Irving H. Picard v. Saul B. Katz et al

Filing 135

DECLARATION of DANA M. SESHENS in Support re: 79 MOTION for Summary Judgment.. Document filed by Charles 15 Associates, Charles 15 LLC, Charles Sterling LLC, Charles Sterling Sub LLC, College Place Enterprises LLC, Coney Island Baseball Holding Company LLC, Estate of Leonard Schreier, FFB Aviation LLC, FS Company LLC, Fred Wilpon Family Trust, Arthur Friedman, Ruth Friedman, Iris J. Katz and Saul B. Katz Family Foundation, Inc., Judy and Fred Wilpon Family Foundation, Inc., Amy Beth Katz, David Katz, Dayle Katz, Gregory Katz, Howard Katz, Iris Katz, 157 J.E.S. LLC, Air Sterling LLC, BAS Aircraft LLC, Jason Bacher, Bon Mick Family Partners LP, Bon-Mick, Inc., Brooklyn Baseball Company LLC, C.D.S. Corp., Michael Katz, Saul B. Katz, Todd Katz, Katz 2002 Descendants' Trust, Heather Katz Knopf, Natalie Katz O'Brien, Mets II LLC, Mets Limited Partnership, Mets One LLC, Mets Partners, Inc., Minor 1 (REDACTED), Minor 2 (REDACTED), L. Thomas Osterman, Phyllis Rebell Osterman, Realty Associates Madoff II, Red Valley Partners, Robbinsville Park LLC, Ruskin Garden Apartments LLC, Saul B. Katz Family Trust, Michael Schreier, Deyva Schreier Arthur, See Holdco LLC, See Holdings I, See Holdings II, Sterling 10 LLC, Sterling 15C LLC, Sterling 20 LLC, Sterling Acquisitions LLC, Sterling American Advisors II LP, Sterling American Property III LP, Sterling American Property IV LP, Sterling American Property V LP, Sterling Brunswick Corporation, Sterling Brunswick Seven LLC, Sterling Dist Properties LLC, Sterling Equities, Sterling Equities Associates, Sterling Equities Investors, Sterling Heritage LLC, Sterling Internal V LLC, Sterling Jet II Ltd., Sterling Jet Ltd., Sterling Mets Associates, Sterling Mets Associates II, Sterling Mets LP, Sterling Pathogenesis Company, Sterling Third Associates, Sterling Thirty Venture LLC, Sterling Tracing LLC, Sterling Twenty Five LLC, Sterling VC IV LLC, Sterling VC V LLC, Edward M. Tepper, Elise C. Tepper, Jacqueline G. Tepper, Marvin B. Tepper, Valley Harbor Associates, Kimberly Wachtler, Philip Wachtler, Bruce N. Wilpon, Daniel Wilpon, Debra Wilpon, Fred Wilpon, Jeffrey Wilpon, Jessica Wilpon, Judith Wilpon, Richard Wilpon, Scott Wilpon, Valerie Wilpon, Wilpon 2002 Descendants' Trust, Robin Wilpon Wachtler. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit BB, # 2 Exhibit CC, # 3 Exhibit DD, # 4 Exhibit EE, # 5 Exhibit FF, # 6 Exhibit GG)(Seshens, Dana)

EXHIBIT FF

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C O N F I D E N T I A L

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UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
ADV. PRO. NO. 08-01789 (BRL)

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SECURITIES INVESTOR PROTECTION
CORPORATION,

Videotaped

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Plaintiff-Applicant,
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v.

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BERNARD L. MADOFF INVESTMENT
SECURITIES, LLC,
Defendant.
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In Re:

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BERNARD L. MADOFF,

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Rule 2004
Examination of:

Debtor.
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SAUL B. KATZ

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TRANSCRIPT of testimony as taken by and before

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NANCY C. BENDISH, Certified Court Reporter, RMR, CRR

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and Notary Public of the States of New York and New

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Jersey, at the offices of Baker & Hostetler, 45

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Rockefeller Plaza, New York, New York on Wednesday,

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August 4, 2010, commencing at 10:04 a.m.

