William S. Verplanck, as Receiver v. Lorenzo Van Buren, Respondents

Summary

The New York Court of Appeals reversed the lower court's dismissal and allowed the receiver to pursue a fraud action for damages against the defendants, holding that the prior accounting suit does not bar the present claim and that a separate fraud action is permissible despite the earlier judgment. The court rejected the defenses that the parties were different and that the prior judgment barred recovery, and it clarified that fraud does not automatically void a judgment but does not preclude a damages action.