Commonwealth v. Rosicci

186 A.2d 648, 199 Pa. Super. 609, 1962 Pa. Super. LEXIS 619
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 12, 1962
DocketAppeal, No. 6
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 186 A.2d 648 (Commonwealth v. Rosicci) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Rosicci, 186 A.2d 648, 199 Pa. Super. 609, 1962 Pa. Super. LEXIS 619 (Pa. Ct. App. 1962).

Opinion

Opinion by

Ervin, J.,

Tbe defendant, Steven Rosicci, was convicted in tbe court below, after a jury trial, on the charge of cheating by false pretense. The Act of June 24, 1939, P.L. 872, §836, 18 PS §4836, provides as follows: “Whoever by any false pretense . . . obtains from any other person any chattel, money, or valuable security, with intent to cheat and defraud any person of the same, or being an officer, manager, agent, employe of or in any way interested in any person, by false pretense, knowingly and with intent to defraud, procures, obtains, or aids, assists, or abets in obtaining from any other person, any chattels, moneys, or valuable securities ... is guilty of a felony. . . .” After dismissal of his motion in arrest of judgment and the imposition of sentence, the defendant appealed.

There was no real dispute as to the facts, which may be summarized as follows: On July 29, 1961 the prosecutrix and her husband, who died on November 30, 1961, purchased 135 shares of the outstanding stock of the International Credits, Inc. from the defendant. The defendant was an officer and stockholder of International Credits, Inc. The husband of the prosecutrix had met the defendant on July 24, 1961 by answering a newspaper advertisement calling for people to work in the collection business. During the job interview on July 24 the defendant indicated his willingness to dispose of his interest in International Credits, Inc. On Saturday morning, July 29, 1961, the defendant, the prosecutrix, her husband and a third person drove from Pittsburgh to New Kensington. Prosecutrix testified that the defendant stated “that the business was free and clear, a good thing”; that the business should take in $5,000 a month at least and the expenses should be approximately $200'. The defendant also told the prosecutrix that “the business is a good thing,” “that there were no debts.” He also [612]*612said that there were no liabilities against the corporation and “that everything was free and clear,” “all that had to be paid was paying the secretary that worked for him.” From New Kensington the prosecutrix, her husband, and the defendant and the third person drove to Braddock (which is located in Allegheny County). In Braddock the husband of the prosecutrix delivered to the defendant a check for $2,400.00 drawn upon a Beaver bank (located in Beaver County), and also a note for $800.00 payable in 30 days for the balance of the 15 outstanding shares. The stock certificates were then endorsed and turned over to the prosecutrix and her husband. Shortly thereafter it was discovered that International Credits, Inc. was indebted in the amount of $875.00 for printing, office supplies and other items. It was further shown that the corporation, which was a collection agency, had obligations of approximately $6,000.00 to clients for moneys collected on their behalf and not remitted to them. The $2,400.00 check was not originally honored in the Beaver County bank upon which it was drawn, there being insufficient funds in the bank to meet the check. On July 31, 1961 sufficient funds were deposited in the bank to meet the check and the check cleared on that date.

The first contention of the defendant is that he is subject to prosecution only under §843 of the Act of June 24, 1939, P.L. 872, 18 PS §4843, which section provides as follows: “Whoever, being an officer, director, superintendent, manager, receiver, employe, agent, attorney, broker or member of any bank or other body corporate, or public company, municipal or quasi-municipal corporation, makes, circulates or publishes, or concurs in making, circulating or publishing, any written or printed statement or account, which he knows to be false in any particular, with intent to deceive or defraud any member, shareholder or creditor [613]*613of such body corporate or public company, municipal or quasi-municipal corporation, or with intent to induce any person to become a shareholder or partner therein, or to interest or advance any money or property to such body corporate or public company, or to enter into any security for the benefit thereof, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or undergo imprisonment, by separate and solitary confinement at labor, not exceeding three (3) years, or both.”

Counsel for the appellant relies rather heavily on the case of Com. v. Litman, 187 Pa. Superior Ct. 537, 144 A. 2d 592. In that case, at page 543, we stated: “The applicable rule is that where the same act or transaction constitutes a violation of two distinct statutory provisions, the test to be applied to determine whether there are two offenses or only one, is whether each provision requires proof of an additional fact which the other does not. Com. v. Palls and Sykes, 107 Pa. Superior Ct. 129, 133, 134, 162 A. 482.

“The alleged criminal act of obtaining money by a false representation is a felony under the general penal code and a misdemeanor when committed in connection with the Medical Act. To obtain a conviction under §836 of The Penal Code the Commonwealth must prove (1) a false representation, (2) reliance upon that representation, and (3) the procuring of a benefit by the defendant with intent to defraud. To obtain a conviction under §17 of the Medical Act the Commonwealth must prove (1) a false representation, (2) reliance upon that representation, and (3) the procuring of a benefit by the defendant with intent to defraud. The same facts must be proved to obtain a conviction under either act.”

The facts in the present case are clearly distinguishable from the facts in the Litman case and the facts in [614]*614the other cases cited by the appellant. A prosecution under §843 can succeed only if the false statement is either written or printed, whereas under §836 the statement may be oral. Proof of an additional fact (that the statement is written or printed) is required under §843. Proof of a different element is required under §843. See Com. v. Falls and Sykes, 107 Pa. Superior Ct. 129, 133, 162 A. 482. Furthermore, the misrepresentations made in the present case were made concerning the financial status of the corporation, but-they were not made for the purpose of obtaining assets for the corporation but rather to further the sale of stock personally owned by the defendant in his individual capacity rather than in any corporate capacity. An analysis of §843 indicates that it was the intention of the legislature to punish as a separate crime any act by an officer or employe of a corporation in writing or printing something intended to defraud or induce any person to become a shareholder of a corporation or in some other fashion to advance moneys to the corporation. A general reading of this section indicates that the legislature intended that the corporation must benefit. In the present case the corporation received no benefit whatsoever from this transaction. Only the defendant received the benefit.The stock was not purchased directly from the corporation but from an existing stockholder. We are of the opinion that the prosecution in the present case was correctly based upon §836 rather than §843.

Nor are we impressed by the argument that the Commonwealth presented no evidence of book value or market value of the stock. This was immaterial because book value is certainly affected by the debts of the corporation. If there were no debts to offset the assets, the book value would certainly be larger than if there were. Therefore the misrepresentation as to those debts was a material misrepresentation.

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Bluebook (online)
186 A.2d 648, 199 Pa. Super. 609, 1962 Pa. Super. LEXIS 619, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-rosicci-pasuperct-1962.