Lalone v. United States
| Citation | 164 U.S. 255,41 L.Ed. 425,17 S.Ct. 74 |
| Decision Date | 30 November 1896 |
| Docket Number | No. 4,4 |
| Parties | LALONE et al. v. UNITED STATES |
| Court | United States Supreme Court |
A. T. Britton and A. B. Browne, for appellants.
Sol. Gen. Conrad, for the United States.
This is a suit in equity, brought by the United States to recover back certain moneys which had theretofore been paid the appellant Joseph Lalone upon the granting of his application for a pension, and to enjoin the defendant the First National Bank of Beaver Dam, Wis., from paying out certain moneys deposited therein by the appellant Margaret Lalone, the wife of Joseph, and which moneys were alleged to be part of those paid to Joseph, and to enjoin the conveyance of certain real estate, the legal title to which was vested in the defendant Margaret Lalone, and which plaintiff alleged to have been purchased by her with a portion of such moneys, and to vest the title to such moneys and real estate in the United States.
The ground upon which a recovery of the moneys was sought was that the pension had been obtained through the fraudulent acts and representations of the individual defendants. The bill alleged that the defendant Joseph Lalone filed with the pension bureau, on the 19th of May, 1880, a claim for a pension on account of partial paralysis due to disease and sickness contracted while serving in the army during 1865; that, after the consideration of such claim for a period of eight years, and until April 21, 1888, the application was allowed, and more than $5,000 were paid to the applicant as arrearages of pension, and the sum of $30 per month thereafter was allowed. The bill then alleged that the partial paralysis, which Lalone claimed he was suffering from, and which he said resulted from the disease and sickness contracted while in such army service, was not the result of any such cause, and that Lalone's allegation to that effect was false and fraudulent, and intended to deceive the officers charged with the duty of examining and allowing such claim, and that it did so deceive them; that claimant's disability was caused by and resulted from an accident suffered by him long subsequent to his discharge from the army; that Lalone had turned the pension moneys received from the government over to his wife, Margaret Lalone, who had deposited $5,000 thereof in her name in the First National Bank of Beaver Dam, Wis., and had thereafter withdrawn all but about $1,500 thereof, and with it had purchased 120 acres of land in Dodge county, Wis., subject to an existing mortgage of $1,300; that Margaret Lalone had knowledge of and was a party to the fraud alleged. The bill asked for a decree giving the United States the residue of the fund in the bank, and a conveyance of the realty, and for an injunction pendente lite. Upon the filing of the bill an injunction was issued. The individual defendants each answered under oath, denying all the charges of fraud made by the bill. The bank admitted its possession of $1,500 deposited by Margaret Lalone.
On the testimony submitted, which consisted of the depositions of many witnesses, the circuit court rendered a final decree in favor of the United States against the individual defendants for a recovery of the amount of money received by them from such pension fund, with interest. The decree also provided that the bank should pay the $1,500 on deposit with it into the United States treasury. It also ordered the sale of the realty, and that the proceeds of the sale should be applied to the payment of the money decree against the Lalones, with execution for any deficiency.
The case is now before us for review. In all proceedings instituted to recover moneys, or to set aside and annul deeds or contracts or other written instruments, on the ground of alleged fraud practiced by a defendant upon a plaintiff, the rule is of long standing, and is of universal application, that the evidence tending to prove the fraud, and upon which to found a verdict or decree, must be clear and satisfactory. It may be circumstantial, but it must be persuasive. A mere preponderance of evidence, which at the same time is vague or ambiguous, is not sufficient to warrant a finding of fraud, and will not sustain a judgment based on such finding. The rule obtains in cases of alleged fraudulent representations made to an officer of the government, upon the faith of which the officer has issued a patent, or done any other official act upon which the rights of the party making the misrepresentations may be founded. This principle is exemplified in U. S. v. Iron Silver Min. Co., 128 U. S. 673, 9 Sup. Ct. 195, and cases cited, and is not confined to cases of patents for lands.
Examining the record in this case, and after perusing the whole evidence contained therein, and having in mind the rule above stated, we are entirely convinced that the...
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