Anwar et al v. Fairfield Greenwich Limited et al

Filing 1558

FILING ERROR - DEFICIENT DOCKET ENTRY - AFFIDAVIT of Jason Rabe in Support re: #1556 MOTION for Attorney Fees and Final Approval of Settlement.. Document filed by Harel Insurance Company, Ltd., Pacific West Health Medical Center, Inc. Employee's Retirement Trust, Securities & Investment Company Bahrain, St. Stephen's School. (Attachments: #1 Exhibit A, #2 Exhibit B, #3 Exhibit C, #4 Exhibit D)(Barrett, David) Modified on 3/18/2016 (db).

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
PASHA S. ANWAR, et al.,
Plaintiffs,
Master File No. 09-cv-118 (VM) (FM)

v.
FAIRFIELD GREENWICH LIMITED, et al.,
Defendants.

AFFIDAVIT OF JASON RABE REGARDING
CLASS NOTICE AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE PWC SETTLEMENT

STATE OF MINNESOTA
COUNTY OF HENNEPIN

)
) ss:
)

JASON RABE, being duly sworn, deposes and says:
1.

I am a Program Manager at Rust Consulting, Inc. (“Rust”). Rust was appointed

Claims Administrator pursuant to paragraph 8 of this Court’s Order Preliminarily Approving
Settlement and Providing for Notice of Proposed Settlement, dated January 7, 2016 (the
“Preliminary Approval Order”) in connection with the PwC Settlement (“PwC Settlement”)
obtained in the above-titled action (the “Action”). I have the responsibility for overseeing all
aspects of the notice and claims administration services performed by Rust with respect to the
PwC Settlement.
2.

I respectfully submit this affidavit in order to provide the Court with information

regarding, among other things: (i) the mailing of the Notice of Proposed Settlement of Class
Action and Settlement Fairness Hearing, and Motion for Attorneys’ Fees and Reimbursement of
Expenses (the “PwC Notice”) and Proof of Claim and Release Form (the “PwC Proof of

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Claim”); and (ii) the publication of the Summary Notice. I am over 21 years of age and am not a
party to this Action. I have personal knowledge of the facts set forth herein and, if called as a
witness, could and would testify competently thereto.
MAILING OF THE NOTICE AND PROOF OF CLAIM
3.

The Court’s Preliminary Approval Order required Rust to, among other things, mail

the Court-approved PwC Notice and PwC Proof of Claim (together, the “PwC Notice Packet”) to
potential Settlement Class Members (“Class Members”). A true and correct copy of the PwC
Notice Packet is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
4.

Rust, as the Court approved Claims Administrator of the settlements in this Action

with the Fairfield Greenwich (“FG”) Defendants as approved by the Court by Order dated March
25, 2013 (the “FG Settlement”), GlobeOp Financial Services LLC (“GlobeOp”) as approved by
the Court by Order dated November 22, 2013 (the “GlobeOp Settlement”) and the Citco
Defendants as approved by the Court by Order dated November 20, 2015 (the “Citco
Settlement”), was provided the names and addresses of persons and entities who were record
owners of shares or limited partnership interests in Fairfield Sentry Limited, Fairfield Sigma
Limited, Fairfield Lambda Limited, Greenwich Sentry, L.P., and Greenwich Sentry Partners,
L.P. (collectively the “Funds”) as of December 10, 2008.
5.

Since the mailings of Notice Packets in the FG, GlobeOp and Citco Settlements,

and during the normal course of administering the FG, GlobeOp and Citco Settlements, Rust has
continually updated the settlement mailing list by:
a. adding names and addresses of potential Class Members received from
financial institutions, brokers and nominees;

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b. updating potential Class Members’ addresses pursuant to their written
requests;
c. updating potential Class Members’ addresses as a result of receiving
forwarding addresses from the United States Postal Service (“USPS”); and
d. updating potential Class Members’ undeliverable addresses as a result of
obtaining new addresses through an information supplier.
6.

In addition to the foregoing, Rust added to the mailing list for the PwC Settlement

the names and addresses of potential Class Members who had filed eligible claims in the FG
and/or GlobeOp Settlements, those who filed claims that were determined to be ineligible but
could be cured by submitting additional information, and those who filed claims in the Citco
Settlement who did not previously file claims in the FG or GlobeOp Settlements.
7.

