- 40 -
businessmen and acquisition specialists, they would or should
have learned that the Plastics Recycling deal was a sham. If
they had persisted in inquiring whether the recycling machines
were "technologically vulnerable", the expert testimony in these
cases leads to the conclusion that they would have learned that
the machinery in question was not unique but that similar or
better products were readily available in the market for a
fraction of the cost built into the Plastics Recycling
transactions.
Corporate executives as sophisticated and experienced as
petitioners either learned or should have learned the source of
Becker's valuation information when they put him "through the
drill" and he reported to them "precisely what [he] had done to
investigate or analyze the transaction." There was a glaring gap
in the valuation information Becker claims to have furnished to
petitioners. Petitioners were peculiarly well qualified to
understand that they were buying into an investment credit tax
shelter and claiming tax benefits based on the underlying value
of machinery, but neither they nor the accountant who brought the
deal to them had checked out the value of that machinery with a
reliable, qualified, independent source. We recognize that
Snyder, as the senior person, may have been more experienced in
acquisitions and in investigation than Busch. Nevertheless, both
were experienced corporate executives. We do not think they were
Page: Previous 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011