## EXHIBIT 7
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK 2 - - -
GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED : Case Number: STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS : 1:22-cv-Plaintiff, : 10904-JSR JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A. Defendant/Third-Party Plaintiff.
7 JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A. Third-Party Plaintiff, : 8
JAMES EDWARD STALEY 9 Third-Party Defendant. :
10
11 MAY 24, 2023 HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL
12
13 Videotaped deposition of
14 STEPHEN CUTLER, taken pursuant to notice,
15 was held at the law offices of Boies
16 Schiller Flexner LLP, 55 Hudson Yards,
17 New York, New York, commencing at
18 9:40 a.m., on the above date, before
19 Amanda Dee Maslynsky- , a Certified
20 Realtime Reporter and Notary Public in
21 and for the State of New York.
22 _ _ \_
GOLKOW LITIGATION SERVICES, INC. 23 877.370.3377 phI 917.591.5672 fax deps@golkow.com
24
investigations?
A. No.
Q. What is a Wells notice?
A. A Wells notice is a notice provided by the enforcement staff of the SEC to a person or entity, when the staff has drawn a preliminary conclusion that an enforcement action is warranted.
Q. Are you familiar with Towers Financial?
A. The name -- the name sounds familiar.
Q. Does the name Steve Hoffenberg sound familiar?
A. It does.
Q. Do you recall that before Bernie Madoff, Towers Financial was responsible for the largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history?
A. I don't recall that.
Q. Do you recall anything about Towers Financial and Steve Hoffenberg being involved in a Ponzi scheme?
But I think you've now exhausted my 2 recollection of the Towers Financial 3 matter.
4 Q. Is the reason it might ring 5 a bell is because Towers Financial and 6 Steve Hoffenberg were prosecuted by the 7 SEC?
8 9 form. Mr. EDELMAN: Objection to
10 THE WITNESS: It rings a 11 12 13 bell that the SEC sued Towers Financial. And I can't say whether it also sued
14 15 Mr. Hoffenberg. I just don't remember.
16 BY MS. LIU:
17 18 Q. Are you aware of the 2003 Vanity Fair article, The Talented 19 Mr. Epstein?
20 A. I don't know.
21Q. Do you recall being sent a 22 document that referenced that article 23 when you were general counsel at
1 2 A. I don't have a recollection of that.
3 4 5 6 Q. Are you aware that the article states that Jeffrey Epstein was said to have been involved with Towers Financial and Steve Hoffenberg?
7 MR. GAIL: Objection.
8 9 THE WITNESS: I don't recall that.
10 BY MS. LIU:
11 12 13 Q. When you were head of enforcement at the SEC, you went after JPMorgan, correct?
14 MR. GAIL: Objection.
15 16 17 THE WITNESS: I know the SEC sued JPMorgan during my tenure at the SEC.
18 BY MS. LIU:
19 20 Q. And what did they sue JPMorgan for?
21 22 23 A. I believe it was a matter related to transactions that may have concerned Enron.
A. Yes.
Q. And Bear Stearns had all but collapsed; is that your recollection?
A. I think my recollection would be, I think, absent an acquisition, they might have collapsed.
Q. And WilmerHale, the law firm representing JPMorgan here in this case, was also part of the legal team involved 10 in the acquisition of Bear Stearns, 11 correct?
A. I don't -- I don't know that.
Q. So it's possible, you just don't recall one way or the other?
A. I just -- I actually remember our principal counsel being Wachtell Lipton.
Q. Do you recall securities counsel being WilmerHale?
A. In connection with the Bear Stearns acquisition?
Q. Yes.
1 2 3 4 5 Q. Okay. And you were aware and involved in discussions related to Jeffrey Epstein and Jeffrey Epstein's Financial Trust Corporation, or FTC's, lawsuit against Bear Stearns, correct?
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 A. I wouldn't have known FTC or that doesn't sound familiar to me. But I remember having some involvement in Mr. Epstein's claims against Bear Stearns that we inherited as -- "we" being JPMorgan, inherited in connection with the Bear Stearns transaction.
13 14 15 16 17 18 Q. Right. And so when you acquired Bear Stearns in 2008, was it the case that you understood Jeffrey Epstein had already sued Bear Stearns or was about to sue Bear Stearns? Do you recall?
