United States F. & G. Co. v. State Ex Rel. Shull

1934 OK 457, 36 P.2d 47, 169 Okla. 59, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 236
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedSeptember 18, 1934
Docket24041
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 1934 OK 457 (United States F. & G. Co. v. State Ex Rel. Shull) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States F. & G. Co. v. State Ex Rel. Shull, 1934 OK 457, 36 P.2d 47, 169 Okla. 59, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 236 (Okla. 1934).

Opinion

BUSBY, J.

This action was commenced in the district court of Oklahoma county on the 10th day of November, 1930, by the state of Oklahoma, on relation of the State Bank Commissioner, as plaintiff, to> recover from the defendants the sum of $5,000 alleged to be due the plaintiff by reason of a breach of the conditions of a fidelity bond for that amount, which bond was executed by the defendant Elmer L. Jones, as principal, and the defendant United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company, as surety.

*60 Tlie defendant Elmer L. Jones was in active charge of the Bank of Oolagah, located at Oolagah, Okla., as its cashier, from April of 1921 to June 4, 1930. During the later years of his period of employment the faithful performance of his duties as such cashier was insured by the bond pursuant to the provisions of chapter 157, S. L. 1923-The state of Oklahoma was properly designated as the obligee in the bond.

Mr. Jones misappropriated $S,’200 belonging to the bank. The existence of the deficit in the funds of the bank created by the misappropriation became known to the State Banking Department in June of 1930. Upon the discovery of the deficit by the State Banking Department, the defaulting cashier tendered his resignation, which was accepted by the board of directors of the bank on June 4, 1930. The board of' directors at the same time decided to voluntarily liquidate the affairs of the bank.

In November following, this action was commenced in the name of the state by the Bank Commissioner to recover on the fidelity bond. The state of Oklahoma was the nominal plaintiff. The action was instituted for the use and benefit of the Bank of Oolagah as a banking corporation on the theory that that corporation was entitled to recover on the bond the amount of the loss suffered by it to the extent of the amount of the bond, namely $5,000.

The defendants answered jointly. In addition to a general denial they asserted the affirmative defense of payment, alleging, in substance, that the obligation created by the breach of the conditions of the bond had been paid with money borrowed for that purpose by “Mend's of the defendant Jones.”

The allegations of the defendants’ answer were traversed by the reply of the plaintiff in the form of a general denial.

The trial of the case to a jury in the court below resulted in a verdict in favor of the plaintiff for the amount sought to be recovered. The defendants bring the case to this court on appeal, appearing before us as plaintiffs in error. For convenience we shall refer to the parties as they appeared in the court below.

It is an undisputed fact, disclosed by the record, that on the day the resignation of the defaulting cashier was accepted the depleted funds of the Bank of Oolagah were replenished by a sum of money equivalent to the existing deficit. This money was provided by F. E. Carlstrom and C. A. Schmoy, who, though not named in the answer of the defendants, were the persons therein described as the “friends of the defendant Jones.” It was the theory of the plaintiff on the trial of this case that these funds were tendered tó and received by the bank of Oolagah as a gift or voluntary contribution from Messrs. Schmoy and Carlstrom, and that they were not intended to satisfy the contractual obligation of Jones and his surety to pay $5,000 to the bank.

The philanthropic motives of the two gentlemen are not at all free from doubt. They were forcefully challenged in the trial of this case by the defendants, who urged that the money had been advanced to the bank for the benefit of Jones and with the intention of satisfying his debt to the bank. They introduced evidence tending to show that Jones and his wife delivered their joint promissory note to Schmoy and Carlstrom for the amount of money involved, and that such note was accepted, thereby endeavoring to establish that Carlstrom and Schmoy were in effect making a loan, relying for repayment solely upon the personal credit of Jones and his wife. The testimony of the plaintiff tends to establish that this note was not accepted, and it is an 'uncontro-verted fact that it was returned to the defendant Jones. The defendants also established that Carlstrom and Schmoy had been previously (in January, 1930) informed by Jones of the existence pf a deficit in the funds of the bank. The evidence does not clearly indicate that the cause of the deficit was then made known to them. However, it appears that they joined with Jones in January of 1930 in executing a promissory note for $4,000 which was delivered to the Bank of Commerce of Claremore, and in return for which the Bank of Oolagah was credited as a depositor of the Clare-more bank with the sum of $4,000, which deposit, although not subject to cheek, was carried as an asset of the Oolagah bank. The deposit and note were canceled out one against the other at the time the $8,200 was delivered to the Oolagah bank. It was also established that some time between January and June of 1930 Jones deeded to Carlstrom a 120-acre farm of doubtful value, on which there was an unpaid $2,000 mortgage as well as delinquent taxes. In explanation of this transaction testimony appears in the record to the effect that Jones gave the property to Carlstrom, because he, Jones, was going to lose it. The record also reveals that a house in the town of Oolagah owned by Jones was first mortgaged and *61 later deeded to Sclnnoy. This transaction is also asserted to have been a gift.

The probative valne of the foregoing evi-dentiary facts need not be discussed in detail. In spite of the explanations offered, they tended to support the defendants’ theory that the money paid to the bank in June by Oarlstrom and Schmoy was paid as the result of an agreement between Jones and Oarlstrom and Schmoy, and was intended to satisfy the obligation of Jones to the bank. However, we are unable to say, after a careful examination of the record, that the disputed fact, namely, that the money delivered by Oarlstrom and Schmoy was intended as a gift or voluntary contribution, upon which the theory of the plaintiff depends, is not reasonably supported by the evidence. It was stated in the testimony of Mr. J. D. Pennington, Assistant Bank Commissioner, who actively participated in the transaction, that:

“Was that amount (referring to the $8,-200 delivered by Oarlstrom and Schmoy on June 4, 1930) placed in the Bank of Oola-gah to pay any shortage of defendant’s that Elmer Jones owed the bank? A. No, sir.” (R-58.)

Having surveyed the evidence bearing upon the disputed question before the court below, we pass to a brief recognition of the principles of law applicable thereto.

Payment has been defined as the performance of the consideration clause of a contract. It implies the existence of a debt from one who is obligated to pay to one who is entitled to receive. Eastern Oil Co. v. Smith, 80 Okla. 207, 195 P. 773, 21 R. C. L. 7. It means the satisfaction of a debt by money or the representative of money. Continental Gin Co. v. Arnold, 52 Okla. 569, 153 P. 160.

Payment may be made by a third party and have the effect of discharging the obligation as though made by the debtor himself. 21 R. C. L. 31. Payment, being a transfer of money or property in performance of an obligation, is distinguished from a gift, which is a voluntary and gratuitous transfer of property from one person to another.

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Bluebook (online)
1934 OK 457, 36 P.2d 47, 169 Okla. 59, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 236, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-f-g-co-v-state-ex-rel-shull-okla-1934.