- 7 - proceeding, petitioner has never denied that he fraudulently misappropriated money from the Kieffers and that it was wrong to do so, although he alleges that these misdeeds were an isolated aberration in his conduct. Petitioner maintains that he always intended to repay the Kieffers with interest for their “investments”, and that he eventually did so, with liquidated damages, albeit pursuant to a consent judgment. (He alleges that he would have repaid the Kieffers sooner but lacked the resources, having gambled himself into bankruptcy and being legally unable to withdraw funds from his Government retirement program.5) Although it betrays a sore lack of judgment (perhaps aggravated by a gambling compulsion) and does nothing to absolve him of wrongdoing, petitioner’s testimony in this regard did not strike us as being dishonest or devious.6 Petitioner testified that when he filed his tax returns for 1995 and 1996, he believed that he was not required to report the Kieffers’ payments to him as taxable income, “Because I 5 Petitioner alleges that he did not list the Kieffers on his bankruptcy petition because he intended to repay them in full and did not seek to have his obligations to them discharged in bankruptcy. 6 We are mindful that in sentencing petitioner for mail fraud, the presiding judge in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey stated: “It’s clear to me that that unfortunate circumstance [of petitioner’s defrauding the Kieffers] was the result of a gambling compulsion, which doesn’t excuse it, however you have made complete restitution to the Kiefers [sic], you have come forward and accepted responsibility and in an extraordinary way”.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011