19425. Pittsburgh Life and Trust Company (Pittsburgh, PA)

Bank Information

Episode Type
Suspension → Closure
Bank Type
state
Start Date
July 24, 1919
Location
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (40.441, -79.996)

Metadata

Model
gpt-5-mini
Short Digest
3d5441ac

Response Measures

None

Description

The Pittsburgh Life and Trust Company is discussed throughout as a defunct/failed institution with a receiver (Ambler) and subsequent criminal charges for embezzlement and misapplication of funds. There is no description of a depositor run in these articles; the core events are receivership and criminal investigation, so this is best classified as a suspension leading to permanent closure/receivership (suspension_closure). Dates in articles are July–September 1919; I use publication dates as evidence but do not invent an exact failure date beyond the newspaper dates.

Events (4)
1. July 24, 1919 Other
Newspaper Excerpt
The investigation shows thus far that of this amount about $65.000 is on notes and there are considerable overdrafts. Every dollar must Be paid, continued Colonel Pusey. We are going after every one and every asset of the bank to clear up the shortage.
Source
newspapers
2. July 24, 1919 Receivership
Newspaper Excerpt
Mr. Ambler deposited about $400.000 in funds of the Pittsburgh Life and Trust Company, which failed. As statutory liquidator and receiver he had the account at the bank in his name.
Source
newspapers
3. August 30, 1919 Other
Newspaper Excerpt
Announcement was made ... that another warrant has been sworn out against Charles A. Ambler ... charged with embezzling and applying to his own use and the use of other persons sums of money belonging to the Pittsburgh Life and Trust Company.
Source
newspapers
4. September 2, 1919 Other
Newspaper Excerpt
Ambler was rearrested ... The affidavit upon which the warrant is based charges him with embezzlement of public funds while he was a state official. ... Many thousands of dollars of the Pittsburgh Life and Trust Company funds were embezzled by Ambler.
Source
newspapers

Newspaper Articles (7)
1. July 24, 1919 Evening Public Ledger Philadelphia, PA
Article from Evening Public Ledger, July 24, 1919

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Article Text

# Ambler Got $75,000 From North Penn Continued From Page One at least $75.000 from the North Penn Bank on personal loans and as indorser of notes for the Ambler-Davis Construction Company, of which he is an official. "The investigation shows thus far that of this amount about $65.000 is on notes and there are considerable overdrafts." Colonel Pusey added. # Every Dollar Must Be Paid The chief prober then said that Mr. Ambler would be grilled at conferences today. Moreover, Assistant District Attorney Taulane will be present to ascertain all the facts in the former speaker's financial transactions with the company. "Every dollar must be paid," continued Colonel Pusey. "We are going after every one and every asset of the bank to clear up the shortage." Colonel Pusey was asked to explain the Ambler transactions. He replied that the investigation at the bank by the state examiners was incomplete and that no official statement could be made for several days possibly not until the first of next week. "The reports which I have received," he said. show that Mr. Ambler deposited about $400.000 in funds of the Pittsburgh Life and Trust Company, which failed. As statutory liquidator and receiver he had the account at the bank in his name. "When Thomas B. Donaldson was appointed state insurance commissioner The went after Ambler regarding these funds. He obtained from Ambler a bond of $100,000 from a Hartford surety company and another for $225,-000 from the directors of the North Penn Bank. Judgment has been entered against these bonds in the courts. # Pittsburgh Creditors Protected "I cannot state the present value of these securities, but it appears that the Pittsburgh creditors are better protected than the regular depositors and stockholders of the institution, as they not only have the bonds, but will be creditors in the bank." Colonel Pusey was questioned regarding Moyer. "Mr. Moyer," he said. "can be of great assistance to us if he will talk. He can give us a great deal of information. I cannot say that there will be any more arrests, but I cannot conceive how one man would be the only one who knew all details of these transactions, which cover several years. Certainly officials and clerks knew of them. It is within Mr. Moyer's right to be silent, but I hope he will talk." "I have two purposes in view," he continued. "the first being to protect the depositors and to see that the state's rights are protected, and I am working

