Ogden Standard-Examiner | 1920-07-30 | Page 12 | Hampton Takes Stand in Court

HAMPTON TAKES STANDJNGflUnT Acciiscd Man Tells Storv of Alleged Manipulation of Checks WsUer M Hampton took the stand i In his own defense this mornlnr In ' the district court and told of having I filled In two checks of the Golden J Rule store for which he acta being ; tried for forgery and f mberzlemr. t Hampton1! story was drawn out with questions from Judge D. N. Straup. chief counsel for the defense and at 'noon today Hampton was tumel over I to District Attorney Stuart P. Lobbs ! for cross-examination. Hampton declared on the stand that the first check which heTTled out for lit! was In the nature of a loan and 1 was execu'd with the knowledge of H. i Carlisle Stevena, secretary of the Golden Gol-den Rule Merchantlle company and the Johnson -Stevens company. "uM RAI r o ERDB 1 1 T." His Liter action In filling out another ano-ther signed check and depositing It j I to his credit In an Ogden bank, he ! said, was done through an arrange-' arrange-' mcnt with M .-. Stevens, which vn t I lay th- foundation of a plan to counteract count-eract an overdraft against the company com-pany held by certain binks. On Ms.y 2 or 3. Hampton sr. Id there 'was jn overdraft acalnrt the company! ! totaling approximate1' $2 5,000 He sg I I that he talked with Mr. Steven about I It and an alleged scheme was hatched whereby checks were to be manlpula'.. ed through h::nks to gain time until 1 the overdraft could be covered. Hamp- ton declared that the company could ! boxrow r.o money to cover the overdraft over-draft and other arrangements had ' to bo made. II ID I NT IN L. It wns explained here that Hampton formerly hnd'a bank account In Snlr Lgvke with the ratfonal bank of the I Republic and still had a small sum Ir i deposit, which Kept the account open. He said that Mr Steven proposed that ther use this account as part of the scheme to manipulate the checka. The plan, .i i n'-urly could lo Ji--termlned. was to deposit checks In banks of Salt Lake and Ogden and keep them going back and fourth until un-til the overdraft could be covered Unmpton said he was Instructed by Mr. Stevens to fill out a bUnk check, signed by Manager Tower of the Golden Gold-en Rule store for $1500. and deposit It In an Ogden bank as the first step In the scheme. The deposit was made In Hampton's name, he said. In order that an account could be built up for later use in borrowing money. Hampton said he then went to Salt Lake mid deposited $C00 In cash which he drew from his Ogden account, and also mado out n check for $12,000. I which he deposited In the Salt Lake bank. It was the plan, according to Hampton, for Stevens to deposit $12 -000 In checks here to take care of his Salt Lake check, which was drawn on an Ogden bank. T IK sT DI Pi s Hampton said the Idea was simply to boost his deposits so that money could be borrowed for the companv. under his name, while the checks were going back and forth between th bank?. Hampton declared that Stevens failed fail-ed to deposit the check In Ogdcn to offset his check and the next morning morn-ing his arrest came. He said he was at his desk at the Johnson-8tevena company when Pcputy Sheriff LMck Wooton placed him under arrest. He ;i 1.1 he i-kei Mr. S'evens If lie had taken rare of the checks and Mr. Stevens unswcred that he had not, but would see that they would be taken tak-en care of. t ROSS.l MI rioN A few minutes before noon Hampton Hamp-ton was turned over to District Attorney At-torney Dobbs for cross-examination, and was fuestloned closely regarding profits made by the Golrten Rule stores mi l their financial condition. He was also questioned regarding entries In the comp-mv I'.'oks that Hampton declared de-clared he made to cover an amount which the books were off-balancol when he was hired by the Golden Rule company