In preparation for mailing the PwC Notice Packet, Rust electronically scrubbed this

name and address data to ensure adequate addressing and remove duplicative name and address
records.
8.

By means of the foregoing actions, Rust prepared a list of 5,077 name and address

records that were used to mail the PwC Notice Packets. On January 22, 2016, Rust initiated the
process of mailing PwC Notice Packets to the 5,077 potential Class Members.
9.

Through March 16, 2016, Rust has filled requests for an additional 81 PwC Notice

Packets that were received directly from claimants, or from financial institutions, brokers,
nominees and record owners to be forwarded to beneficial owners.

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10.

Through March 16, 2016, Rust has disseminated a total of 5,158 PwC Notice

Packets to potential Class Members.1
PUBLICATION OF THE SUMMARY NOTICE
11.

In accordance with the Preliminary Approval Order, Rust caused the Summary

Notice to be published once each in the international editions of The Wall Street Journal on
February 1 or February 3, 2016. Attached hereto as Exhibit B is a detailed schedule of said
publications and as Exhibit C are samples of the notice as published. Also pursuant to the
Preliminary Approval Order, Rust caused the Summary Notice to be transmitted for worldwide
distribution, including North America, over PR Newswire on February 1, 2016. Attached hereto
as Exhibit D are true and correct copies of the notice as distributed by PR Newswire together
with letters confirming publication of the Summary Notice.
SETTLEMENT WEBSITE
12.

Rust maintains a website, www.FairfieldGreenwichLitigation.com (the “Website”),

that enables Class Members and other individuals to obtain information about the PwC
Settlement, as well as the FG, GlobeOp and Citco Settlements, and to access important
documents related to these Settlements and to the Anwar litigation.
13.

The Website contains a listing of the deadlines for submitting a PwC Proof of

Claim, requesting exclusion from the PwC Settlement Class and objecting to the PwC
Settlement, as well as the date, time and location of the Court’s Settlement Hearing. The
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In addition to the above, Rust is in the process of re-mailing 17 PwC Notice Packets to updated
addresses provided by the USPS, which was almost entirely passing on such information from
foreign postal services. An additional 4 PwC Notice Packets were returned as undeliverable
without forwarding addresses. With respect to the latter, Rust is in the process of locating new
addresses, if available, through an information supplier to which Rust subscribes, and will
promptly re-mail PwC Notice Packets to available updated addresses.

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Website also contains links to the PwC Notice, PwC Proof of Claim, and important Court
documents including the Preliminary Approval Order, PwC Stipulation of Settlement and
decisions and orders of the Court. Since the January 22, 2016 mailing of the PwC Notice Packet,
through March 16, 2016, the Website has had 4,500 hits.
TOLL-FREE TELEPHONE HOTLINE
14.

Rust operates a toll-free telephone hotline [phone]), and a direct dial line

for international callers (1-612-359-7949), with an Interactive Voice Response System (“IVR”)
and live operators to assist potential Class Members with questions about the Settlement. The
IVR and recorded information are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Live operators are
available during regular business hours (Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (EST)).
All calls to the toll-free telephone hotline and direct dial line have been responded to in a timely
manner. Since the mailing of the PwC Notice Packet on January 22, 2016, through March 16,
2016, Rust has received 126 calls on these lines, of which 81 callers requested and spoke with a
live operator for assistance.
REQUESTS FOR EXCLUSION AND CLAIMS RECEIVED TO DATE
15.

The PwC Notice informs Class Members that the deadline for requesting exclusion

from the PwC Settlement Class and filing objections is April 1, 2016, and that the deadline for
filing PwC Proofs of Claim is May 23, 2016. Only requests for exclusion and PwC Proofs of
Claim are submitted to Rust; objections are to be served on counsel and filed with the Court.
16.

Through March 16, 2016, Rust has received 4 requests for exclusion from the PwC

Settlement Class with an estimated claim value of $713,968.11; and Rust has received 553 PwC
Proof of Claim forms from investors seeking to participate in the PwC Settlement (which Rust

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