Anwar et al v. Fairfield Greenwich Limited et al

Filing 778

DECLARATION of Class Representatives in Support re: #775 FIRST MOTION to Certify Class.. Document filed by Pasha S. Anwar. (Barrett, David)

Declarations of
Class Representatives

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

PASHA S. ANWAR, et al.,
Plaintiffs,
Master File No. 09-cv-00118(VM)

v.
FAIRFIELD GREENWICH LIMITED, et al.,
Defendants.
This Documents Relates to: All Actions

DECLARATION OF DR. LAURENCE WIENER IN SUPPORT
OF PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
I, Dr. Laurence Wiener, declare as follows:
1.

I am Trustee for the Pacific West Health Medical Center Employees

Retirement Trust (“Pacific West”), a lead plaintiff and proposed class representative in
this action. As Trustee, I am authorized to execute this declaration on behalf of Pacific
West.
2.

I submit this declaration in support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class

Certification.
3.

Pacific West invested $200,000 in Fairfield Sentry (“the Fund”) on

January 2, 2008.
4.

In deciding to make our investment in the Fund, I reviewed and relied

upon a variety of documents provided by Defendants, including a Private Placement
Memorandum (the “PPM”) for the Fund dated as of August 14, 2006. That PPM
identified the auditor of the Fund as “Pricewaterhouse Coopers” (the Netherlands)

(“PWC”) and stated that “audited accounts as of the close of the last immediately fiscal
year,” and “the auditor’s letter of consent” were available for review at “the Fund’s
registered office in the British Virgin Islands.” Although I did not travel to the British
Virgin Islands to review the earlier audited financial statements or the “auditor’s letter of
consent,” I considered that PWC’s consent that its name be used in the PPM, and the
clear representation that PWC had audited the Fund’s earlier financial statements, acted
as a direct representation by PWC with respect to the historical financial information in
the PPM – including that PWC had verified the existence of the assets that were the bases
for calculating the Fund’s net asset value.
5.

I was also given access, prior to my investment, by the Fairfield

Greenwich Group (“FGG”) to its website located at https://www.fggus.com, I reviewed
numerous documents on that website.
6.

In addition to reviewing these documents, I had a number of conversations

and email exchanges with representatives of FGG concerning the documents posted on
the FGG website, the nature of the Fund’s investments, the Fund’s implementation of the
split-strike conversion strategy, and the historical performance of the Fund.
7.

In making our investment in the Fund, we received a certain number of

shares in the Fund based on Citco’s calculation of the net asset value per share.
8.

After Pacific West made the investment, the Citco Defendants, on April

15, 2008, provided me with a copy of the Fund’s audited financial statements for years
ended 2007 and 2006, which included Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP’s (Canada) opinion
letter on the 2007 financial statements.
9.

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Based on my review of the various documents and my conversations and

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correspondence with representatives of both FGG and Citco, I viewed the Fund as an
attractive investment that would provide consistent, positive returns.
10.

While holding our investment in the Fund, Pacific West received monthly

account statements from Citco, which reflected the value of our investment based on the
Net Asset Value of each share. These statements reflected consistently positive gains. I
relied upon each of these statements reflecting the value of Pacific West’s investment in
the Fund in deciding to retain the investment.
11.

At all relevant times, I relied upon Defendants’ representation that the

Fund was going to invest, and actually was investing Pacific West’s money in securities,
that Defendants had verified the existence of these holdings, and that the various financial
statements reflecting the value of these holdings - and the Fund’s net asset value per
share - were accurate.
12.

In the course of making all of our investment decisions with respect to the

Fund, I relied solely on information provided by Defendants. I had no access to or
knowledge of information regarding the Fund beyond the information that Defendants
provided to me.
13.

I have actively monitored the progress of the case through regular contact

with our attorneys. I have provided our attorneys with various documents related to our
investment in the Fund, conferred with them regarding significant developments in the
case, and worked closely with them in responding to Defendants’ interrogatories.
14.

If appointed Class Representative, Pacific West will use its best efforts to

represent and protect the interests of all Class members who were injured by Defendants’
negligent and fraudulent conduct.

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1 declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed on February

2011

Dr, Laurence Wiener
On Behalf of Pacific West Medical Center
Employees Retirement Trust

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