The Bellingham Bank President Vanished — and Left $10,000 Missing Behind Him
A warrant is out for H. J. Welty, ex-president of the Home Security Savings Bank, closed by the State Examiner on March 31. He is charged with embezzling $10,000 back in June 1907, and has been missing for months.
BELLINGHAM — A warrant has been issued for the arrest of H. J. Welty, ex-president of the Home Security Savings Bank, closed by the State Examiner March 31. He is charged with embezzling $10,000, June 4, 1907. Welty has been missing for several months, and the Whatcom County Commissioners have offered a reward of $500 for his apprehension.
“Welty has been missing for several months, and the Whatcom County Commissioners have offered a reward of $500 for his apprehension.”
A bank president skimming $10,000 and slipping town is a story that never goes out of style — the modern version just involves wire transfers and a flight to a country without extradition. The $500 reward, roughly a few thousand dollars today, shows how modest the pursuit of white-collar fugitives was.
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