UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ON-LINE

Whether the one receiving property from the bankrupt before the petition has cause to believe that he was receiving, and that it was intended to give to him, a preference is a matter of fact, and in an action to recover the property, the burden of proof is upon the trustee. In this case, parties who had advanced money on forged bills of lading in the belief that they represented the goods actually moving from designated points of shipment and had, just before the petition, received from the bankrupt genuine bills of lading representing the same goods, physical possession of which was in the carriers issuing the genuine bills, were entitled to possession of the goods; and, under the circumstances of this case, the substitution of the genuine for the false bills did not amount to an illegal preference under the Bankruptcy Act.

203 F.1d 23 affirmed.

The facts, which involve the right of a trustee in bankruptcy to maintain an action for the recovery of property of the bankrupt and what constitutes a preference under that Act, are stated in the opinion. clubjuris

Page 238 U. S. 91