Banked £9,000, But Earned £6,000
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nURING his public examination in bankruptcy, at Stonehaven Sheriff Court, last week, a Kincardine haulier was asked to explain how he had banked over £9,000 since January, when his income, traced through his ledgers, was only £6,000.
Replying to Mr. H. J. Connochie, for the Trustee and creditors, Andrew Geddes, Woodside Cottage, Charleston, Nigg, said that he had to pay wages and give his men money for fuel because garages would not supply. him. These items were not put through the books.
Asked whether the £9,000 was used for paying wages and accounts, Geddes stated that outstanding accounts went
back a year. "I had not paid them because someone else was pressing me for money," he said. Geddes, who said that he started as a haulage contractor in 1951 with one lorry, and later acquired several vehicles on hire purchase, blamed his insolvency mainly on his hirepurchase commitments.
He said that there had been no entries in his cashbook since October, 1958, because the hook had been with his accountants. Temporary sheets and notes had been made, but he did not
know where these were. He had employed his wife as book-keeper. He denied that his wife had ever been in partnership with him.
Geddes, questioned about his acquisition of 100 shares for himself and his wife in the concern of Thomas Weir and Co,, Ltd., said that he had never had any
share certificates. This company had gone into voluntary liquidation, and the first thing he knew of this was when shareholders claimed a total of £1,600 from him.
He agreed with Mr. Connochie that he was led to understand that there were no outstanding liabilities when he took over. Geddes admitted that a hirepurchase company had cleared off an existing bond of £1,500 on his house and had taken out a second bond on it for 15,600, as security for his instalments. He had never received a penny.
Geddes also stated that he had bought a Mercedes-Benz car on hire purchase and the balance of £927 had been paid off by a garage. Asked by Sheriff Hamilton what happened to the car after that, he replied: "My wife took it on hire purchase." The hire-purchase company had taken repossession of his six lorries five weeks ago and he was at present drawing sick benefit, he added.
Mrs. Christina Smith Geddes, his wife, was questioned about a television set which she said she had bought for £161 and, among other things, a washing machine which had cost £50. She said she had paid for these things over a period of months from her wages,
When told that Mrs. Geddes and her son, who was a nominal partner, now ran a timber business, using one lorry, Sheriff Hamilton said: "My credulity will only go to a certain length."
The examination was adjourned until October 20.