gustaves Gustave's Gus- Gus I taves tave's bank account What he did with the other nobody seems to know certainly not Bellino He did testify however that he was told Vogel had to kick back part of his kickback to an unnamed rich quicker in the Polish purchasing agency I Use of the word kickback by Sen Hoey and his chief counsel William P P. Rogers made the in insurance insurance insurance in- in men cringe The room was jammed with them and they preferred as more dignified the term rebate So there was Otto Friedjung a roly-poly roly rosy-faced rosy little man with a thick accent who identified identified fied himself as treasurer of the Jachman firm He said he had to give Vogel the kickback in cash cash taxpayers cash taxpayers taxpayers' payers payers' cash rem remember em- em ber b ber-b b e c a u use s e he was afraid otherwise he might lose the thc busi busi- ness And said he in gutturals al almost almost almost al- al most impossible to understand I there is nothing illegal in paying paying paying pay pay- payI I ing rebates in cash Not only did he have to slip Vogel the kickback he added but he also had to split his com com- mission That it turned out also was within the law Commissioner Confirms Sen Hoey called in the deputy deputy deputy dep dep- uty insurance commissioner of New York Alfred J J. J Bohlinger to confirm it Life and fire insurance insurance in insurance in- in firms operating in New NewYork NewYork NewYork York would be put out of business business business busi busi- ness and their officers clamped in jail if they split commissions or gave rebates to agents who brought in business But marine insurance is different Theres There's too much competition all around the world If American American American Amer Amer- ican insurance companies had to obey strict laws about how they conducted their marine business they'd lose it to London he lie indi indi- So the New York legislature legislature legislature legis legis- lature exempted the ocean-going ocean insurance policies from all its rules and may the best man win if hes he's the fastest talker Copyright 1949 by United I Feature Syndicate |
