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August 19, 1993 fax (in which the Attiehs represent that a
payment will be made in September). While it is clear that
petitioner and the Attiehs remained in close contact through the
time of trial, petitioner would have us believe that all contact
with the Attiehs after the August 19, 1993, fax was oral only.
On this record, we do not believe that the fax correspondence
between petitioner and the Attiehs ceased in August 1993. See
Tokarski v. Commissioner, 87 T.C. 74, 77 (1986). We can conclude
only that petitioner was either unable or unwilling to produce
later faxes that might bear more directly on the prospects for
recovery in 1994.20 Petitioner bears the burden of proving that
the Attieh Bros. loan became worthless in 1994. The last piece
of documentary evidence shows that the Attiehs were still
attempting to make repayment arrangements into September of 1993.
Even if we believed no later faxes were sent, the testimony given
by petitioner and Thair is too vague to provide any basis to
conclude that the situation as documented in August 1993
specifically changed in 1994. On this record, we conclude that
petitioner has failed to show that the Attieh Bros. loan became
worthless in 1994.
20 The numerous instances in the record where petitioner
gave conflicting statements in connection with the casualty loss
have damaged his credibility with respect to all issues in the
case.
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