First National Bank v. Guardian Trust & Savings Bank
First National Bank v. Guardian Trust & Savings Bank
Opinion of the Court
For some years prior to September 25, 1917, one C. E. Thomas was the majority stockholder, a director, and president and chief executive officer of .the appellant bank! In the year 1916, Thomas made an arrangement with the respondent bank by which he, Thomas, might discount with the respondent commercial paper guaranteed by him personally, the proceeds to be placed to the credit of the appellant and retained by respondent until the discounted paper was paid. In March, 1917, Thomas so discounted a note made by one G. B. Colvin for $2,000, payable to him
Other notes were discounted in the same way which were paid, and hence are immaterial here except as they involved another officer of the appellant bank.
These transactions were discovered on or about September 25, 1917, and thereupon the directors of the appellant bank, acting in conjunction with the national bank examiner, forced Thomas to resign his official positions and turn over his stock in the bank, and other property, as security for his indebtedness to the appellant.
After the discovery and the resignation of Thomas, the appellant notified the respondent that Thomas was no longer authorized to sign drafts for it, and supplied respondent with new authorized signatures, and thereafter the appellant drew its draft on the respond
The ease was tried to a jury, and at the close of plaintiff’s evidence,, respondent challenged the sufficiency of the evidence and moved for judgment, which motion was granted and a judgment entered accordingly, from which this appeal is prosecuted.
The vital point to be here decided, as we see it, is, were the transactions between Thomas and the respondent bank of such a nature as to put the respondent on notice that Thomas intended thereby to defraud the appellant.
Mr. Harrison, who was vice-president of the appellant during the operations referred to, and who succeeded Thomas as president, caused his own note to be discounted in the same way and through the same channels, and upon the witness stand he confidently asserted that his was an entirely legitimate transaction because his note was paid. Assuming that to be true, does it not follow that respondent bank, having no reason for a contrary belief, was justified in believing that Thomas was also acting in a legitimate manner, with no intention to do otherwise than to assist the bank of which he was president, and its customers ? Thomas represented to respondent that these were bona fide loans to solvent borrowers, which his bank could not handle, and since his bank was not in any way bound on the paper discounted, and did receive to its credit the proceeds of the discount, why should respondent question the transaction?
Such transactions present on their face nothing so out of the ordinary course of business as to put the
We conclude that the evidence offered by appellant was insufficient to support a verdict in its favor, and therefore the judgment of the trial court was right.
Judgment affirmed.
Parker, C. J., Bridges, Main, and Mitchell, JJ., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- First National Bank of Bremerton v. Guardian Trust & Savings Bank
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Bank? and Banking (14) — Validity of Loan — Authority of Office® — Notice of Fbaud. Where the president and executive officer of one bank pursued a policy of discounting commercial paper and opening a credit account thereon with another bank, on the representation that they were bona fide loans to solvent borrowers which his bank could not handle, the transaction was not on its face so out of the ordinary course of business as to put the discounting bank on inquiry as to any fraudulent intent of such officer to appropriate the money to his personal use; and hence the discounting bank cannot be held liable to the other bank for the defalcation of the money by the latter’s president.