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as part of the divorce settlement); and (4) loans. In view of the
compensation petitioner earned, to suggest that an employer would
advance funds in excess of $2 million to an employee to satisfy an
employee’s divorce obligations is beyond implausible.
We must determine the credibility of a witness on the basis
of objective facts, the reasonableness of the testimony, and the
demeanor of the witness. Quock Ting v. United States, 140 U.S.
417, 420-421 (1891); Wood v. Commissioner, 338 F.2d 602, 605 (9th
Cir. 1964), affg. 41 T.C. 593 (1964); Dozier v. Commissioner, T.C.
Memo. 2000-255. Petitioner’s testimony was inconsistent,
contradictory, implausible, and not credible.
Ms. Chen is of Chinese ancestry and resides in Taiwan. She
cannot read or write English and testified through an
interpreter.18 Ms. Chen’s testimony, even giving due regard to the
language barrier, revealed a lack of basic knowledge about her
business relationship with petitioner. She testified that she had
been the CEO of NCPL since her husband, Mr. Seki, died on October
6, 2001, and that NCPL had only two employees, Susan Lung and
petitioner. Although she was allegedly the CEO of NCPL, a company
with only two employees, she did not know what petitioner’s salary
18 Ms. Chen’s attorney, Philip N. Jones, explained to the
Court that it was “very difficult or impossible for her to tell
what a document is about because of the language barrier”. He
also stated that “the language barrier for my client is quite
severe, and when she is handed a document in English, it’s as if
I was handed a document printed in Chinese characters. She
cannot read it.”
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