74 Ind. App. 581 | Ind. Ct. App. | 1920
Action by appellee John J. Kelly, receiver of the Morton Place Automobile Company, against appellants and his coappellee, Ella C. Zaring, to recover $3,500, the value of certain assets of said company which were alleged to have been converted to their own use by appellants and appellee Ella C. Zaring. There was a verdict and judgment against appellant William C. Zaring for $2,000, and against Elder C. Zaring for $1,500. The only error assigned and presented by appellants is the court’s action in overruling their motion for a new trial, in which it is contended that the evidence is insufficient to sustain the verdict;
It appears by the evidence that appellant William C. Zaring and appellee Ella C. Zaring are husband and wife, and that appellant Elder C. Zaring is their son. On November 22,1915, one John R. King was the owner of all the stock of the Morton Place Automobile Company, which included in its assets a certain lease of property in which said company operated its business, which lease said King had in his own name. At said time said King sold the capital stock of said company to the Zarings for $3,500. Elder C. Zaring furnished $500 of the money, and his mother $3,000. William C. Zaring furnished nothing. One share of the stock was transferred to William C. and the remaining forty-nine shares were transferred to Elder C. and held by Ella C. as collateral security for the $3,000. The lease which was the property of the company, though held in trust by King, was by him transferred to William C. Thereafter the company continued to occupy said property for its business, and paid the rent to the lessor. It does not appear that anything was paid to William C. for the use of the property. At the time of the transfer of the property to the Zarings, William C. was the president and one of the directors of the company, and Ella C. and Elder C. were the other directors. Elder C. was, and continued to be, the manager. In August, 1917, William C. and Ella C. resigned as directors, and thereafter Elder C. was the only director and the manager. On December 4, 1917, William C. sold the lease for $2,000 and deposited the money in the Fletcher American Bank of Indianapolis in the name of his wife. On December 5 or 6, 1917, Elder C. sold the personal assets of the company for $1,500, and claimed that he
It is clear from King’s evidence that, at 'the time of the transfer of his stock to the Zarings, he held the lease in trust for the company. When he conveyed it to William C., who paid no consideration, he conveyed no greater title than he possessed himself, and William C. held the lease with the same resulting trust in favor of the company that burdened King’s title.
