Tran v Perpetual Trustees Victoria Ltd [2012] NSWSC 1560

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Tran v Perpetual Trustees Victoria Ltd [2012] NSWSC 1560 Hearing dates: 2 - 4 October 2012 Decision date: 26 October 2012 Jurisdiction: Equity Division Before: Rein J Decision: Defendant liable to the plaintiff to recredit amounts deducted from plaintiff's bank account on basis of a fraudulent authority and for the actions of its mortgage originator agent in forging fraudulent authorities to obtain plaintiff's funds from the defendant bank. Catchwords: BANKING AND FINANCE - banks - bank accounts - where bank charged plaintiff's account based on fraudulent authority not in fact signed by the plaintiff - receipt of those funds by third parties - where bank did not establish that plaintiff later ratified the receipt of funds by those third parties - bank liable to plaintiff for the unauthorised disbursement of funds

CONTRACTS - particular parties - principal and agent - where bank charged plaintiff's account based on authority fraudulently provided by its mortgage originator - whether mortgage originator was acting as agent of the bank - where a clause in agreement between bank and mortgage originator expressly precludes mortgage originators from being agents of the bank - despite such a clause mortgage originator was still agent for the purposes of the bank's dealings with the public - bank liable for the mortgage originator's actions Cases Cited: Briginshaw v Briginshaw (1938) 60 CLR 336 Browne v Dunn (1893) 6 R 67 Entwells Pty Ltd v National & General Insurance Co Ltd (1991) 6 WAR 68 Lennard's Carrying Co Ltd v Asiatic Petroleum Co Ltd [1915] AC 705 Lloyd v Grace Smith & Co [1912] AC 716 London Joint Stock Bank Ltd v Macmillan & Arthur [1918] AC 777 Michalopoulos v Perpetual Trustees Victoria Ltd [2010] NSWSC 1450 National Australia Bank Ltd v Hokit Pty Ltd (1996) 39 NSWLR 377 Texts Cited: R P Austin and I M Ramsay, Ford's Principles of Corporations Law, 14th ed (2010) LexisNexis Butterworths Category: Principal judgment Parties: Van Dan Tran (Plaintiff)