(High Court of Australia) A thief stole money from the husband, and gave it to the victim’s wife. The victim sought to recover it from her.
Held: The money was repayable. Once stolen it was subject to a trust in favour of the victim wich could not be defeated. O’Connor J said: ‘Where money has been stolen, it is trust money in the hands of the thief, and he cannot divest it of that character. If he pays it over to another person, then it may be followed into that other person’s hands. If, of course, that other person shows that it has come to him bona fide for valuable consideration, and without notice, it then may lose its character as trust money and cannot be recovered. But if it is handed over merely as a gift, it does not matter whether there is notice or not.’
Judges:
O’Connor J
Citations:
(1910) 12 CLR 105
Jurisdiction:
Australia
Cited by:
Cited – Lipkin Gorman (a Firm) v Karpnale Ltd HL 6-Jun-1991
The plaintiff firm of solicitors sought to recover money which had been stolen from them by a partner, and then gambled away with the defendant. He had purchased their gaming chips, and the plaintiff argued that these, being gambling debts, were . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Contract
Updated: 10 May 2022; Ref: scu.259419