2. July 29, 1919 Evening Public Ledger Philadelphia, PA
Article from Evening Public Ledger, July 29, 1919

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Hearing for Moyer Will Be Held Today Continued From Page One tion and not carelessness. 11 is said that at least two suspected persons are under the constant surveillance of county detectives as the result of a "tip" furnished by Mr Goldsmith. Deputy Attorney General B. J. Myers came to this city today for confer ences with the state and county officials directing the probe. Mr. Trent. who is in charge of the affairs of the Pitts burgh Life and Trust Company. did not appear. as was expected. Charles A. Ambler. former insurance commis sioner. was receiver for $402.000 of the funds of that company which were in the North Penn Bank. The $402,000 had been deposited in the bank by Mr. Ambler. When the bank closed there was still $233,000 of the defunct life and trust company S funds in its keeping. The difference had been withdrawn by State Insurance Commissioner Donaldson. Ambler's suc cessor in office. Several days ago Mr. Ambler assigned to Commissioner Donaldson the $233.000. as well as a bond of $225,000 furnished by the North Penn bank officials. and a $100,000 bond furnished by a Hartford surety company. At the same time Mr. Ambler declared his readiness to repay all the loans he obtained from the bank for his private business. the Ambler Davis Company contractors. as soon as a statement of his indebtedness to the ruined bank could be made up. Mr. Myers conferred with Colonel Pusey. who is looking after the legal phases of the bank crash. Moyer expected to go to the hearing today from the North Penn Bank. where he hoped he would be consulted by the probers about various features of the tangled records. But this satisfaction was denied him by Colonel Pusey. Through his counsel. Wiliam Morgan Montgomery, Moyer yesterday told the state investigator he was ready to go to the bank. "We are not ready for you." was Colonel Pusey's reply. The accused eashier is under five charges-perjury. receiving money when he knew the bank was insolvent. embezzlement to the use of othe persons and companies. the rehypothecation of stocks, bonds and securities without the consent of the persons pledging them and the falsification of records with in tent to defraud: Investigators today learned that de positors of the wrecked bank are being asked to sell their claims against the bank for 75 per cent of their face value. More than 400 depositors met last night in the North Penn Theatre, Twenty ninth and York streets. Suggestions were considered to obtain one lawyer to represent all the depositors. Moyer was roundly denounced when the cashier's name was mentioned dur ing an address. The North Penn Bank Depositors Association was formed at the bank meeting and a committee of five named to meet with banking officials. The committee. which will report back to another meeting of depositors in a few days. consists of Samuel Moyerman Louis Kapner. Jacob H. Keen, Charles

