- 20 - petitioners' income tax returns: "petitioner Edward Kelly justifiably relied upon the expertise of his Certified Public Accountant and, taking the matter far beyond normal prudence and care, counsel for the taxpayer in the Groetzinger case." The record does not disclose the details of Mr. Kelly's consultation with Baymiller. We know from Auerbach's testimony, however, what information Auerbach elicited from Mr. Kelly, and how it influenced the accountant's advice. In concluding that ordinary loss treatment was warranted, Auerbach apparently attached decisive importance to Mr. Kelly's statement that registration as an options principal qualified him to establish his own business as an options dealer. The petition in docket No. 28233-91 contains a similar allegation: "Kelly is a licensed options dealer". Considering the importance of this allegation to Mr. Kelly's theory of the case, one would have expected him to present evidence verifying its accuracy. He did not. When Mr. Kelly was asked as a witness to explain what the status of registered options principal entails, he described responsibilities for reviewing customer accounts and monitoring compliance with institutional rules. On brief Mr. Kelly asserts only that he was "licensed in the securities business", and in his account of how Auerbach formed his opinion based on the information Mr. Kelly supplied, we find a curious qualification: "Mr. Auerbach decided that, in view of (A) Mr. Kelly's ROPPage: Previous 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Next
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