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BENDISH REPORTING, INC.
Litigation Support Services
877.404.2193
www.bendish.com

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Q.

Is it your testimony that the

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discussions -- first of all, you never discussed it

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with Ruth, correct?

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A.
Q.
A.

Absolutely not.
I asked that in a bad way.
I've never discussed any business

with Ruth, including anything in that document.
Q.

The discussions that you had with

Bernie about the $54 million, why don't you tell me
what that was.
A.

Tell me what the discussion was.
Let me put it in context.

The

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control of our media, of our content, is an

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exceedingly valuable asset.

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that we got signed with Cablevision earlier, we had

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a 30-day window to buy back that content.

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didn't, Cablevision would own that content -- when I

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say own it, they'd have control of it, they'd have

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to pay us for it but they'd have control of the

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content not only for the next ten years but because

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of the way that thing read, forever.

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continuing, potentially forever.

So we had a 30-day

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window to buy that content back.

We were able to

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start a network once we got the content, which we

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did, which is SNY.

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Because of the document

If we

It was a

We made a deal with the banks, two

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banks to lend us each $27 million for the $54

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million.

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going to deliver the money.

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very valuable, worth substantially more than the $54

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million.

We were satisfied that the two banks were

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Because the content was

Banks being what banks are were

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crossing the T's and dotting the I's, and we were

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running out of time and we could not take the chance

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that there would be a blip.

Because if we didn't

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pay by May 31st, we'd lose that opportunity, a

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one-time opportunity, 30 days.

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So I remember being in a car with

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Fred, Marvin and we were coming into the City and we

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were trying to figure out what to do.

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just can't wait any longer.

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close one of our accounts or two of our accounts or

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whatever it takes and get us $54 million, even if

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it's in the middle of a cycle.

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I said, we

Let's call Bernie,

So we called Bernie, told Bernie

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where we were and he says, why break it, I'll wire

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you $54 million and either you'll pay me back in a

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couple of days when you get the money from the bank

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or at the end of the cycle on June 30th, when we

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unwind whatever we have to unwind, you'll pay me

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back the money.

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We thanked him profusely, hung up the

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phone.

I never talked to him about it again.

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was the extent of the conversation we had with

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Bernie.

Never talked to Ruth.

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That

The money came the next day.
Q.

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Bernie's money?

A.

Bernie's money came the next day.

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The same day the bank put the money in the bank.

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The banker called me and said, what is going on

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here, I got $54 million just came into the account

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and I just put 54 million in.

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closed?

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Bernie back his money, and we shipped Bernie back

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his money the next day.

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Yes.

Q.
A.
Q.
A.

I said, the deal

We got our money?

Yes.

Okay, send

Who did you give that instruction to?
The bank.
You gave it directly to the bank?
Whether some pieces of paper had to

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be sent to them, wire instructions, I don't know,

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but the conversation took place between me and the

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banker that the thing was completed.

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was very important that I was on top of closing that

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deal to make sure we got the money in the bank to

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send to Cablevision.

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Q.

Because this

Do you recall who the banker was that

SIPC v. BLMIS No. 08-01789-BR:
Rule 2004 Examination of Saul Katz
EXHIBIT A
REDACTED

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SIPC v. BLMIS No. 08-01789-BR:
Rule 2004 Examination of Saul Katz
EXHIBIT A
REDACTED

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SIPC v. BLMIS No. 08-01789-BR:
Rule 2004 Examination of Saul Katz

REDACTED

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Fred, Marvin and we were
coming into the City and we

Fred and Marvin, and we were
coming into the City and we
REDACTED

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Grammatical error

SIPC v. BLMIS No. 08-01789-BR:
Rule 2004 Examination of Saul Katz

REDACTED

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