3. August 18, 1919 Evening Public Ledger Philadelphia, PA
Article from Evening Public Ledger, August 18, 1919

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CAREER OF AMBLER IN POLITICS STORMY Man Implicated in Bank Case Was Once Speaker of State House HELD INSURANCE POST Charles A Ambler. implicated in the scuttling of the North Penn Bank. has long been in the political eye in Penn. sylvania. When appointed insurance commis sioner Ambler promised reforms. and immediately upon entering office issued this statement ..I want to make every policy issued in Pennsylvania as saf for the holder as it is possible to make it." He was appointed insurance com missioner in September 1917 He speaker of the House two years earlier under Governor Brumbaugh and was appointed to the insurance post by the same executive By virtue of his office Ambler he came receiver for the defunet Pitts burgh Life and Trust Company 11 was not until Governor Sproul took office that it was learned of his manipula tion of the funds of the Pittsburgli concern. In North Penn Wreck His name was first mentioned when the North Penn Bank closed its doors Gradually it leaked out that he had deposited $402,000 funds of the con cern in the bank and that he then ob tained personal loans and loans for the Ambler-Davis Company a contracting firm engaged in roadwork Later it was announced that he had been in moved from office by Governor Sproul when the executive learned of the ma nipulation and Thomas B. Donaldson of this city. succeeded him. His per sonal loans are said to aggregate more than $100,000-so place them as high as $150,000. Ambler called on Colonel Fred Taylor Pusey chief state prober. and said he would liquidate his indebtedness "with a in a few days after he received statement of his account from the state banking examiners That statement was given him about ten days ago, but he has failed to make payment. He is now about forty five years old one of a large family of brothers He graduated from the Abington High School. as valedictorian of his class be. fore he was fifteen years of age. Then he worked in a meat and provision store. later purchasing a business of this type in Wyneote. Shortly after attaining his majority he was appointed to be postmaster at Abington then was made a member of the Republican county committee for Montgomery-an that was his real start in polities In 1904 he went to the Legislature as the representative from the First dis. triet of Montgomery county Then he was re-elected for three successive terms. On his fifth attempt at re-clee tion he was defeated but "came back politically two years later. and was again made a member of the Legislature and was picked to be the speaker of the House of Representatives Ambler opposed Charles Snyder for the Republican nomination of auditor general. losing to Snyder by a compara tively narrow margin. It was not long afterward that the Abington man was appointed as insurance commissioner In the meantime a virtual division of the Republican forces in Montgomery county developed Ambler being the ad mitted leader of one faction and Charles Johnson directing the destinies of the other or Penrose faction The line of division became more than ever marked the $7500 announced his Twelfth district. missionership to when be Ambler. state the senator holding from the candidacy com compensation for which from the state. is comparatively small when the larger salaried job is consid ered. But it was leadership Ambler wanted. Is a Contractor The campaign was widened in scope until an entire opposition ticket was developed from Congress down the the was defeated bination assemblymanships. overwhelmingly but Ambler Ambler to com firm was as the active About Davis with Ambler contracting eleven years ago the head, organized. and many miles of highways in Pennsylva nia. Maryland and Delaware have been constructed by the firm. In his home and community life Am bler figured as the ideal husband and father. and conseleutions citizen His suburban home. located on Woodland road. is not the home of a wealthy man -rather the modest suburban residence which. in the open market. might bring $10.000. possibly less. It is not ex travagantly equipped. and the family did little of entertaining When not called away by business or political requirements Ambler spent virtually all his time at his Abington home: or. in the heated summer term. with his fam ily at Ocean City, where for several years past it has been their custom to go for a few weeks.

4. August 21, 1919 Harrisburg Telegraph Harrisburg, PA
Article from Harrisburg Telegraph, August 21, 1919

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Politics in Pennsylvania By the Ex-Committeeman Auditor General Charles Snyder will lay before the probers into the collapse of the North Penn Bank such facts as he is in possession of that may throw light on the involvement of former State Banking Commissioner Daniel S. Lafean, of York, in the matter. Yesterday afternoon State Treasurer Harmon G. Kephart was quizzed by Assistant District Attorneys Joseph M. Taulane and James Gay Gordon, Jr., as well as Deputy Attorney General B. J. Myers. It was following Mr. Kephart's visit that the fact that Mr. Snyder had been summoned became known. "I have sent to Harrisburg to get the minutes of the meeting of the State Revenue Board at which Mr. Snyder made his observations about the efforts being made by former Insurance Commissioner Charles A. Ambler to transfer the funds of the Pittsburgh Life and Trust Company, which he held as receiver, to a small bank in Philadelphia," said Mr. Kephart. "These minutes will show whether Mr. Lafean was present at that meeting. They will be given to the District Attorney's office. They asked me a number of things in connection with the meeting and Mr. Lafean, and I have sent for the minutes so that there will be no mistake." -Congressman John J. Casey, of Wilkes-Barre, has informed Thomas Kennedy, president of district No. 7 of the United Mine Workers, that he accepts the invitation to be the speaker at the Labor Day rally of miners at Fisher's Hill, in Hazleton, on September 1. -The taxpayers of Wyomissing, at a special election, approved a loan of $80,000 for permanent street and sewer improvements. -Captain George F. Lumb, head of the State Police, has motored to Maine where he will spend his vacation. -Postmaster Frank C. Sites has been summoned to Washington to confer with other members of a committee on pastmasters' salaries. He will be absent most of next week. -M. Harvey Taylor, who has been getting over the county a bit, says his candidacy is moving along to suit him and he expects a big vote.

