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investment, petitioners relied solely upon Mr. Trimboli’s advice,
they consulted no one else, and they made no independent
investigation or inquiry into its legitimacy.
Mr. Trimboli had been working at a public accounting firm
since 1976. In 1983, Mr. Trimboli left the firm in order to
start his own business along with one partner, Gerard Cannito, in
which he began offering services as a financial planner as well
as a certified public accountant. Prior to leaving the firm, Mr.
Trimboli had no experience as a financial planner. By the end of
1983, in addition to having earned a bachelor’s degree in
accounting, Mr. Trimboli was in the process of completing courses
required to become a certified financial planner through the
College of Financial Planning.
Mr. Trimboli learned of jojoba investments in early 1983.
In June 1983 and again in September 1983, Mr. Trimboli traveled
to California to investigate the partnership as a potential
investment opportunity. He traveled to Blythe, California, and
to Bakersfield, California, where there were plantations on which
jojoba was already being grown. He also visited a research
facility located at the University of California at Riverside
which was involved in the growing of jojoba. On these trips, Mr.
Trimboli met with Robert Cole, who would become the general
2(...continued)
partnership for taxable year 1983.
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