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of an automotive leasing and rental business, and certification
in the International Automotive Appraisers Association.
Mr. Sobrero’s appraisal of petitioners’ van consisted of a
visual inspection. Mr. Sobrero, however, did not take into
account in his appraisal the mileage of the van.
On December 16, 2000, 6 weeks after receiving the donated
van from petitioners, the van was sold at auction by the Vehicle
Donation Processing Center, Inc., for $6,900.
Negligence Penalty and Petitioners’ Three Trusts
During 1999 and 2000, petitioners were engaged in the
wholesale furniture business in Nevada and northern California.
For more than a decade before 1997, petitioners operated their
furniture business as a corporation called NHUSS, Inc. In 1997,
petitioners dissolved NHUSS, Inc., and began operating their
furniture business through a trust called the NHUSS Trust.
In a brochure distributed by National Trust Service (NTS),
founded and promoted by one Roy Fritz, NTS claimed that taxpayers
could “with [their] custom designed NTS Trust Document * * *
regain [their] inalienable rights and freedoms” by attending an
NTS workshop where they would learn to create their own trusts
that purportedly would protect taxpayers’ assets while lowering
or eliminating their tax liabilities. Petitioners paid
approximately $10,500 to attend the NTS workshop. Mr. Fritz
claimed to be a lawyer and “world authority on complex trusts.”
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Last modified: May 25, 2011