- 26 -26 Mrs. Zaban was also the self-described caretaker of petitioners' personal checking account and thus was aware of both the family income and expenses. See Zimmerman v. Commissioner, supra; Alberts v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1986-483. She was also charged with maintaining the corporate checking account for Zaban Enterprises in which she made deposits and signed salary and distribution checks to her husband, as well as drafting most other corporate checks. See Morris v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1992-635, affd. without published opinion 15 F.3d 1079 (5th Cir. 1994). As a consequence, she was aware of the unusual deposits from Mr. Fidati and Westco. This role in the family's personal and business finances gave Mrs. Zaban the opportunity to learn about whether reported income was consistent with Mr. Zaban's success in his business ventures. Mrs. Zaban's testimony that she was unaware of Mr. Zaban's success in his business activities is simply not believable. Most critically though, Mrs. Zaban was on notice of the lavish lifestyle she was enjoying. See Estate of Jackson v. Commissioner, 72 T.C. 356, 361 (1979); Ayer v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1989-614. During 1986, 1987, and 1988, petitioners had reported gross income before adjustments of $66,195, $101,963, and $106,129, respectively, and were still living in their modest home. Yet during that time petitioners had acquired and accumulated a condominium share and seven automobiles, two of which were new Mercedes Benzes; paid for their daughter's entire private collegePage: Previous 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Next
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