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Trust for $29.70 per share. Mr. Hoffman had received his stock
as a gift or inheritance from Mark Weitzenhoffer. Mr. Hoffman
sold his stock to the trust without investigating the
reasonableness of the sale price, without hiring an appraiser,
and without negotiation.
On June 16, 1994, Ms. Branch, who was approximately 67 years
old, sold her 6,960 shares of Seminole stock to Irma Rosenthal's
estate for $29.70 per share. Ms. Branch had inherited all of
these shares. Ms. Branch sold her stock after writing Max
Weitzenhoffer complaining that she never received Seminole's
annual report and that she never knew about its operation.
Ms. Branch regularly complained to Max Weitzenhoffer that she was
not kept abreast of Seminole's business. He then wrote her
offering to buy her shares for $29.70 each. He represented in
the letter that Merrill Lynch had appraised the stock at that
price, that he had offered the same price to Mr. Hoffman, and
that Mr. Hoffman had accepted. Ms. Branch sold her stock without
having it appraised, without investigating its worth, and without
negotiation. She had no documentary information except for the
letter from Max Weitzenhoffer.
A Federal estate tax return was filed for the estate on
July 14, 1994, electing and using the alternate valuation date of
April 14, 1994. The return valued the estate's 46,020 class A
shares of Seminole at $29.77 per share, which, the return stated,
was also their value on the date of death. The return stated:
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