- 3 - Asian investors. At that time, the real estate experience of petitioner’s father consisted of the ownership of a 7-Eleven franchise for approximately 22 years and the purchase and sale of two commercial properties and his personal residence. The proposed arrangement was for petitioner’s father to locate potential real estate investments and advise petitioner on their profitability. Petitioner’s father agreed to drive around Southern California and assist in locating investment opportunities. In exchange, petitioner orally agreed to pay2 petitioner’s father $30,000 annually for his services. C. Maintenance of Records In December 1996, petitioner opened a checking account with Bank of America (Bank of America account). The Bank of America account was petitioner’s personal account. During the same month, petitioner’s father received a check drawn from petitioner’s Bank of America account in the amount of $30,000. At this time, petitioner’s father did not have a checking account. Therefore, in January 1997, petitioner’s father asked Mark M. Hathaway (Mr. Hathaway), his tax attorney and C.P.A., to deposit the check in Mr. Hathaway’s client trust account (trust account). From the trust account, Mr. Hathaway made payments as 2 We use the words “pay,” “paid,” and “payment” in our findings of fact for convenience only. We do not intend our use of these terms to indicate any conclusion about the substance of the transactions at issue.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next
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