Cengage Advantage Books: Business Law 9th Edition by Arnold Goldman ,William Sigismond

Exercise 11

Nichols paid a bribe of $50,000 to Galvin, the mayor of a large city, to "look the other way" while Nichols brought drugs from out of the country by airplane into the city's airport for transport to other cities. The mayor accepted the bribe and gave an order for police not to intervene in the project. Once the bribe was paid, Galvin turned the money and the plan over to the FBI and had Nichols arrested. Nichols was tried and convicted of a felony (bribery) and sentenced to prison. Shortly after his conviction, Nichols assigned the money in writing to Barber, a close friend. Barber attempted to collect the money from the FBI on the basis of the assignment to him but was refused payment. The FBI claimed that regardless of his status as an assignee, Barber was not legally entitled to the money. Do you agree with the FBI?