McMullen Oil Co. v. Crysen Refining, Inc. (In Re McMullen Oil Co.)

OPINION ON SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTIONS

SAMUEL L. BUFFORD, Bankruptcy Judge.

I. Introduction

This adversary proceeding arises from fifteen checks that were deposited into a bank account without the indorsement of the payee. The account did not belong to the payee, but to the employee pension plan sponsored by the payee. Five checks were deposited before the payee filed this chapter 11 bankruptcy case, and ten were deposited afterwards.

This summary judgment motion raises two kinds of issues. The first set of issues involves the substantive law of check deposits: is a bank liable for accepting a check…