- 28 -
deposited within four years, or by around 1987, all of the
$200,000 in cash which Mr. Mifsud informed Mr. Slater petitioners
brought with them to Florida in 1980. If the Court were to
accept Mr. Mifsud's testimony as to when petitioners started
making bank deposits from their alleged cash hoard and the
amounts and frequency of such deposits, such alleged cash hoard
would have been fully deposited into petitioners' bank accounts
well before 1992, the first year at issue, regardless whether it
is assumed that petitioners had $332,000 or $200,000 in cash when
they moved from Michigan to Florida in 1980.
Another illustration of the implausibility, inconsistency,
and lack of credibility of Mr. Mifsud's testimony relates to his
claim at trial that he maintained a cash hoard because he was
distrustful of banks, a distrust, according to his testimony,
that he learned from his parents. The record belies Mr. Mifsud's
claim that he was distrustful of banks. At all relevant times,
petitioners maintained multiple bank accounts into which they
deposited in the aggregate large amounts of cash. For example,
petitioners had $220,870.67 on deposit at Barnett Bank on De-
cember 31, 1991. In addition, during 1992, 1993, and 1994, they
made bank deposits totaling $197,097.69, $204,944, and $288,841,
respectively. Furthermore, at all relevant times, Mr. Mifsud was
knowledgeable about Federal deposit insurance, which protects
bank deposits of one person up to $100,000. He also was knowl-
Page: Previous 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011