Knott v. Pervere

285 F. Supp. 274, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11556
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedJune 3, 1968
DocketCiv. A. No. 66-629
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 285 F. Supp. 274 (Knott v. Pervere) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Knott v. Pervere, 285 F. Supp. 274, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11556 (D. Mass. 1968).

Opinion

OPINION

CAFFREY, District Judge.

This is a civil action in the nature of a bill in equity removed to this court from Suffolk Superior Court, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Plaintiff, a resident of Palo Alto, California, is Assignee for the benefit of creditors of Alpha Machine & Foundry, a California corporation (hereafter Alpha). The defendant Prescott C. Pervere is an individual alleged in the complaint to be of parts unknown, and also alleged to be the donor and principal beneficiary under the Prescott C. Pervere Indenture of Trust dated July 15, 1953. The defendant Everett W. Pervere was a resident of North Andover, Massachusetts. He died on January 4, 1968, between the removal and the trial of this case. The defendant Charles B. Newhall is a resident of Massachusetts and a trustee under the Prescott C. Pervere Indenture of Trust.

The complaint alleges that on March 4, 1965, defendant Prescott C. Pervere (hereafter Pervere), and others not party to this action, entered into a written agreement to incorporate Alpha and to subscribe for its stock; that Pervere subscribed for 6,000 shares of $10 par value common stock of Alpha and agreed to pay Alpha $60,000 therefor; that thereafter he received 2,420 shares of Alpha stock and paid Alpha $24,203.99 on account of his subscription agreement; and that on June 16, 1965, the Board of Directors of Alpha served a call on Pervere, by registered mail, for payment of the balance due, despite which he has failed and refused to pay the balance due of $35,796.01.

It is also alleged that Alpha has performed all the terms, conditions and covenants to be performed by it under the terms of the pre-incorporation agreement and that it is presently insolvent. It is further alleged that on July 15, 1953, Pervere transferred certain valuable assets to the trustees of the Trust. Plaintiff seeks to enjoin the trustees from disposing of these assets and to reach and apply Pervere’s interest therein in the amount found to be due from him to Alpha.

Defendant’s answer raises, as matter of affirmative defense, the claim that he [276]*276lacked mental capacity to enter into the agreement on March 4, 1965, partial payment, and illegality of the pre-incorporation agreement of March 4, 1965 under Section 25153 of the California Corporation Code. The answer also contains a counterclaim for the $24,203.99 paid by Pervere to Alpha.

After trial I find and rule as follows: There is complete diversity between the parties since at the time suit was brought defendant Pervere was a resident of Miami, Florida, the other two defendants were residents of Massachusetts, and the plaintiff was a resident of California.

Pervere is now 49 years of age. He graduated from Harvard in 1941 and after service with the Merchant Marine in World War II migrated to California where he became engaged with his then father-in-law in the coin-operated laundry business. In 1951 he formed his own coin-operated laundry business under the name Pacific Meter Corporation. During the period from about 1950 to 1960 he was represented by Attorney Lawrence F. Keuchler. In July 1953, Pervere transferred to the trustees under the Prescott C. Pervere Trust assets stipulated to be of a fair market value in excess of $245,000. Pacific Meter Corporation was an apparently financially successful venture, from which Pervere withdrew $88,500 between April 1958 and June 1965. However, he did not pay any federal income tax on these withdrawals, which were reported to the Internal Revenue Service by the purchasers of Pacific Meter Corporation (it was sold by Pervere in July 1965). The Internal Revenue Service has made a determination that these withdrawals were taxable income to Pervere with a potential tax liability of approximately $49,-000.

Pervere was divorced from his first wife in about 1960, and married his second wife, Olive, on November 11, 1964.

In the early sixties Pervere invested in a company called Technology Development Corporation (hereafter TDC) which was a machine shop business. It became clear by the fall of 1964 that the financial collapse of TDC was inevitable. Concern lest his potential liability from the demise of TDC would cause him to lose his equity in Pacific Meter Corporation, he consulted Attorney William E. Anderson, Jr., of Palo Alto, California, in January 1965. Pervere, attended a meeting on February 1, 1965, at TDC, at which were present Attorney Anderson, Olive Pervere, and Julius Bertrand, who was “more or less head of TDC.” At the meeting Bertrand was told that Pervere would not invest any more in TDC although Bertrand wanted to be paid $40,000 for the time he had been associated with the company. At this meeting, Pervere became irritated, started shouting at Bertrand, was sent out of the room to an outer office, where he continued “screaming or bellowing” until he was directed to go outside and wait in the automobile until the meeting was concluded between Anderson, Bertrand and Mrs. Pervere.

On February 16, 1965, Attorney Anderson arranged a conference between Pervere and one John J. Hankard, one of the principals in TDC. Thereafter Hankard conferred with Charles A. Clifford and Wayne Loe who had formerly been associated with him in a business entity called Alpha Machine & Foundry Company. These three made up and submitted to Anderson a list of the equipment they believed would be necessary to launch a new venture to be called Alpha Machine & Foundry (as distinguished from the former Alpha Machine & Foundry Company). In late February 1965, Pervere, Hankard, Clifford, Loe, and Thomas Rieger, an accountant, met at Anderson’s office to discuss prospects for the contemplated Alpha. Hankard observed that at the end of this meeting Pervere was drinking so heavily that he could not sit at the table to have lunch and was sent outside to the car to sleep it off. Another meeting was held on March 2, 1965, between Pervere, Hankard, Clifford, Loe, Rieger, and Attorney Anderson, at which it was decided to form Alpha.

[277]*277Pervere and his second wife Olive (also known as “Pip”) normally had a steady flow of conversation until about March 1, 1965, at which time, according to her deposition testimony, he became very antagonistic and non-communieative. On March 4, 1965, he arose at 5:00 a. m., showered and dressed, and when asked by Olive where he was going he just looked at her and walked out. She next saw him around 5:00 p. m. that day. The pre-incorporation agreement was executed at Attorney Anderson’s office that very morning, at a meeting attended by Pervere, Hankard, Clifford, Loe, Rieger and Anderson, The Board of Directors of Alpha organized at a meeting on March 5, at which Pervere was not present. The officers elected were: Hankard, President; Loe, Vice-president; Rieger, Secretary; and Clifford, Treasurer. The Directors were Hankard, Rieger, Clifford, and Anderson. Meetings of the directors were held on March 10, April 2, and June 16, 1965. A permit authorizing the sale of 4,500 shares of stock of Alpha to Pervere was issued by the Commissioner of Corporations of California on April 23, 1965. Paragraph 2 of the pre-incorporation agreement executed on March 4, 1965, provided that Pervere would subscribe to 6,000 shares at $10 per share, payable “$15,000 in the form of a loan if said funds are required before the issuance of a permit and the balance over a six-month period.” Paragraph 11 of the agreement provided that the issuance of shares was “subject to a permit from the Commissioner of Corporations.” Between March 5 and April 23, 1965, the date the permit was issued, Pervere made the following payments to Alpha:

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Fry
70 M.J. 465 (Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
285 F. Supp. 274, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11556, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/knott-v-pervere-mad-1968.