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opinion; (2) Ulanoff was not an economics or plastics expert; (3)
Becker did not know whether Burstein was an engineer; and (4)
Burstein was a client of Miller's and was not an independent
expert. In addition, Ulanoff and Burstein each owned an interest
in more than one partnership which owned Sentinel Recyclers as
part of the Plastics Recycling Program.
At trial, Becker explained that in the course of his
practice when evaluating prospective investments for clients, he
focuses on the economics of the transaction and investigates
whether there is a need or market for the product or service.
With respect to the Partnership transactions, the record
indicates that Becker overlooked several red flags regarding the
economic viability and market for the Sentinel EPE recyclers.
The offering memoranda for the Partnership transactions warned
that there was no established market for the Sentinel EPE
recyclers. Becker never saw any marketing plans for selling the
pellets or leasing the recyclers. He accepted representations by
PI personnel that they would be marketing the recyclers to
clients and that there was a sufficient base of end-users for the
machines, yet he never saw PI's client list. At the time of the
closing of the Partnerships, Becker did not know who the end-
users were or whether there were any end-users actually committed
to the transaction.
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