3.3 Badges of Fraud

The Court of Appeals in Berger v. Hi-Gear Tire and Auto Supply, Inc., 257 Md. 470, 476-77, 263 A.2d 507, 510 (1970) adopted the traditional “badges of fraud” indicia as the test in Maryland:

“Relative to indicia or badges of fraud 37 Am.Jur.2d, Fraudulent Conveyances, § 10 (1968) states:

‘The facts which are recognized indicia of fraud are numerous, and no court could pretend to anticipate or catalog them all. Among the general recognized badges of fraud are the insolvency or indebtedness of the transferor, lack of consideration of the conveyance, relationship between the transferor and the transferee, the pendency or threat of litigation, secrecy or concealment, departure from the usual method of business, the transfer of the debtor’s entire estate, the reservation of benefit to the transferor, and the retention by the debtor of possession of the property.

Although it has been said that a single badge of fraud may stamp a transaction as fraudulent, it is more generally held that while one circumstance recognized as a badge of fraud may not alone prove fraud, where there is a concurrence of several such badges of fraud an inference of fraud may be warranted.'”