Statute of Frauds

“ Rabe, 96 N. Y. 414, 425:
'There are two principles upon which a court of equity acts in exercising its remedial jurisdiction. * * * One is that it will not permit the statute of frauds to be used as an instrument of fraud; and the other, that when a person, through the influence of a confidential relation, acquires title to property, or obtains an advantage which he cannot conscientiously retain, the court, to prevent the abuse of confidence, will grant relief.'
And in Haigh v. Kaye, 7 App. Cas. ”

“ It is obvious then, that in reducing the leather into possession, Mr. Barry must either have acted fairly, on the idea of a finished transaction, or unfairly, by entering upon the fruition a fraud practised to obtain the release.
We will consider him as having acted fairly upon the ground of a treaty final and concluded, to be carried into execution according to its terms. But the statute of Frauds in Maryland requires written evidence of the contract, or a Court cannot decree performance. ”

“ A contract for the exchange of lands is as much within the statute of frauds as a contract for their sale, and a party seeking to enforce a specific execution of a parol contract for that purpose, must bring himself within the same conditions before he can invoke the aid of a court of equity. ”

“ As we showed in the second paragraph of this opinion, the substantive crime here charged is the conspiracy to defraud the United States, punishable as a conspiracy. The fraud is an essential element. There can be no doubt that this crime, denounced by § 371, covers nonpecuniary or nonproperty frauds. ”

“ If the person against whom fraud is alleged, should be proved to have been guilty of it in any number of instances; still if the particular act sought to be avoided be not shown to be tainted with fraud, it cannot be affected by those other frauds, unless in some way or other it be connected with or form a part of them. ”

“ When fraud is alleged as a ground to set aside a title, the statute does not begin to run until the fraud is discovered; and this is the ground on which the complainant asks relief. But, in such a case, the bill must be specific in stating the facts and circumstances which constitute the fraud ”

“ The law which is considered by the plaintiff's counsel as limiting this power in the case at bar, is the statute of 13 Eliz. ch. 5. against fraudulent conveyances, which is understood to be in force in the county of Washington. That statute enacts, that 'for the avoiding and abolishing of feigned, covenous, and fraudulent feoffments,' &c. 'which feoffments,' &c. 'are devised and contrived of malice, fraud, covin, collusion, or guile, to the end, purpose, and intent, to delay, hinder, or defraud creditors, and others, of their just and lawful actions,' &c. ”

“ It is unnecessary to consider whether every determination concerning the common law of fraud taken for granted by the act would be a decision based upon the construction of the statute, within the meaning of the act of March 2, 1907, chap. ”

“ It is too obvious for comment that in all this the only use of the words fraud and fraudulent is to stigmatize acts which are adverse to the plaintiff's view of his own rights. But there is not a syllable which defines an act fraudulent in nature, or done or performed under the influence of corrupt motives, or by corrupt means, by the defendant or by any of the land officers who have had to deal with his claim. ”

“ If such a fraud were practiced upon an individual, he would have a remedy in any court having jurisdiction to correct frauds and mistakes, and to relieve against accident; but it is said that the government of the United States-the representative of 60,000,000 of people, acting for them, on their behalf and under their authority-can have no remedy against a fraud which affects them all, and whose influence may be unlimited. ”

“ The statute recognizes the difference between the intent to defraud and the intent to prefer, and also the difference between a fraudulent and a preferential conveyance. One is inherently and always vicious ”

“ Fraud in law consists in acts which, though not fraudulently intended, yet as their tendency is to defraud creditors, if they vest the property of the debtor in his grantee, they are void for legal fraud, which is deemed tantamount to actual fraud, full evidence of fraud, and fraudulent in themselves, the policy of the law making the acts illegal. ”

“ Where the subject is of wide importance to the community, the consequences of fraudulent practices generally injurious, and the suppression of such frauds matter of public concern, it is within the protective power of the state to intervene. ”

“ In fact, the gravamen of the offense consists in the evil design with which the misapplication is made, and a count which should omit the words 'willfully,' etc., and 'with intent to defraud,' would be clearly bad. While it is entirely true that an allegation of fraud is insufficient, either in an indictment or in a bill in equity, without giving the particulars of the fraud, an intent to defraud is only to be gathered by the jury from all the facts and circumstances of the case. ”

“ This court, in a series of cases arising upon a succession of frauds perpetrated by a combination of persons in England and this country, determined, that the 66th section of the act of 1799, and the 4th section of the act of 1830, as modified by the 14th section of the act of 1832, were not repugnant, but formed a harmonious system for the prevention of frauds upon the revenue. ”

“ If an agent defrauds the person with whom he is dealing, the principal, not having authorized or participated in the wrong, may, no doubt, rescind, when he discovers the fraud, on the terms of making complete restitution. ”

“ Rep. 508, the misrepresentation of existing facts is not necessary to a conviction under a statute applying to 'any scheme or artifice to defraud.' As was observed by Mr. Justice Brewer (p. 313, L. ed. p. 711, Sup. Ct. Rep. p. 511) : 'Some schemes may be promoted through mere representations and promises as to the future, yet are none the less schemes and artifices to defraud. . . . In the light of this the statute must be read, and so read it includes everything designed to defraud by representations as to the past or present, or suggestions and promises as to the future. ”

“ The court's construction of the rights of the parties under the act should have been independent of the question of fraud. The evidence which it allowed to be given of it was inadmissible, and the finding of the jury is of no weight in the case. Fraud, as it is sometimes said, 'vitiates every act'-correctly, too, when properly applied to the subject-matter in controversy, and to the parties in it, and in a proper forum. For instance, as when one of them charges the other with an actual fraud ”

