Schmitt v. Burns, Fleming & Co.

Citations

• 67 Pa. Super. 449
• 1917 Pa. Super. LEXIS 426

Syllabus

<p>Corporations — Treasurer—Use of corporate money — Banks a/nd hanking — Evidence—Corporate minutes.</p> <p>When the treasurer of a corporation pays his personal indebtedness by cheeks signed by him as treasurer of his corporation, the payee in accepting- the'checks is put upon inquiry as to the authority of the treasurer to use the corporate funds, and if he fails to do so, apd if -in fact the treasurer is without authority, the payee will be .liable to the corporation or its receiver for the amount'óf Such cheeks; In such a case thfere is sufficient evidence of the authority of the treasurer to give the cheeks, to go to the jury, where the treasurer testifies, that he wks-authorized to give the- cheeks by the board of directors at two meetings, that reports were made from time to time of these transactions, that the board knew and ratified, bis action, and agreed that he should pay his own bills out of tbe moneys he had deposited for the benefit of the company. Where the minutes have been produced but are silent upon the subject, parol evidence may be admitted to show what actually occurred at the meeting.</p> <p>In such a case it was not reversible error to admit testimony as to the amount of salary paid to the treasurer, and as to the method of keeping the bank account sometime prior to the transactions involved in the case, and proof of the deposit of some of the treasurer’s money into the account of the corporation. Such proof bore on the question of subsequent dealings of the parties and added some plausibility to the treasurer’s story that his action in paying his debts with corporate checks was authorized.</p>