- 46 - testified at trial that U.S. Agri was operating commercial jojoba farms on 906 acres of land in Desert Center and Blythe, California, in addition to the 400 acres U.S. Agri had allegedly set aside for R&D partnerships focused on jojoba. Respondent's expert witness, Chen, visited U.S. Agri's greenhouse and laboratory in Riverside, California. The actions of Kellen, including irregular visits to the plantation site and forwarding three of U.S. Agri's progress reports on the status of the maturing jojoba plants to the limited partners of Utah I, were merely the actions of an interested investor keeping up with his investment. There is no evidence that Kellen ever inspected U.S. Agri's laboratory or greenhouse. There is no evidence before this Court regarding the details of U.S. Agri's operating budget other than testimony from Pace that none of U.S. Agri's losses were allocated to Utah I. Utah I had no employees. See Harris v. Commissioner, 16 F.3d at 80 n.10. Petitioner presented no evidence that Utah I exercised any control over the activity on the jojoba plantation. The evidence before us establishes that Utah I's role was to distribute the money invested by the limited partners to U.S. Agri pursuant to agreement. U.S. Agri then used these funds to finance activities on the 80-acre plantation site, including planting the jojoba, tilling and leveling the land, and installing the irrigation system. These funds were also used byPage: Previous 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011