Valley Bank Of Ronan v. Hughes

147 P.3d 185 (2006)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D was conned by a 'Nigerian scam.' D was promised a $3 million to $4.5 million commission for his aid in procuring agricultural equipment for import into Africa. D was bilked for hundreds of thousands of dollars in advanced fees. Some of the funds D advanced were wired via the services of P. On Friday, March 22, 2002, D received four checks and deposited them into accounts at P. Two were 'official' checks, and the other two were personal checks. One official check, for $1 million, was drawn on Colonial Bank. The other official check, for $500,000, was drawn on Firstar. The personal checks were for $62,000--drawn on the account of Maximilian H. Miltzlaff--and for $70,000--drawn on a Capital One credit card account held by Sarah Briscoe and Mary Bullard. Smith, a cashier, and officer verified the validity of the official checks. Smith told D that the official checks were the same as cash. She assured D that official checks were 'just like' cashier's checks. On Tuesday, March 26, 2002, D delivered a written request to P to wire $800,000 to Ali dh Abbas, an account holder at the Housing Bank for Trade and Finance in Amman, Jordan. P executed the transfer no later than 1:51 p.m. on the same day. Upon receipt in Amman, the funds were promptly withdrawn, never to be seen again. Ten minutes after initiation of the transfer--P and D learned that one of the personal checks was being returned marked 'nonsufficient funds.' D requested the wire to be stopped. The wire was to go through two intermediary banks, and P requested that Wells Fargo reverse the wire transfer. The efforts of the several banks involved in the transfer to reverse the transaction were unsuccessful, and the later discovery that the two official checks were counterfeit resulted in D's account being overdrawn by $800,000. P went after D to get the monies. D deposited $ 607,838, which he had withdrawn from his retirement account, into the P account. D also executed a promissory note to P on behalf of his trust in the amount of $400,000, secured by mortgaged property. The trust subsequently made the first interest payment on the note but made no other payments. Eventually, P initiated an action for judicial foreclosure. D asserted counterclaims of negligence, negligent misrepresentation, constructive fraud, unjust enrichment, breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and promissory estoppel. The Court granted P's motion in limine to exclude Cynthia Shea as an expert witness for D. The court granted P summary judgment on D's counterclaims and summary judgment on P's claims regarding the promissory note. D appealed.