- 39 -
reputation and background of PI and persons involved in the
transactions.
Despite his lack of knowledge regarding the product, the
target market, and the technical aspects at the heart of the
Plastics Recycling transactions, Becker did not hire an expert in
plastics materials or plastics recycling, or recommend that his
clients do so. The only independent person having any connection
with the plastics industry with whom Becker spoke was Canno. A
client of Becker Co., Canno was a part owner and the production
manager of Equitable Bag Co., a manufacturer of paper and plastic
bags. Becker spoke to Canno about the recyclers and PI, but did
not hire him or pay him for any advice. Canno did not visit PI's
plant in Hyannis, see or test a Sentinel EPE recycler, or see or
test any of the output from a Sentinel EPE recycler or the
recycled resin pellets after they were further processed by PI.
According to Becker, Canno endorsed the Partnership transactions
after reviewing the offering materials. Asked at trial if Canno
had done any type of comparables analysis, Becker replied, "I
don't know what Mr. Canno did."
Becker visited the PI plant in Hyannis, toured the facility,
viewed a Sentinel EPE recycler in operation, and saw products
that were produced from recycled plastic. Grelsamer testified
that because Becker was not an engineer, he was sure that
Becker's visit "could not have meant too much to him" and he
Page: Previous 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011