Tommy Ho Ching Cheng - Page 17

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          fraud.  See Castillo v. Commissioner, 84 T.C. 405, 409-410                  
          (1985).  Respondent also established that petitioner failed to              
          make estimated tax payments in 1996.                                        
               In an attempt to establish the remaining badges of fraud,              
          respondent relies almost entirely on petitioner’s plea agreement,           
          the plea hearing transcript, and testimony directed towards those           
          documents.  However, at trial, respondent informed the Court that           
          the documents were under the seal of the U.S. District Court for            
          the Central District of California.  Respondent further stated              
          that the seal could have been removed but was not because                   
          respondent’s counsel failed to realize the seal was in place                
          until the week before trial.  Respondent provided no authority              
          for our using those documents while they are under seal.  The               
          Court informed respondent that it would respect the seal of a               
          Federal District Court and would not consider the plea agreement            
          or the plea hearing transcript.  In an attempt to get into                  
          evidence the information contained in those documents, respondent           
          called Special Agent Bautista as a witness.  Specifically,                  
          Special Agent Bautista testified to admissions purportedly made             
          by petitioner during the plea hearing.  However, the testimony              
          was struck from the record because it was based on Special Agent            
          Bautista’s reading of the sealed documents.  The purported                  
          admissions were not made directly to Special Agent Bautista, and            
          he had no independent recollection of the admissions.                       






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