Smith v. Blachley

Citations

• 188 Pa. 550
• 41 A. 619
• 1898 Pa. LEXIS 645

Syllabus

<p>Principal and agent — Illegal contract — Intent.</p> <p>While the courts will not enforce an illegal contract, yet if a servant or agent of another has, in the prosecution of an illegal enterprise for his master, received money or other properly belonging to the master, he is bound to turn it over to him, and cannot shield himself from liability therefor upon the ground of the illegality of the original transaction.</p> <p>An agent cannot set up a pretended illegal transaction to retain money extorted from his principals by gross falsehood to further a mythical illegal transaction. The money still belongs to the principal, and he can rightfully demand it as soon as he discovers the fraudulent conduct of his agent.</p> <p>The law takes no cognizance of a mere illegal intent; nor does it impose as a penalty for such intent immunity to him who has plundered one guilty of it. The illegal intention must be accompanied by an act which is criminal or prohibited by law, in order to make the transaction illegal.</p> <p>Principal and agent — Physician—Illegal contract — Fraud—Statute of limitations — Abortion.</p> <p>Where a physician in attendance upon two families, in one of which there is a son, and in the other a daughter, alleges that an illness of the daughter was caused by an abortion, and also falsely represents to the fathers of the two families that they are about to be prosecuted for the crime bjT a society, and in consequence of these representations receives money from them to be used in stilling the supposed prosecution and keeps the money himself, and constantly urges them to keep quiet about the matter, the persons who paid the money are entitled to recover it back, and the statute of limitations will not begin to run against them until the fraud is discovered.</p>