- 32 - C. Brian J. Seery In early 1982, Brian J. Seery (Mr. Seery) began assisting Kersting program participants with issues arising from the audit of their income tax returns. On April 14, 1982, Mr. Kersting issued a letter to Kersting program participants informing them that they soon would receive a letter from the Commissioner proposing to disallow their Kersting program interest deductions. Mr. Kersting advised program participants that they should not remit any amount to the Internal Revenue Service until their liability was determined in court. On February 15, 1983, Mr. Kersting issued a letter to Kersting program participants stating in pertinent part: "I trust that you have placed the tax retrievals which we have accomplished for you over the years into profitable investments and that you are receiving a reasonable rate of return. You will not lose any ground if your funds earn at least a return equal to the interest charges imposed by the IRS from time to time." On March 1, 1985, Mr. Kersting issued a letter to Kersting program participants stating that he had retained Mr. Seery to represent them in the Tax Court at no charge to the individual petitioners.19 The letter requested that each Kersting program participant provide written authorization for Mr. Seery's 19 Initially, Mr. Kersting or the entities that he controlled paid the legal fees associated with the Tax Court litigation. Later, however, some Kersting program participants began paying $100 per month to a legal defense fund managed by Mr. Kersting.Page: Previous 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011