Siegel v. His Creditors

Citations

• 95 Cal. 409
• 30 P. 559
• 1892 Cal. LEXIS 837

Syllabus

<p>Insolvency — Discharge of Insolvent—Debt Created by Fraud.— The fact that a particular debt of an insolvent debtor was created by fraud is no ground for refusing a discharge from other debts.</p> <p>Id.—Books of Account — Construction of Insolvent Act.—The purpose of section 49 of the Insolvent Act, providing that a final discharge in insolvency may be refused when the debtor has not kept proper books of account, is to require every merchant or tradesman to so keep his books that any competent person, by an examination of them, can ascertain and determine the real condition of his affairs; and if they are so kept, though imperfect, inartistic, and inaccurate in unimportant particulars, they will be treated as proper books of account, within such section.</p> <p>Id. — Accounts of Outside Matters — Propriety of Books.—Though a trader should be held to the utmost good faith and reasonable care in keeping accounts of his business as such, yet he is not required to enter in his books accounts of outside matters; and the question whether his books were “proper ” or not is one to be determined in each particular case by the facts and circumstances there shown.</p> <p>Id.—Accounts of Money Borrowed—■ Repayment — Discharge of Insolvent. — A discharge in insolvency should not be denied on the ground that the debtor failed to keep proper books of account, where the only fault found with the books is, that he did not keep in them, in the name of one of his creditors, an account of certain small sums of money borrowed from him, from time to time, during a period of eighteen months, and it does not appear that there ever were any other business transactions between the parties, and the small loans were paid back within two days, and the payments entered in the bank-book kept by the debtor in bis books.</p>