told him that he was in the process of starting a real estate tax consulting business and offered to help him obtain tax reductions on his property. He told Lavin that Kelly had "handled everything" for him in the past, but when Lavin informed him that he, not Kelly, was "doing it now," he gave Lavin the permanent index number for his condominium and employed him to obtain an assessment reduction thereon, for which he later paid Lavin a cash fee of $600  an amount representing 25% of the tax savings for the balance of the 1976 through 1979 quadrennial tax period. He did not become aware of the scheme until he heard news reports and received a telephone call from the Federal Bureau of Investigation concerningit in late 1979. It was at about the same time that he had a meeting with Lavin at a restaurant and, in the course of a conversation concerning the previous assessment reductions, he told him that he had paid Kelly nearly $24,000 in connection with the dealership valuation. Lavin then informed him that he should have paid only $11,000 or $12,000, i.e., one-half of the first year's savings. Although Ottinger also testified at trial that he did not become aware of Lavin's involvement in the scheme until late 1979, he acknowledged having testified in a Federal criminal case against Kelly that he was aware of Lavin's role at the time of this meeting.
After providing a general description of the mechanics of the scheme, Lavin further testified that