Casey

A bankruptcy trustee sued several banks for aiding and abetting a fraudulent scheme to loot the debtor corporation, perpetrated by a number of its officers. The banks successfully demurred to the second amended complaint on the ground the trustee lacks standing to assert these claims under the so-called Wagoner rule because the officers’ fraudulent conduct is imputed to the debtor (and thus the trustee). Based on this imputation of wrongdoing, the trial court also ruled the trustee’s claims were barred by the affirmative defense of in pari delicto.

We conclude the allegations in the complaint do not support imputing the officers’ fraud to the debtor, and the court’s rulings based on that imputation are therefore groundless. That conclusion, however, does not end our inquiry.

The banks demurred on the additional ground the complaint fails to state any cause of action. We concur with this assertion, based on our holding that a bank cannot be found liable for aiding and abetting a depositor’s breach of fiduciary duty absent actual knowledge of the underlying wrong the depositor is perpetrating. The trusted fails to allege the banks had such knowledge.

Because the demurrer…