5. August 30, 1919 Harrisburg Telegraph Harrisburg, PA
Article from Harrisburg Telegraph, August 30, 1919

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ANOTHER CHARGE AGAINST AMBLER Embezzled Funds of Pittsburgh Bank, Is Latest Accusation Philadelphia, Aug. 30. - Announcement was made at the District Attorney's office here to-day that another warrant has been sworn out against Charles A. Ambler, former insurance commissioner of Pennsylvania, as an outcome of the failure of the North Penn Bank of this city. This time he is charged with embezzling and applying to his own use and the use of other persons sums of money belonging to the Pittsburgh Life and Trust Company. of which he was receiver by virtue of his position as State insurance commissioner. Ambler is at his summer home in Ocean City, N. J., and the warrant will be served upon him. according to the announcement, when he appears for the hearing next Tuesday on the charges on which he was arrested nearly two weeks ago. He is now under $15,000 bail on the first charges, which allege that he deposited part of the State insurance trust funds in the North Penn Bank and then loaned some of the money to himself and others, and that he otherwise violated the State banking laws. The new charges against Ambler are independent of the North Penn Bank case, but were unearthed during the investigation, it was announced by District Attorney Rotan. "They cover his acts while he was custodian of State insurance trust funds."

6. September 2, 1919 Evening Public Ledger Philadelphia, PA
Article from Evening Public Ledger, September 2, 1919

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AMBLER ARRESTED AS EMBEZZLER Former Insurance Commissioner Taken to City Hall for Two Hearings STATE TO ASK LARGE BAIL Charles A. Ambler. former insurance commissioner was rearrested at 1:20 p. m. today. The second arrest is the outgrowth of his alleged complicity in the wrecking of the North Penn Bank. The af fidavit upon which the warrant is based charges him with embezzlement of publie funds while he was a state official. Ambler spent the week-end at his summer home in Ocean City. He came to the city today and visited his offices in the Harrison Building. Major Sam. uel O. Wynne. deputy chief of the distriet attorney's detectives, who had Ambler "covered" for several days. proceeded to the office at 1 o'clock. Within a short time he emerged with the prisoner. Hearing at City Hall Ambler was taken to City Hall. where he was arrigned before Magistrate Pennock. His hearing covered the proceedings of today as well as the further hearing of the conspiracy charges on which he has been free under $15.000 bail. It is understood that the district attorney will demand renewal of the bail on the old charge and an additional $35.000 on the embezzlement warrant. Bail. it is believed, will be furnished by the National Surety Company. of New York. which furnished the $15,000 bond under which the former insurance commissioner was held at his first hear. ing on the North Penn Bank charges. The Thomas B. Smith Company represents the National Surety Company in this city. Origin in Receivership Although the charges against Ambler are distinct and are being prosecuted as separate cases. both have their origin in the manner in which he handled the receivership of the Pittsburgh Life and Trust Company during his term as in surance commissioner. Conspiracy and misdemeanor in office are the charges under which he is now held in bail. Embezzlement of public moneys while a public official in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania is the new charge. Many thousands of dollars'' of the Pittsburgh Life and Trust Company funds were embezzled by Ambler. according to District Attorney Rotan. Daniel F. Lafean. banking commissioner during the time Ambler was insurance commissioner. will be arraigned before Magistrate Rooney next Monday on charges growing out of the North Penn Bank scandal.

7. May 6, 1920 New-York Tribune New York, NY
Article from New-York Tribune, May 6, 1920

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Grand Jury Resumes Hearing in Kilroe Case Former Justice Seabury Among Witnesses; Accused Prosecutor Also Quizzed The extraordinary grand jury yesterday resumed its hearing of the charges against Assistant District Attorney Edwin P. Kilroe, growing out of Mr. Kilroe's refusal to present alleged evidence against George F. Montgomery, president of the Dare Lumber Company, who is serving a prison sentence in Pennsylvania for looting the Pittsburgh Life and Trust Company. Witnesses examined were former Justice Edward E. McCall, receiver for the local assets of the Pittsburgh concern; former Justice Samuel Seabury, counsel to McCall; District Attorney Edward Swann, Mr. Kilroe and James E. Finnegan, counsel to Thomas B. Donaldson, Pennsylvania State Insurance Commissioner and receiver for the Pittsburgh Life and Trust Company in that state.