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distributions into an individual retirement account or annuity.9
Petitioner’s contention is misplaced.
In the instant case, petitioner did not satisfy the basic
distribution requirements for an early distribution from a tax-
sheltered annuity. Although petitioner indicated in his
Separation Request forms that he separated from service, the
truth of the matter is that he has been employed by Memphis City
Schools continuously since 1980. Consequently, we find that
petitioner did not have a separation from service to permit an
early distribution. In addition, we question petitioner’s
statement with respect to his claim on his Separation Request
forms for the first and second policy that the reason for the
distribution was financial hardship. We question his statement
for two reasons: (1) Petitioner has a history of falsifying the
reasons for distribution under the plan (see discussion, supra);
and (2) clearly, if petitioner was suffering from financial
hardship, he would have used the distribution to relieve that
financial burden rather than simply attempting to roll over tax-
free the early withdrawal into a purported IRA or annuity. The
9 The factual predicate for petitioner’s contention is
rather murky. Petitioner implies that he deposited the
distributions into his annuity account with Aviva Life Insurance
Co. (Aviva), which he opened in 2001. Petitioner, however,
presented no documentary evidence, other than an Oct. 1, 2004
general account summary statement of his Aviva account,
establishing that the distributions at issue were transferred to
this account. This aspect, however, is not dispositive of the
issue before us. See discussion, infra.
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