245 Mass. 455 | Mass. | 1923
The answer admits that the plaintiff is the duly appointed trustee in bankruptcy of the estate of Guy F. Cochran, who on March 25,1920, paid within four months
The bankrupt, who had been a depositor for almost three years before the payment in controversy, was indebted to the company for a loan of $180, secured by collateral, which had been thrice renewed, the last renewal being March 6, 1920. While the officers of the company designated in the report were in the performance of their respective duties chargeable with knowledge of its transactions with the bankrupt, shown by the books, Allen v. Puritan Trust Co. 211 Mass. 409, 420, to which we shall hereafter refer, the defendant is also chargeable with information obtained by its officers as to the bankrupt’s insolvency, when acting within the scope of their authority. Batchelder v. Home National Bank, 218 Mass. 420.
The company never elected a treasurer but the duties of such officer devolved on the president and in his absence on the actuary. The master, after recitals of the powers of the president George M. Harrigan and his interviews with the bankrupt concerning the transaction here in question, states, “I am unable to find that Harrigan either personally or as representative of the Lowell Trust Company of which he was president, had reasonable cause to believe that on March 25, 1920, when Cochran paid the $1,224 to said company in liquidation of the balance then due on the Mendlik account, he was insolvent and unable to pay his debts.” And this finding is not contested by the plaintiff. The by-laws of the company however provide that the
The plaintiff contends that Connors possessed information as an officer of the company which should have put him upon inquiry as to the solvency of Cochran. It is stated that on January 17,1920, when a creditor of Cochran, one Chisholm, brought a promissory note given to him by Cochran to the banking rooms of the defendant and conferred with the actuary, he asked him, “ What do you know about this man?” meaning Cochran, and the reply was, “ I understand he is getting weak.” The actuary in making this response “ referred either to knowledge, information or rumor he had previously obtained or heard relative to Cochran’s financial condition.” The actuary “ knew through his familiarity with the books of the bank, that there was a depositor at the trust company by the name of Guy F. Cochran, and understood that Chisholm in inquiring of him as to what he knew about the Cochran who had signed said note . . ' was seeking information concerning the financial condition of this particular depositor,” and that the account of Cochran “ on March 25, 1920,” “ just before the deposit of $1,200 . . . which was at once offered, together with an additional $24, in settlement of the Mendlik account, was only $89.54.” We do not deem it material to quote other statements of the general conduct of the actuary in approving the note Cochran gave to Chisholm, who “ was never able to get credit on any notes deposited to his checking account from the receiving teller, without first procuring ” the actuary’s written approval “ upon such.” The master also finds “ that at no time prior to March 25, 1920, did any of the officials or employees of the bánk inquire of Cochran as to the amount of his assets or the extent of his liabilities, or
The defendant urges that, if the actuary and the defendant’s other servants or agents believed that Cochran was solvent, their belief was evidence of what a reasonable man would have believed under the circumstances, and is also evidence that the defendant did not have reasonable cause to believe that Cochran was insolvent when the payment was made. It is unnecessary to show actual knowledge by the creditor. A creditor may honestly be of opinion that his debtor is solvent. But if he is in possession of information which upon investigation would have shown that in fact his debtor was insolvent, he cannot avail himself of a transaction prohibited by the statute. Hewett v. Boston Straw Board Co. 214 Mass. 260, 263. It is a question of fact on all the evidence. Jacobs v. Saperstein, 225 Mass. 300, 301.
We are of opinion that the findings appearing on the face of the report when reviewed, are sufficient to support the master’s conclusion, that the defendant “ had reasonable cause to believe that the effect of such payment would be to give said company a preference over other creditors of the same class.” Batchelder v. Home National Bank of Milford, 218 Mass. 420, 422. Jacobs v. Saperstein, 225 Mass. 300, 301, 302.
The defendant’s exceptions were overruled rightly. The findings to which it excepted have all been referred to, and related to material questions directly put in issue by the
Ordered accordingly.