United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Russell v. Post, 138 U.S. 425 (1891)

Russell v. Post

No. 126

Argued January 5, 1891

Decided March 2, 1891

138 U.S. 425

Syllabus

When, in the trial of a civil action charging a conspiracy to defraud, it appears in evidence that a loan, charged to have been an instrument in the conspiracy, was not an ordinary business transaction; that the compensation paid for it to the lender was so excessive as to be suspicious; that the purpose on the part of the borrower in taking the loan was the accomplishment of an act criminal in itself and made criminal by statute, and when the surrounding circumstances proved in the case tend to charge the lender with knowledge of the wrongful purpose of the borrower, the case should not be withdrawn from the jury, but it should be submitted in order that they may determine whether the loan was made with intent to consummate the wrong and whether the lender knowingly assisted in accomplishing it.

At law. The case is stated in the opinion.