Collins

In at least three recent decisions, 1 this Court has stressed the principle that a court of bankruptcy is a court of equity. If this pronouncement is to amount to more than a mere succession of words making grammatical sense, it means that the parties in a bankruptcy proceeding should act with uberrima fldes.

In other words, the participants in a bankruptcy suit are to be judged, to borrow the classic prose of Mr. Justice Cardozo, according to standards that are “stricter than the morals of the market place”.

In the instant case, we do not believe that the bankrupt has met those exacting standards.

1. Statement of the Case

On September 8, 1955, an amended involuntary petition in bankruptcy was filed against John Collins, hereinafter referred to as the bankrupt, by three of his creditors.

The petition charged that within four months immediately preceding its filing, the bankrupt was insolvent, and that on or about August 4, 1955, he made or suffered to be made a transfer of his property “fraudulent under the provisions of Sections 67 and 70” of the Bankruptcy Act ( 11 U.S.C.A. §§ 107 and 110), 3 ****in the following manner:

The bankrupt’s answer, filed on September 24,…