Nuzum v. Nuzum
| Decision Date | 23 November 1915 |
| Citation | 87 S.E. 463,77 W.Va. 202 |
| Parties | NUZUM ET AL. v. NUZUM ET AL. |
| Court | West Virginia Supreme Court |
Submitted October 26, 1915.
Rehearing Denied Jan. 12, 1916.
Syllabus by the Court.
Where it is charged in a bill and amended bill in chancery that plaintiffs and another were induced, by persons who are defendants, to subscribe for shares of the capital stock and to sign a subscription for stock of a corporation to be thereafter formed, and to pay into a bank, as a depository thereof, the money to be paid in full for such subscription and that the statements so made, and upon which the persons so subscribing and paying relied, are false and untrue, and are "made fraudulently, falsely, with the intent to deceive the plaintiffs, and with knowledge that each and every one of said statements was false and untrue," and the money was paid to the bank and received by it for that purpose, and it is alleged that one of the persons charged in the bill to have been interested in the transaction secures a judgment by fraud against the cashier of the bank holding said money, and thereby withdraws the money from the bank, a court of equity has jurisdiction to hear and determine such controversy, and to decide whether or not the contract should be canceled, and the money returned to the persons who paid it to the bank.
When a case is submitted on the bill and answers, and replications thereto, and depositions, and the court erroneously decides "that the plaintiffs have a plain, adequate, and complete remedy at law for the relief prayed for, and that this court is therefore without jurisdiction," and dismisses the cause, with costs, without considering or passing upon the evidence, this court will reverse the decree, and remand it to the circuit court for further proceedings to be had therein.
The Supreme Court will not consider questions not yet acted upon by the circuit court in the case.
Appeal from Circuit Court, Harrison County.
Suit by Nimshi Nuzum and others against Gideon S. Nuzum and others. Suit dismissed, and plaintiffs appeal. Reversed and remanded.
Frank M. Powell and Steptoe & Johnson, all of Clarksburg, for appellants.
Taney Harrison, of Clarksburg, for appellees.
This is a chancery suit brought by Nimshi Nuzum and nine others against Gideon S. Nuzum, A. M. C. Hudson, George Rinehart and the Bank of Cairo, seeking to have the Cairo bank pay to them the amount of money paid by each to the said bank upon a subscription for stock in a corporation to be thereafter organized. The plaintiffs charge in their bill that the defendants Gideon S. Nuzum and A. M. C. Hudson approached them with a proposition to sell to plaintiffs stock in a contemplated oil and gas corporation; that the said Gideon S. Nuzum and Hudson represented to plaintiffs that they (said Nuzum and Hudson) had commenced a well for oil and gas, but were compelled to stop drilling at a depth of 1,300 feet until they secured more funds by the sale of additional stock; that said Nuzum and Hudson represented that a number of test wells had been drilled near the property leased, and that each well was a good producing gas well; that the said Nuzum and Hudson represented that each of them had invested $1,000 of his own money, holding a receipt for its deposit in the Bank of Cairo; that the said defendants represented that they had sold various blocks of stock to persons known to plaintiffs, and that they had only 30 shares of stock left for sale, after the sale of which the organization of the company could be completed, and the well could be finished. The plaintiffs charge that the said Gideon S. Nuzum and Hudson made such statements falsely and fraudulently, with the intent to deceive plaintiffs, with the knowledge that their statements were false and untrue. Plaintiffs further aver that, believing the statements of the said Gideon S Nuzum and Hudson to be true, they agreed to take stock in the proposed corporation to the extent of an amount aggregating $1,600, and that each paid for his subscription by placing the money in the Bank of Cairo.
In an amended bill of complaint plaintiffs further charge:
"That there was a secret agreement between George Rinehart, A. M. C. Hudson, and Gideon S. Nuzum by which they were to sell stock in the contemplated oil and gas corporation, and was to cause to be paid into the Bank of Cairo for the use of George Rinehart all the money received from the sale of said stock; and, further, they were to receive and did receive 30 shares of stock in the contemplated oil and gas company for which they were not to pay, and have not paid, and that George Rinehart was to have $1,500 worth of stock in the said contemplated oil and gas company, for which he was not to pay, and has...
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