Opinion ID: 352530
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Tucson lease money.

Text: 41 First, Summa claims that the uncontradicted evidence establishes that Maheu embezzled money which he was supposed to use to make lease payments to the Tucson Airport Authority (TAA) under a lease of a hangar. Summa executive Raymond Holliday and Maheu had worked out an arrangement under which Maheu was to pay the monthly rental to TAA on Summa's behalf. A few days before each payment was due, Summa sent Maheu at his Los Angeles office a check payable to Robert A. Maheu Associates in the exact amount required to cover that month's payment. Maheu testified that the checks were deposited in his firm's general account; and whenever there was a sufficient amount of money in the account, he made payments to TAA. Some were quite late. When the lease terminated, Maheu was holding approximately $74,000 of this money and he was roughly nine months behind on the rental payments. It was not until September, 1967, or more than nine months after the payment was due, that Maheu made the final rental payment to TAA on Summa's behalf. 42 Maheu testified that there was no explicit arrangement between himself and Summa which required him to use the precise check he received from Summa to pay the rent, or to pay the rent when it became due. He testified that he did not view the checks as entrusted money but rather as payments made to enable him to render a service, i. e., to see that the rent was eventually paid. He maintained that he could reasonably believe that he had the right to use the money so long as the rent was ultimately paid. 43 As improbable as Maheu's version may initially sound, it must be viewed in light of the overall relationship between Maheu and Hughes. Our description is based on Maheu's testimony. Maheu was first retained by Hughes in 1954 or 1955. Maheu's duties over the years were diverse, to say the least; but, basically, he served as a general troubleshooter. Hughes several times expressed his intention that Maheu would become his alter ego, representing him before government agencies and maintaining contacts with the outside world from which Hughes had withdrawn. From 1961 through 1965, Maheu functioned as Hughes' personal representative at all levels of government and was involved in a wide range of business transactions. Despite his extensive work for Hughes, Maheu had never had a face-to-face conversation with his employer. All communication was by telephone or written memoranda. Maheu was often given authority to handle projects as he thought necessary and the financial arrangements which he maintained with Hughes and Summa were often rather loosely handled. The Tucson rent arrangement was of that type. While we may question Maheu's story that he honestly believed that he had authority to use the rent checks, still, in light of this rather unusual business relationship, his version does raise a factual question for the jury. 44