Family Partners Worldwide Inc. v. SunTrust Bank, Atlanta

Family Partners Worldwide, Inc. arranged international adoptions and set up a separate corporation as a foundation to raise funds for the adoptions. The board of directors and the chief executive officer Keith McGrew were the same for both corporations. Unknown to the directors, McGrew opened an account in the name of the foundation at Suntrust Bank, which he allegedly used to convert funds from Family Partners. Claiming some checks had been stolen, McGrew later closed the account and opened a new account that had the same name and allegedly served the same purpose of embezzling. Family Partners sued Suntrust to recover the converted funds, contending Suntrust was liable because it did not require a corporate resolution or certificate of authority to open either account. On a motion for summary judgment, the trial court concluded that McGrew as CEO had the inherent agency power to open the accounts and granted the motion in favor of Suntrust. We agree and affirm.

1. Summary judgment is proper only when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.1 We apply a de novo standard of review and view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmovant.2