- 293 -
and/or attorney's fees incurred for representation at the
evidentiary hearing.119
We note that Messrs. Sims and McWade are not solely
responsible for the accrual of additional statutory interest in
these cases. Petitioners have always had the ability to stop the
accrual of additional interest by remitting a payment in the
nature of a cash bond. See sec. 6213(b)(4). However,
Mr. Kersting advised program participants that they should not
remit any amount to the Internal Revenue Service until their
liability was determined in court, and many of the nontest case
petitioners appear to have relied upon that advice. We further
observe that Mr. Kersting's interference in the Chicoine and
Hallett settlement negotiations, and his recommendation that
program participants reject the 20-percent settlement offer, can
be viewed as indirect causes of the accrual of additional
interest in many of these cases that would have otherwise
settled.
On balance, we conclude that Messrs. Sims' and McWade's
misconduct in failing to disclose the Thompson and Cravens
settlements to nontest case petitioners who signed piggyback
agreements, and in violating an implied term of the piggyback
agreements, does not rise to the level of materiality that would
119 We observe that a number of petitioners, including the
Thompsons and the Cravenses, paid their deficiencies and interest
in late 1986 in order to stop the running of interest and to
obtain the full benefit of deductions for interest that would
have been subject to phaseout if paid in later years.
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