- 25 - explanations of behavior are a badge of fraud. Petitioner notes on brief that the Pierpont Account was needed to prevent Mr. Freidus from making unauthorized purchases on petitioner's behalf at art auctions. However, this self-serving assertion is not supported by the record. Petitioner's use of nominee corporations is further evidence of asset concealment. See Jones v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1994-230, affd. without published opinion 68 F.3d 460 (4th Cir. 1995) (finding that a taxpayer's use of alter ego corporations to conduct personal as well as business transactions was evidence of asset concealment). The record shows that the corporate accounts were mere repositories for proceeds derived from petitioner's income producing activities. In addition to proceeds from sales of her Golden Maharajah Diamond and Picasso Ceramics which were deposited into the Ivory Land account, petitioner also deposited proceeds from horse sales into the Ivory Ranch account. Since petitioner's nominee corporations did not file returns, tracing and attributing income to petitioner would be severely impeded. Petitioner argues that the corporations were formed solely to hold title to real property and to insulate her from personal liability. Once again, petitioner's assertion is contradicted by the record. The parties have stipulated that the corporate accounts were used to pay petitioner's personal expenses. Petitioner also used corporate funds to invest in fine art and toPage: Previous 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Next
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