- 18 -
reported to you." Mr. Kersting further informed participants
that the Internal Revenue Service had "accomplished only a
temporary disruption of our operations" and that his office was
"back to almost normal workings". All records seized in the
January 22, 1981, search were returned to Mr. Kersting by 1987.
In January 1983, Mr. Kersting filed suit in the U.S.
District Court for the District of Hawaii (docket No. CV-83-0018-
MP) against the United States, the Internal Revenue Service, and
certain Internal Revenue Service agents alleging, inter alia,
that the January 1981 search was illegal and that the defendants
had abused the grand jury process by shopping for a favorable
grand jury, by violating grand jury secrecy, and by using the
grand jury as a civil investigation tool. Through a number of
unpublished orders, the District Court and the Court of Appeals
for the Ninth Circuit rejected Mr. Kersting's claims. See
Kersting v. United States, 865 F. Supp. 669, 674-675 (D. Haw.
1994).
C. Assessments of Kersting Promoter Penalties
Mr. Kersting's tax shelter activities did not lead to an
indictment. However, in October 1989, the Commissioner assessed
promoter penalties of $1,545,201 and $2,330,000 against
Mr. Kersting, pursuant to sections 6700 and 6701, respectively,
for the years 1982 through 1988.9 The District Court for the
9 Sec. 6700 provides for imposition of a penalty of a
percentage of the gross income derived from promoting an abusive
tax shelter, and sec. 6701 provides for imposition of a penalty
(continued...)
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