268 F. 1006 | D. Mass. | 1920
The bankrupt owned all but one share of the capital stock of the Simon Manufacturing Company, and was its president and treasurer. In the fall of 1915 this corporation transferred all its assets to the Simon Coat Company without consideration. The transactions between these two corporations, as stated in the opinion of the Supreme Judicial Court (233 Mass. 85, 123 N. E. 340), were grossly fraudulent, and were entered into for the purpose of hindering and defrauding creditors. As the bankrupt was the vir-lual owner and the manager of the Manufacturing Company, he must have actively participated in the fraudulent scheme by which he was the person to be chiefly benefited. His individual business interests were closely interrelated with those of the two corporations. It is with reference to these basic facts that the specifications of objection to his discharge are to be considered.
It is obvious that transactions of such kind and magnitude must have been entered on books and evidenced by various papers; and the bankrupt testified that he had various personal books, papers, and data relating to them, which for the most part have disappeared. Some of them, according to the bankrupt, were turned over by him to one
As the learned referee saw the witness, his finding in favor of his honesty and credibility is entitled to much weight. But the present question is whether, giving this finding the weight to which it is entitled, the court is satisfied that there has been a concealment of books of account for the purpose of concealing financial condition. On the findings of the Massachusetts court, the bankrupt had the will to cheat creditors of his company and intelligence enough to make careful plans to that end; and on the testimony now before the court it is altogether probable that he concealed or destroyed the company’s books of account in order to hinder successful investigation of its affairs. These facts go far to discredit his assertions of good faith; it is likely that he would resort to similar methods in his personal affairs which were interwoven with those of the corporation. His testimony as it appears in the transcript impresses me as that of a decidedly untrustworthy witness. The absence of personal books and papers has made it impossible to trace what became of large amounts of cash received by the bankrupt. I am unable to believe that this result is accidental. I have no doubt that the lack of all data about personal transactions, aggregating many thousand dollars, was intentional, and was brought about by the bankrupt for the purpose of concealing what had been done. The specification based on concealment of books of account is sustained.
The evidence that the trust company relied on the statement in extending credit to the bankrupt is not very explicit. It appears, however, that within a few days after receiving the statement the trust company entered into a course of dealing with the bankrupt which involved loans to him from time to time, and at the time of the failure was his creditor on unsecured loans amounting to about $10,000. The statement in question was evidently made in connection with this business. Taking all the evidence, I think .it sufficiently appears that credit was obtained by means of the statement. On this ground, also, the discharge must be refused.
Petition for discharge denied.