“ It is good between the parties, and good as to all the world, unless it is liable to impeachment for fraud; which is of two kinds, fraud in fact, and fraud in law. The first is an intention or design to defraud, delay, injure or prevent creditors from receiving their just debts, by a sale, deed, settlement or agreement, by which the property of a debtor is withdrawn, or attempted to be withdrawn, from their reach. ”

“ The right not to be led by fraud to change one's situation is anterior to and independent of the contract. The fraud is a tort. Its usual consequence is that, as between the parties, the one who is defrauded has a right, if possible, to be restored to his former position. ”

“ To entitle themselves to relief, the complainants must prove fraud and damage; or, to state the principle less abstractly, they must show that their agent disposed of what he was employed to sell, for less than its value, and that he did this fraudulently. ”

“ Contrary to the majority, I do not read the Court of Appeals' en banc opinion as holding that either § 206 (1) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, 54 Stat. 847 (prohibiting the employment of 'any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud any client or prospective client') , or § 206 (2) , 54 Stat. 847 (prohibiting the engaging 'in any transaction, practice, or course of business which operates as a fraud or deceit upon any client or prospective client') , is confined by traditional common law concepts of fraud and deceit. ”

“ In determining whether further regulations are reasonably necessary to prevent frauds against our revenue it is not conclusive, at least, to say that frauds against the revenue under the existing system have not been discovered. The question is, Are the regulations such as to provide proper safeguards against fraud, or are they such as to make fraud easy to those who have the disposition to commit it? ”

“ The principle laid down in the charge of the judge, that one who claims to have been drawn into a fraudulent purchase must exercise care and vigilance to discover the fraud, and must be prompt in repudiating his contract on the ground of such fraud, is a sound one. ”

“ So fraud is in essence the exception. By fraud we mean conscious wrongdoing, an intention to cheat or be dishonest. The decision of the department head, absent fraudulent conduct, must stand under the plain meaning of the contract. ”

“ After paying the attorneys' fees and court costs, the surplus is not enough to pay the debt secured in full.
In view, therefore, of the concurrence of both courts in finding that no actual fraud was intended, we shall pass at once to the question of constructive fraud.
Fraud in law is predicated upon the fact that the assignor took from the assignees the agreement above set out, and did not file it with the clerk of the court, as he did the assignment itself. ”

“ Among other things, the court, in its charge, said: 'The complaint is that by fraudulent and false statements, a suppression of the truth on the part of the defendant, the deception was practiced upon the plaintiff.' And: 'The the law will not permit any one to make fraudulent representation, and thus obtain from the party some valuable thing, money, or otherwise. If any one commits a fraud of that kind, and thereby another loses his money, having trusted to what was said to him, why the individual who does it is still responsible to the party thus defrauded. ”

“ The all-embracing words 'any deed, power of attorney, order, certificate, receipt, or other writing in support of or in relation to any account or claim with intent to defraud the United States, knowing the same to be false, altered, forged, or counterfeited,' leave room for no other conclusion. ”

“ The defendants insist that it was made with the fraudulent purpose, on the part of the vendors, of cheating, hindering, and delaying their creditors, and that the vendees either intended by their purchase to aid in accomplishing that result, or, at and before their purchase, were chargeable in law with notice of the fraud designed by the vendors. It is unnecessary to set out all the facts which, according to the bill of exceptions, the evidence tended to establish. ”

“ If, as appellant alleges, he has been defrauded by his counsel, he must sue them for what he has lost by the fraud.
If he desire to set aside the decree because it was obtained by fraud, his remedy is by bill of review. ”

“ Why an ordinary claim for fraud should be released by the discharge, while a judgment for fraud is not released, is not altogether clear, although this distinction may have been created to avoid the necessity of going into conflicting evidence upon the subject of fraud ”

“ A mere doubt or suspicion of the fairness of the transaction, ought not to be sufficient to lead to the finding of any act to be fraudulent, unless the conduct and situation of the parties, and the effects intended to be produced by the act, appear inconsistent with their integrity, and admit of no reasonable interpretation but meditated fraud, to be effected by the agreement, sale or deed ”

“ At law, defendant may plead that the judgment against his testator was by fraud and covin. If a decree was by fraud and covin, the party may be relieved against it; not by rehearing or appeal, but by original bill. By Lord Hardwicke, chancellor. Bradish v. Gee, Amb., 229.
'Equity has so great an abhorrence of fraud, that it will set aside its own decrees, if founded thereon.' 13 Vin. Abr., Fraud (Aa.) , pl. 9, 10, p. 543.
'Equity will never countenance demands of an unfair nature; in this case it was to have an allowance for attending at auctions to enhance the price of goods ”

“ This instruction was certainly correct, if the 66th section of the revenue collection act of 1799, ch. 128, now remains in full force and unrepealed; for it can never be permitted, that a party, who perpetrates a fraud upon the custom-house, and thereby enters his goods upon false invoices and false valuations, and gets a regular delivery thereof upon the mere payment of such duties as such false invoices and false valuations require, can avail himself of that very fraud, to defeat the purposes of justice. ”

“ Section 35, as amended, makes it a crime knowingly and willfully to 'make or cause to be made any false or fraudulent statements or representations', or to 'make or use or cause to be made or used any false bill, receipt, voucher, roll, account, claim, certificate, affidavit, or deposition, knowing the same to contain any fraudulent or fictitious statement of entry in any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States'. ”

“ If threats to kill or injure unless money is forthcoming do not constitute a scheme to defraud within the statute, there is none in this case. The only means employed by petitioner and his co-conspirators to obtain the money demanded was the coercion of fear. A comprehensive definition of 'scheme or artifice to defraud' need not be undertaken. ”