State ex rel. Spillman v. Gross State Bank

202 N.W. 460, 113 Neb. 119, 1925 Neb. LEXIS 64
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 17, 1925
DocketNo. 24132
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 202 N.W. 460 (State ex rel. Spillman v. Gross State Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Spillman v. Gross State Bank, 202 N.W. 460, 113 Neb. 119, 1925 Neb. LEXIS 64 (Neb. 1925).

Opinion

Dean, J.

The Gross State Bank, hereinafter called the Gross bank, closed its doors January 26, 1923, and a receiver was subsequently appointed pursuant to a petition filed therefor, in the district court in and for Boyd county, by the attorney general. The claimant, E. A. Oehlerking, hereinafter called claimant, filed a petition in intervention to compel the payment of five certificates of deposit, from the bank depositors guaranty fund, which were issued by the Gross bank in' the sum of $1,000 each, bearing 5 per cent, annual interest. The court allowed the claim as a general claim against the bank, but disallowed it as a claim against the bank depositors’ guaranty fund, on the ground that the certificates did not represent a deposit within the meaning of the bank depositors’ guaranty fund act. Comp. St. 1922, section 7982. From this judgment claimant has appealed.

During all the time material to the issues involved in this suit, Frank W. Woods was president of the Gross bank, and also president of the First National Bank of Spencer, [121]*121hereinafter called the Spencer bank. L. G. Kloke was vice-president of the Gross bank and cashier of the Spencer bank. E. C. Hamilton was cashier of the Gross bank. Both banks were located in Boyd county, about ten miles apart, and both subsequently failed. Herbert, Jurgensen & Woods is a partnership engaged in the insurance business at Lincoln. Clayton Woods, a member of the firm, is a son of Frank W. Woods, who is the above named president of both banks. • The facts disclose that the banks were closely interlocked in business affairs. And this may readily be seen from the duplicate roll of officers.

March 13, 1922, eight $500 certificates of deposit were issued by the Gross bank and made payable to Herbert, Jurgensen & Woods. On the same day additional certificates of deposit were issued by the Gross bank, making in all, for that date, a total issuance of $10,000 in such certificates.

In respect of the facts attendant upon the .actual issuance of the certificates, Mr. Hamilton testified that Mr. Kloke called him up by telephone and asked him if he wanted a $10,000 deposit, to which Hamilton says he made this reply: “I asked him if he wanted me to fall dead.” From Hamilton’s evidence it appears that Kloke, as Hamilton’s superior officer, thereupon directed him to issue the above eight certificates, in sums of $500 each, and to make them payable to Herbert, Jurgensen & Woods, hereinafter called the Lincoln firm, “and charge First National Bank of Spencer’s account,” and that he, Kloke, “would credit our account over there.” Pursuant to the foregoing instructions, Hamilton issued the certificates of deposit, bearing' date of March 13, 1922, payable to the Lincoln firm, as directed by Mr. Kloke. The eight certificates were forwarded to the payee firm by mail, at Lincoln. The first or second day thereafter the Gross bank received a “credit advice” card from the Spencer bank, dated March 14, 1922, and Hamilton says he “considered” the above credit as the “deposit” fund against which he was instructed to issue the certificates of deposit. The advice card reached the [122]*122Gross bank the evening of the 14th or the morning of the 15th of March, 1922.

The Lincoln firm disposed of the eight $500 Gross bank certificates, above mentioned, and an additional $1,000 Gross bank certificate, to claimant. Thereupon the Lincoln firm requested the Gross bank to issue five $1,000 certificates to claimant, the eight original $500 certificates being returned by the Lincoln firm. The five above $1,000 certificates were duly issued and bear date of March 17-, 1922.

Mr. Kloke corroborated Mr. Hamilton’s evidence, in that he testified that he “told him (Hamilton) to issue $10,000 in certificates of deposit to Herbert, Jurgensen & Woods.” When Kloke was asked if the Lincoln firm placed any money in the Spencer bank, March 13, 1922, he answered: “Not any cash directly in the First National Bank of Spencer. No, sir. * * * Q. Do you know (claimant) A. E. Oehlerking? A. I do not. Q. Did A. E. Oehlerking ever place any money in your bank on March 17, 1922? A. Not any cash directly. No, sir. Q. Now, then, on March 14 you made a book entry credit of $10,000 on the books of the First National Bank of Spencer to the Gross State Bank, didn’t you, Mr. Witness? A. I wouldn’t swear to the date; I suppose the records will show that. Q. Well, do you remember of a credit being made on the books of the First National Bank (of Spencer) to the Gross State Bank in' connection with the $10,000 in certificates that were issued for Herbert, Jurgensen & Woods by the Gross State Bank on March 13, 1922? A. I suppose our books were closed on that day’s business, and from the testimony I heard that date was on the 14th, which indicates it went over into the next day’s business. Q. Now, then, in giving the Gross State Bank credit on your books for $10,000, what other charge did you make on your books to balance your books in connection with that transaction? A. Charged the Omaha National Bank, our correspondent. Q. With $10,000? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did the Omaha National Bank on that date put any money in the First National Bank at Spencer? A. I couldn’t say on that date; I don’t [123]*123know what the date of their advice was. Q. This $10,000 you charged the Omaha National Bank with was in connection with these certificates aggregating $10,000? A. .Yes, sir. Q. Did you inform the Omaha National Bank anything about that at that time? A. No; that wouldn’t be the usual transaction to inform them. Q. Now, answer the question, I don’t care anything about the usual transaction. You simply made that charge of $10,000 to the Omaha National Bank without advising them you had made it? A. Yes, sir.”

It was stipulated that the claimant paid $4,875 to the Lincoln firm for the certificates, a day or two before March 17, 1922, and that the Lincoln firm sent this money to the Omaha National Bank, and the Omaha bank in turn credited this amount to the Spencer bank March 21, 1922. It was also stipulated that claimant had no agreement with the Gross bank whereby such bank should directly or indirectly pay any interest other than indicated on the' certificates of deposit, nor was claimant to pay any of “the discounts that were allowed by Herbert, Jurgensen & Woods,” and that such discounts were taken care of by the Spencer bank by its transferring credit to the Gross bank in the amount thereof.

It may be noted that the Lincoln firm, in disposing of the certificates to claimant, allowed a discount of $125. There was a controversy on this point, but the matter was disposed of, under date of March 29, 1922, by the Spencer bank crediting on its books, the discount to the Gross bank.

As tending to show the manner of conducting business, by the Spencer bank and the Gross bank, it may be noted that, after the $10,000 certificates had been issued, March 21, 1922, Mr. Frank W. Woods, as president of the Spencer bank, forwarded to the Gross bank bills payable in a sum approximating $12,000. These notes were practically valueless, except as to a note in the sum of $2,500. In respect of the above notes, the receiver of the bank testified: “Q. Well, what is the fact as to your endeavoring to collect the notes, and whether or not you have been able to col[124]*124lect any of them? A. With the exception of the Woods Credit Company note of $2,500 on which we held a certificate of deposit payable to the credit committee of the Woods Credit Company, which we claim, not any of the notes have been paid or any part of them.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
202 N.W. 460, 113 Neb. 119, 1925 Neb. LEXIS 64, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-spillman-v-gross-state-bank-neb-1925.