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

Filing 167

DECLARATION of Regina Griffin in Support re: 162 FIFTH MOTION in Limine To Deem Statements By Sterling Stamos Employees In The Course Of And In Connection With Their Employment By Sterling Stamos As Admissions of The Sterling Defendants.. Document filed by Irving H. Picard. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1, # 2 Exhibit 2 - Filed Under Seal Pursuant to Protective Order, # 3 Exhibit 3, # 4 Exhibit 4, # 5 Exhibit 5, # 6 Exhibit 6, # 7 Exhibit 7, # 8 Exhibit 8, # 9 Exhibit 9, # 10 Exhibit 10, # 11 Exhibit 11, # 12 Exhibit 12, # 13 Exhibit 13, # 14 Exhibit 14, # 15 Exhibit 15 -1, # 16 Exhibit 15 - 2)(Sheehan, David)

Exhibit 8

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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,
KEVIN OKIMOTO

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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 Shorthand Reporter, RPR and

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Notary Public of the State of California, at the offices

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of Shearman & Sterling, Four Embarcadero, Suite 3800,

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San Francisco, California, on Friday, January 6, 2012,

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commencing at 9:39 a.m.

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PICARD v. KATZ, et al.

CONFIDENTIAL

KEVIN OKIMOTO 1/6/12
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A P P E A R A N C E S:

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BAKER & HOSTETLER LLP
45 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, New York 10111
BY: STACEY A. BELL, ESQ.
BY: MELISSA L. KOSACK, ESQ.
BY: REGINA L. GRIFFIN, ESQ. (Morning session only)
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
For Plaintiff, Irving H. Picard, Trustee

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DAVIS POLK & WARDWELL LLP
450 Lexington Avenue
New York, New York 10017
BY: ANDREW DITCHFIELD, ESQ.
[e-mail]
For the Defendants

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TANNENBAUM HELPERN SYRACUSE & HIRSCHTRITT LLP
900 Third Avenue
New York, New York 10022
BY: TAMMY P. BIEBER, ESQ.
BY: MARYANN C. STALLONE, ESQ.
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
For the Witness and Sterling Stamos Capital
Management, LP

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SHEARMAN & STERLING LLP
599 Lexington Avenue
New York, New York 10022-6069
BY: ALAN S. GOUDISS, ESQ. (Morning session only)
[e-mail]
For the Witness

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Also Present:
CYRIL SUSZCKIEWICZ, Videographer

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BENDISH REPORTING, INC.
877.404.2193

PICARD v. KATZ, et al.

CONFIDENTIAL

KEVIN OKIMOTO 1/6/12
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1

Q.

Would you put that at around 2002?

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MS. BIEBER:

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THE WITNESS:

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MS. BELL:

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THE WITNESS:

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Objection.
Yeah, I'm not certain --

You can answer.
I'm not certain; however, it

was likely in that range.
Q.

BY MS. BELL:

Okay.

When you joined Sterling

Stamos in 2002 -- well, strike that.

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Before you joined in 2002, did you meet with

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Saul Katz?

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A.

No.

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Q.

Fred Wilpon?

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A.

No.

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Q.

David Katz?

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A.

No.

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Q.

When you joined Sterling Stamos in 2002, what

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did you understand your responsibilities to be?
A.

Varied.

Part client responsibilities, part

manager due diligence, part operational responsibilities.

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Q.

Anything else?

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A.

No.

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Q.

Who did you report to?

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A.

Tom Olds was my original boss.

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Q.

Did that change at some point?

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A.

It did.
BENDISH REPORTING, INC.
877.404.2193

PICARD v. KATZ, et al.

CONFIDENTIAL

KEVIN OKIMOTO 1/6/12
31

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Stamos?
A.

Anybody who expressed a serious desire to

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invest in the funds and we believed to be qualified, we

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would send them to.

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Q.

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And how did you go about determining whether

an investor was qualified, as you used that term?

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MS. BIEBER:

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You can answer.

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THE WITNESS:

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Objection.

Through these preliminary

discussions with them.
Q.

BY MS. BELL:

Okay.

Did there come a time

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when your position changed from being an associate at

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Sterling Stamos to something else?

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A.

Yes.

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Q.

Okay.

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A.

It was a very fluid situation.

What did your position change to?
It ultimately

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translated to a partnership interest in the firm.

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don't recall the specific titles and/or dates in terms of

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the progression to that point.

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Q.

I

I'm sorry, do you recall when you became a

partner of Sterling Stamos?

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A.

I don't remember the specific dates.

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Q.

Okay.

You testified earlier that you had

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responsibility with respect to manager due diligence.

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Can you tell me what you meant by that?
BENDISH REPORTING, INC.
877.404.2193

PICARD v. KATZ, et al.

CONFIDENTIAL

KEVIN OKIMOTO 1/6/12
32

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A.

Sure.

That lasted probably a month before I

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changed responsibilities as a result of increasing demand

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for coverage in other parts of our business, but within

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the period of time in which I did focus a limited amount

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of my time on manager research, it was focused on manager

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sourcing, investor manager due diligence, and rough

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discussions on portfolio construction concepts.

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Q.

What do you mean by "manager sourcing"?

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A.

Identifying the managers available to invest

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within a particular asset class and trying to focus on

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how we could potentially invest with them.

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range of options were available to us.

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Q.

So what the

And how did you go about identifying those

managers?
A.

Multiple sources, commercial databases being

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one, and introductions, referrals being the second

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primary source.

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Q.

Any other sources?

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A.

Those were typically the two primary sources.

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Q.

And with respect to introductions and

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referrals during the limited period for which you had

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manager due diligence responsibilities, did you get any

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introductions or referrals of managers from anyone?

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MS. BIEBER:

Objection.

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You can answer.
BENDISH REPORTING, INC.
877.404.2193