240 F. 692 | 4th Cir. | 1917
“The intent to conceal one’s financial condition is a separate fact from the keeping of the books. The reasonable consequences of keeping imperfect books may be a concealment of one’s financial condition, if the occasion ever arises whqn they are scrutinized, and that fact would be enough to charge one with responsibility for that result, if the law forbade keeping imperfect books.*694 The general intent of tlie criminal law is of this kind, 'it only means that the actor must be aware of his acts, and then charges him with such consequences as would naturally follow from them, regardless of whether he had these in mind or not. When, however, as is sometimes the case, the law attaches no responsibility to an act unless the actor does have in mind the specific consequences, it is necessary as an additional element to prove that state of mind. This is such a case. Moreover, since the intent to conceal is different from the intent to keep imperfect books, the objectors must go further than to show merely that^the bankrupts intended to keep the kind of books they kept; for they must show also that they intended these books to conceal from somebody — which must be their creditors — their financial condition. That involves not only knowledge of how the books were kept, but some anticipation that at a future time they might be examined by creditors and would then fail to enlighten them upon all the facts.”
See Collier on Bankruptcy (9th Ed.) p. 346 et seq., and authorities cited.
The decree of the court below must be affirmed.