- 43 -
Becker plainly had a financial interest in SAB Reclamation,
and the SAB recycling transactions generally. Becker received
fees in excess of $500,000 with respect to the SAB Recycling
Partnerships, $110,000 of which derived from SAB Reclamation.
Becker also received fees for investment advice from some
individual investors, though not from petitioners herein. In
addition, Becker Co. received fees from the SAB Recycling
Partnerships for preparing their partnership returns. As Becker
himself testified, potential investors could not have read the
offering materials and been ignorant of the financial benefits
accruing to him.
d. Conclusion as to Petitioners' Alleged
Reliance on Becker
Petitioners in these cases are well educated and
accomplished engineers, successful businessmen, and sophisticated
investors. Grelsamer and Morgan earned engineering degrees
respectively from RPI and MIT. Morgan applied his engineering
skills in the production of munitions and later owned and
operated his own business making components, assemblies, and
subassemblies for engine manufacturers in the aircraft industry,
including United Technology and Lockheed. Grelsamer's
engineering education and ability resulted in his obtaining
employment at Carrier, which he described as "the leading air
conditioning and refrigeration corporation in the United States,
if not the world," and several years later he became a
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