UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ON-LINE

A party who obtains from a disbursing officer public moneys without right thereto, and with full knowledge that they are such, becomes indebted to the United States within the meaning of the fifth section of the Act of Congress of March 3, 1797, 1 Stat. 515, and, in the event of his insolvency, the United States is entitled to priority of payment out of his assets.