Roy v. Bordas
Roy v. Bordas
Opinion of the Court
The declaration is inartificial, but was not demurred to, and counsel seem agreed that it will support a judgment for plaintiff. The court, upon the testimony introduced by the plaintiff, directed a verdict for the defendants, an exception was taken, and error is assigned upon such ruling and direction. This we learn, not from the brief for appellant, which contains no statement of facts, no reference to any exception or assignment of error, but from the record itself and from the brief for appellees.
It is said in the brief for the appellant:
“ The plaintiff stands or falls upon the proposition that the defendants conspired to defraud the public, and especially the plaintiff, by dissipating one-half of the capital stock in a company promoted by the defendants to manufacture a worthless compound of unproven worth or virtue and concealing the fact from the knowledge of purchasers of the remaining stock. Was there any evidence from which the jury could legally and logically find that these allegations were true ? ”
In view of this statement, and the facts recited above, we have, without feeling bound to do so, examined the record to see if the testimony tends to prove the existence of a conspiracy to defraud. There was testimony tending to prove that defendants, before and after the filing of articles of association, promoted a company to manufacture and sell “various medicinal preparations in liquid and other forms.” The capital was $100,000, with 10,000 shares, and the articles of association, executed by six persons, of whom defendants are five, represented that
Plaintiff offered to return her shares, and now brings suit for the purchase price of them upon the ground that she was defrauded. In buying her stock, plaintiff did not rely at all upon the representations made in the articles of association and knew nothing about them. She claims to have placed reliance upon, and to have been induced to purchase shares by, the representations made to her by defendant Bordas and to have discovered the falsity of the statements contained in the articles of association, and of those made by Bordas,- shortly before she offered to return her shares. There is testimony tending to prove that defendant Bordas represented to her that he had put $50,000 into the business and the other directors had each put in $4,000. There is testimony tending to prove that some of the defendants — the promoters of the company— stated to others that they were largely interested in the concern. Some or all of them were directors of the company. A local newspaper published by one of them an
If there was a conspiracy — a common design — it was to promote public buying of shares and to see to it that the cost of the experiment, and of its ultimate failure, should be borne by others while securing for themselves a considerable proportion of any profits which might be made. If the existence of such a common design is material, it is, upon this record, a question of fact and not of law whether there was such a design. It must be admitted that the statements in the articles of association with respect to the paid-up capital are calculated to induce the buying of shares, that all of the defendants subscribed the articles, and that the representations were false. The alleged statements of defendants Bordas and Orr are, in substance and effect, repetitions of those made in the articles of association. The case made for the plaintiff is not the one of a misrepresentation in a prospectus addressed by promoters to prospective subscribers for shares, nor the one of a mere omission or nondisclosure of facts. She asserts and has proven false representations solemnly made in the articles of association by all of the defendants, and has produced testimony tending to prove the making of the same representations by one of the defendants to herself and by one or more of the other defendants to other persons. It cannot be reasonably contended that-the representations were of and concerning immaterial facts. Were they fraudulently made? One does not, ordinarily, allege as truth that which is known to be
We have, as we were bound to do, stated the tendency of the testimony most favorable to plaintiff, and from the point of view thus obtained have considered whether the court below rightly directed a verdict for defendants. We do not consider any other question. We are of opinion that the case is one for the jury.
The judgment is reversed, and a new trial is granted.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- ROY v. BORDAS
- Status
- Published