- 31 -
gross income reported on his 1989 and 1990 returns. Finally, we
find it simply unfathomable that petitioner would never have
counted the money in the canister in all the years he purportedly
hoarded it, or that he would purchase the Corvette largely with
cash without first ascertaining that the canister held a
sufficient amount. Cf. Phillips v. Commissioner, supra.
a. Petitioner's testimony was inconsistent with his prior
statements to respondent's agent.
Petitioner's cash hoard testimony, when juxtaposed against
the statements that petitioner made to Hensley, is totally
inconsistent. Although petitioner told Hensley that the drawer
to the desk containing the money was locked, petitioner testified
that it was unlocked. Moreover, while initially claiming to be
15 when his great-grandfather gave him the money, petitioner
testified that he was actually 11 years old, after being
confronted by the fact that his great-grandfather had died
several years before petitioner turned 15. Furthermore,
petitioner told Hensley that the cash was "crunched down inside
the container", yet at trial petitioner claimed that the money
was "just loosely laying" in the canister, and that some of the
cash was wrapped in rubber bands "laying out flat". Moreover,
despite testifying that he never transferred the money out of the
canister except to place a small portion in his sock drawer,
petitioner told Hensley that he had placed the cash in a shoebox
in 1987 or 1988.
Page: Previous 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011