-11- been reached even in the absence of the alleged fraud upon the Court). Thus, petitioner must demonstrate, not only that her purported signature was intended to mislead the Court but more importantly that it materially affected the outcome of the case. Drobny v. Commissioner, supra at 678. Although the parties agree that petitioner did not sign the stipulated decision, petitioner has failed to introduce any evidence upon the issue of whether this had any material effect upon the stipulated decision. Absent the demonstration that the purported deception created an improper influence that affected the Court's decision in this case, there can be no "fraud upon the Court". See Drobny v. Commissioner, supra; Chao v. Commissioner, supra. Petitioner relies on Toscano v. Commissioner, supra, to support her fraud upon the Court claim. However, the facts of Toscano are distinguishable from those herein. The relevant facts in Toscano are as follows: Josephine Toscano (Josephine Zelasko) moved to vacate a stipulated decision of this Court 15 years after entry upon the grounds that she was not and had not been the wife of Mr. Toscano. Mr. Toscano was not married when he filed what purported to be a joint return, having either forged the signature of Ms. Zelasko as his spouse or coerced her to sign the joint return against her will. Mr. Toscano allegedly perpetrated three frauds. First, he allegedly defrauded the Commissioner by filing a fraudulent joint income tax return claiming he owed less tax than was due by law. Second, he allegedly defrauded Ms. Zelasko byPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011