Transamerica Insurance Group v. Paul

TODD, Justice.

Appellant, Walter J. Paul, made application to the Transamerica Insurance Group (Transamerica) and was issued a wholesale produce dealer’s performance bond, representing that he was the owner of a small cheese company. In fact, Paul’s son-in-law was the company’s owner-operator. The company subsequently became insolvent, and the surety was forced to pay the entire face value of the bond toward suppliers’ claims against the cheese company. The surety filed this action against Paul for indemnification. The district court held that Paul was estopped from denying his ownership of…