In the Matter of Paul Rivas, Dba Paul Rivas Galleries, AKA Paul George Rivas, Bankrupt and v. J. Thomas Jefferson

This is an appeal from a District Court order affirming the judgment of a Referee in Bankruptcy refusing to grant appellant a discharge, on the ground that he had deliberately failed to keep, preserve, or produce books of account or records from which his financial condition and business transactions might be ascertained. Appellant operated an art gallery, wherein paintings and other works of art were consigned to and sold by him. He claims there was no substantial evidence to support certain essential findings of the Referee. General Order No. 47 of the General Orders in Bankruptcy required the District Court to accept the Referee’s findings unless clearly erroneous. Likewise, we are required to accept those findings unless clearly erroneous. United States v. United States Gypsum Co., 333 U.S. 364 , 68 S.Ct. 525 , 92 L.Ed. 746 (1948).

Appellant urges that the facts are undisputed and, therefore, this Court should review the entire record anew or de novo. While under certain circumstances, the appellate court may take this position, it should not do so where the basic and undisputed facts are fairly susceptible of diverse inferences requiring different conclusions. In such a…