- 15 - for corporate purposes of Renaissance. Respondent's only witness to this transaction was Mr. Klein. Mr. Klein testified that the "assorted jewelry items" on the F&M receipts probably referred to personal jewelry items; i.e., one-of-a-kind creations. He also testified that the receipt dated December 12, 1983, listing the purchase as "14K gold watch cases" was not the usual type of invoice form used by F&M and that F&M did not sell watch cases. This testimony, without more, is not clear and convincing evidence of diversion of corporate funds by petitioner. Even if the payment was for personal jewelry items, petitioner contends that they were business gifts on behalf of Renaissance. Mr. Klein testified that it is common practice in the jewelry industry to give personal jewelry items as business gifts and that petitioner sometimes picked up jewelry items for other people. If the items were Renaissance business gifts, then the corporate funds used to pay for them were not diverted for noncorporate purposes, and petitioner would have no embezzlement income with respect to them. One way to prove that the payment was not for corporate purposes is to show that Renaissance received no value in return for the payment. However, respondent presented no evidence to show this. Another way to show that petitioner diverted corporate funds for noncorporate purposes is to show that Renaissance public shareholders took legal action against him for the misappropriation. However, respondent also offered noPage: Previous 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011