United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

United States v. Walter, 263 U.S. 15 (1923)

United States v. Walter

No. 20

Argued October 3, 1923

Decided October 22, 1923

263 U.S. 15

Syllabus

1. The Act of October 23, 1918, so amending § 35 of the Criminal Code as to make it a crime to make or present, for payment, a fraudulent claim against "any corporation in which the United States of America is a stockholder" should be construed to refer only to corporations, like the Fleet Corporation, that are instrumentalities of the government and in which, for that reason, it owns stock. P. 263 U. S. 17.

2. The act, so construed, is constitutional. Id.

3. A conspiracy to "defraud the United States in any manner," as denounced by § 37 of the Criminal Code, includes a conspiracy to defraud the Fleet Corporation, which, if successful, would result directly in pecuniary loss to the United States (holding all the stock) and impair the efficiency of the corporation as a governmental instrumentality. P. 263 U. S. 18.

291 F.6d 2 reversed.

Page 263 U. S. 16

Error to a judgment of the district court sustaining a demurrer to an indictment.