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

Filing 153

DECLARATION of DANA M. SESHENS in Support re: 143 MOTION in Limine TO BAR USE OF PREJUDICIAL PHRASE., 145 MOTION in Limine TO EXCLUDE STERLING STAMOS DOCUMENTS.. 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 A, # 2 Exhibit B, # 3 Exhibit C, # 4 Exhibit D, # 5 Exhibit E, # 6 Exhibit F, # 7 Exhibit G, # 8 Exhibit H, # 9 Exhibit I, # 10 Exhibit J, # 11 Exhibit K, # 12 Exhibit L, # 13 Exhibit M, # 14 Exhibit N, # 15 Exhibit O, # 16 Exhibit P)(Seshens, Dana)

EXHIBIT M

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

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
11-CV-03605(JSR)(HBP)

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IRVING H. PICARD, Trustee for
the Liquidation of Bernard L.
Madoff Investment Securities LLC,

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Videotaped
Deposition of:

Plaintiff,
CHRISTOPHER STAMOS

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vs.
SAUL B. KATZ, et al.,
Defendants.
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Transcript of testimony as taken by and before

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LESLIE ROCKWOOD, Certified Court Reporter, RPR and Notary

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Public of the State of California, at the offices of

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Shearman & Sterling, Four Embarcadero, Suite 3800,

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San Francisco, California, on Wednesday, January 4, 2012,

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commencing at 9:31 a.m.

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PICARD v. KATZ, et al.

CONFIDENTIAL

CHRISTOPHER STAMOS 1/4/12
46

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didn't -- it wasn't my responsibility to know much about

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their business.

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Q.

Does the name Chuck Klein ring a bell?

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A.

It does.

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Q.

Do you know if Chuck Klein was associated

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with Sterling American Properties?
A.

I don't.

It just rings a bell.

I can't

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remember if he was a client or friend of my brother's.

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don't think I met Chuck Klein, and if I did, I can't

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I

remember him.
Q.

Is there anything else you can remember about

Chuck Klein right now?

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A.

No.

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Q.

In addition to helping create -- strike that.

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As part of creating a logo, why were you
combining the names Sterling and Stamos?
A.

So our branding approach was to try to

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co-brand with Sterling.

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you co-brand, you try to get the halo effect from your

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partner to apply to yourself.

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We're a new company, and when

So the idea was Sterling had been doing work

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in New York and building a reputation for Sterling

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Equities, Sterling American Properties.

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had been building a good reputation in New York, and we

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wanted some of that to apply to us, but we wanted to be
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Sterling Group

PICARD v. KATZ, et al.

CONFIDENTIAL

CHRISTOPHER STAMOS 1/4/12
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separate.

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So the idea was to take both names to show

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that we're partners, but also be separate so that people

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would understand that we are separate from Sterling

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Equities, Sterling American Properties.

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Q.

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mean by "co-brand"?

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A.

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And just so the record is clear, what do you

So co-branding means to associate your name

with a pre-existing company so that you can get some of

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the positive associations that company has applied to

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your company as well.

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Q.

And when you use the phrase "halo effect,"

what are you referring to?
A.

If they are a company with a good reputation,

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then that halo means their good reputation covers your

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head as well.

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Q.

And when were you trying to combine or

co-brand the two names of Sterling and Stamos?
A.

Again, it was in that early period when we

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were still SP Capital, but we were going to form the new

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name, new LLC.

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it was the first few -- maybe the first six months of my

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being in the company.

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Q.

And I don't remember the exact date, but

And so is it fair to say that part of the

time that you were creating this logo, you were working
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PICARD v. KATZ, et al.

CONFIDENTIAL

CHRISTOPHER STAMOS 1/4/12
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MR. DITCHFIELD:

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THE WITNESS:

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"have to."

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Objection.

Again, I don't like the word

anything, but...

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Q.

So I would say no, he didn't have to do

BY MS. KOSACK:

Did Peter ever consult with

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Saul Katz in connection with the co-branding projects, to

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the best of your knowledge?

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MS. BIEBER:

Objection.

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You can answer.

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MR. DITCHFIELD:

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THE WITNESS:

Objection.

To the best of my knowledge, he

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didn't because I don't think Saul would be interested in

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the logo or --

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Q.

BY MS. KOSACK:

Did Peter ever consult, to

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the best of your knowledge, with David Katz in connection

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with the co-branding projects?

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A.

Again, to the best of my knowledge, no, but

that was eight years ago and...
Q.

To the best of your knowledge, did Peter ever

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consult with Fred Wilpon in connection with the

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co-branding projects?

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A.

That I'm pretty sure he didn't.

Again, if

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Saul was removed, Fred was even more removed.

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be surprised if Fred wanted to look at our logo.

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Q.

So I would

And going back to the halo effect, what, if
BENDISH REPORTING, INC.
877.404.2193

PICARD v. KATZ, et al.

CONFIDENTIAL

CHRISTOPHER STAMOS 1/4/12
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any, halo effect did you hope to obtain from Sterling

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Equities?

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A.

My understanding was the 30-some years of

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doing business in New York, Saul and Fred had a

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reputation for taking care of their partners, being very

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ethical, being very generous, their philanthropic work,

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they've earned a reputation for being very quiet and

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generous in their giving.

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And baseball, in our business, baseball

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carries a lot of weight.

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having access to the owner's box is a great thing for

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clients, and hedge fund managers like baseball in

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general.

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Q.

So owning the New York Mets,

And when you say in your business baseball

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carries a lot of weight, what else did you mean in

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addition to what you just said, if anything?

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A.

I don't think I meant anything more than if

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you could call up someone and say, "Do you guys want to

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come to the owner's box," they would be pretty happy

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about it.

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Q.

Where did you obtain your understanding of

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the information you just described as part of the halo

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effect of Sterling Equities?

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MR. DITCHFIELD:

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MS. BIEBER:

Objection to the form.

Objection.

BENDISH REPORTING, INC.
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PICARD v. KATZ, et al.

CONFIDENTIAL

CHRISTOPHER STAMOS 1/4/12
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You can answer.

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THE WITNESS:

From my brother Peter telling

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me that Saul and Fred have a great reputation in this

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city and we can benefit from that reputation.

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Q.

BY MS. KOSACK:

Did Peter tell you anything

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else about Saul and Fred at this time?

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MR. DITCHFIELD:

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THE WITNESS:

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Q.

Objection to the form.

BY MS. KOSACK:

Not that I can recall.
Did you ever have any

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discussions with Peter about Saul Katz and Fred Wilpon's

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investments at this time?

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A.

Their personal investments or their

investments with us?

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Q.

Let's start with their personal investments.

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A.

Their personal investments, no, but part of

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my job was to know how much money Saul and Fred are

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invested with Sterling Stamos.

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Q.

During these initial stages, did you have

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discussions with Peter Stamos about Saul Katz and Fred

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Wilpon's investments with Sterling Stamos?

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A.

Yes.

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Q.

What were those discussions about?

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A.

The discussions were about how much money

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they had with us in the funds, meaning total, like how

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many millions are invested in which specific fund.
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