Charles Arnold and Chicken-Eggs, Inc. v. Cleo P. King, Trustee in Bankruptcy of James C. Bookey, Sr., Bankrupt

Even in America, the Horatio Alger catapulting of trucker to tycoon is open to suspicion — especially when Horatio Alger heads an organization apparently used as a dummy to conceal a bankrupt’s assets.

And when we find a violation of the Bulk Sales Act, RCW 63.08.010 et seq., and an attempt to assert a colorable adverse claim in order to divest the Referee of summary jurisdiction, suspicion becomes almost a certainty.

1. Statement of the Case.

This is a companion appeal to Bookey v. King, No. 14943, 9 Cir., 236 F.2d 871 . Much of the Statement of the Case set forth in our opinion in No. 14943 is pertinent to the present appeal, and will not be repeated here. Only the relevant proceedings not recited in the earlier opinion will be stated.

For some years prior to January 1, 1954, James C. Bookey, Sr., and his son, James C. Bookey, Jr., hereinafter “Senior” and “Junior”, respectively, as co-partners had been operating a business of buying, processing and selling eggs at 17000 Aurora Avenue, in Seattle, Washington, under the firm name of J. C. Bookey Supply, hereinafter “Supply”.

The building belonged to Senior, and at the time the petition in involuntary bankruptcy was filed,…