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Gambling Debt Recovery Ruling

1) O'Brien filed a case against Leung Ben to recover 15,000 pesos that he lost in a gambling game hosted by Leung Ben. O'Brien secured an attachment from the lower court against Leung Ben's bank account for the amount. 2) Leung Ben contested the attachment. The lower court dismissed the motion. Leung Ben then appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that gambling losses cannot be recovered under the relevant laws. 3) The Supreme Court ruled that under Act No. 1757, which defines and penalizes gambling, O'Brien has a legal right to recover his losses from Leung Ben, who was acting as the banker in the gambling game. Therefore,

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60 views1 page

Gambling Debt Recovery Ruling

1) O'Brien filed a case against Leung Ben to recover 15,000 pesos that he lost in a gambling game hosted by Leung Ben. O'Brien secured an attachment from the lower court against Leung Ben's bank account for the amount. 2) Leung Ben contested the attachment. The lower court dismissed the motion. Leung Ben then appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that gambling losses cannot be recovered under the relevant laws. 3) The Supreme Court ruled that under Act No. 1757, which defines and penalizes gambling, O'Brien has a legal right to recover his losses from Leung Ben, who was acting as the banker in the gambling game. Therefore,

Uploaded by

JanWacnang
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Leung Ben v. P.J. OBrien, James A. Ostrand and Geo R.

Harvey
GR. No. L-13602 April 6, 1918

STREET, J.

Facts:
On December 12, 1917, OBrien filed an action against Leung Ben before the Court of
First Instance of Manila praying that an amount of 15,000 pesos be recovered from Leung Ben
after he lost the same amount to him in a gambling game. OBrien thus filed for an attachment of
15,000 on the ground that the defendant is attempting to leave the country alleging to defraud his
creditors, the attachment was granted by the lower court; the amount was attached by the sheriff
against the account of Leung Ben through the International Banking Corporation

Leung Ben, with his attorney, moved to quash the attachment. The motion was dismissed
by the lower court and Leung Ben subsequently filed this petition for the writ of certiorari
against OBrien and the judges of first instance: Ostrand and Harvey. Leung Ben prays that
Ostrand is compelled to certify the records of his suit for review and the attachment be revoked
with costs against OBrien. The contention of Leung Ben is that the recovery of money lost in
gambling is not contemplated under the law the attachment was made available as a remedy,
namely under Sections 424 and 412 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Issue:
Whether or not the recovery of money lost in gambling is possible under the law, where
such law does exist or not.

Ruling:
Yes. Act No. 1757 is a law that defines and penalizes all forms of gambling. Section 7 of
the Act provides that an action may be brought against a banker by any person who lost in a
gambling game; Leung Ben was a banker and now OBrien seeks to recover what he lost.

The Civil Code contemplates that obligations can be derived from laws; in this case, Act
No. 1757 is the enforced law. Leung Bens winnings were made illicit and according to the law;
in effect, OBrien was vested with the right to recover his losses. Leung Ben thus has the
obligation to return the said amount of 15,000 pesos to its rightful owner as an obligation derived
from law. Considering the conditions, the Supreme Court held that the certiorari must fail and
the proceedings against Leung Ben to compel him to return the money to OBrien.

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