- 363 -
In any event, Kanter failed to prove that he was not the
true grantor of BRT in 1986 and 1987. As indicated by the 1987,
1988, and 1989 BRT returns and other evidence, BRT had
substantial assets that generated millions of dollars of gross
income. These assets were not generated solely from the $2,500
allegedly contributed by Ritch at the inception of BRT. Rather,
the evidence shows that Kanter funded BRT with his personal
service income or assets earned by his personal services.
We think Kanter, not the named trustee, Weisgal, controlled
the administration of the Bea Ritch Trusts. Weisgal was an
officer of convenience for various Kanter-related entities. He
signed transactional documents without knowledge of the
underlying transactions. In our view, Weisgal was also a trustee
of convenience with respect to BRT. He was not an independent
trustee but was subservient to the wishes, control, and
domination of Kanter.
Although Weisgal testified that Kanter did not have the
final say on investments of BRT, the fact that BRT primarily
invested in entities, such as OBA, Century Industries, Holding
Co., IRA, and Windy City, which enabled Kanter to assign his
income or assets for the benefit of BRT, shows that Kanter did
more than recommend investments.
Furthermore, IRA and Holding Co. (and their subsidiaries)
distributed millions of dollars of their funds to various
Page: Previous 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011