19 A. I don't recall that.
20 21 22 Q. And what did you -- what do you recall Jeffrey Epstein was suing Bear Stearns over?
23 24 A. I think it was principally around the drop in price, that Bear
Stearns had traded as high as, I don't know what, and ultimately when we acquired Bear Stearns it was at, you know, a much lower price than he had acquired the for.
Q. Do you recall that part of his lawsuit was related to losses for investments in asset-backed securities?
A. I don't -- I don't remember lo that. It's entirely possible that he was 11 invested in a hedge fund, a Bear Stearns-sponsored hedge fund that had invested in asset-backed securities, I just can't remember.
Q. And you recall that the success of the Bear Stearns acquisition was important to JPMorgan?
A. Sure.
Q. And as the top lawyer involved in that acquisition, was it important to you?
A. Yes. I mean, we acquired Bear Stearns largely because the government of the United States wanted 1 A. That's correct.
2 Q. Do you know who
3 is? J. if that helps,
4 working with Anne Verdon, possibly.
5 Does that ring a bell?
6 A. I would have said he may
7 have been a lawyer at JPMorgan in the
8 asset management area, but I can't
9 remember.
10 Q. I'm sorry, did you say a
11 lawyer?
12 A. I think so. I'm just not
13 sure.
14 Q. Do you recall if you ever
15 had conversations with
16 related to Jeffrey Epstein?
17 A. I don't recall.
18 Q. Do you recall having
19 conversations, in the 2009 time period,
20 with Anne Verdon related to Jeffrey
21 Epstein?
22 A. In 2009? I don't recall
23 that.
1 2 3 4 5 6 A. He was a former Bear Stearns senior executive. And then when we effected the transaction with Bear Stearns, he continued his association with the combined firm, if you will, on the broker side.
7 8 9 Q. So he was with Bear Stearns, after the acquisition came over to JPMorgan, correct?
10 A. Correct.
11 12 13 14 Q. Do you recall that Alan Greenberg was specifically discussed in Jeffrey Epstein's lawsuit against Bear Stearns?
15 A. I don't know.
16 17 Q. Alan Greenberg went by the name Ace, correct?
18 A. Correct.
19 Q. Were you friends with him?
20 A. No.
21 22 Q. Who at JPMorgan, if you know, was Alan Greenberg close to?
23 A. I don't know.
1 friends with Mary Erdoes, for example?
2 A. I don't know that.
3 Q. Was he friends with Jamie
4 Dimon?
5 A. I -- I don't know that.
6 Q. Was he friends with Jes
7 Staley?
8 A. Not that I know of.
9
10 (Whereupon, Exhibit
11 Cutler-14, JPM-SDNYLIT-00274324,
12 8/11/10 E-mail, was marked for
13 identification.)
14
15 BY MS. LIU:
16 Q. I'm handing you what has
17 been marked as Exhibit-14.
18 So you'll see the bottom
19 e-mail is from somebody named Todd •
20 to Alan Greenberg.
21 Do you see that?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. And Todd is in
1 Do you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. And he would have been someone who also reported up to you, correct?
A. I mean, yes, ultimately he would have reported -- he indirectly reported to me, that's correct.
Q. All right. So in -- in August of 2010 at this time Jeffrey Epstein, I think we confirmed, was still a client at JPMorgan, correct?
A. Correct.
Q. Todd writes, Alan, I'm following up on our conversation about Jeffrey Epstein. As mentioned, he is suing us over investments made in the Bear Stearns ABS and high-grade funds.
Do you see that?
A. I do
Q. Does that refresh your recollection that there was a lawsuit by Jeffrey Epstein against Bear Stearns?
1 Q. So then --
2 3 A. Well, I think I spoke too quickly.
4 5 6 7 8 9 I don't know whether he actually brought a lawsuit or he had just asserted claims. I just don't know. I see that this says he is suing us, but I don't -- I don't recall an actual lawsuit. It's possible.
10 11 12 13 14 Q. And you don't recall being involved in discussions, in June of 2008, related to potential litigation or anticipated litigation of Jeffrey Epstein versus Bear Stearns?
15 16 MR. GAIL: Did you say 2008? I'm sorry.
17 THE WITNESS: 2008?
18 MS. LIU: June of 2008.
19 20 21 22 23 THE WITNESS: I certainly recall discussions in 2008 about Bear Stearns' potential liabilities, including lawsuits or claims against Bear Stearns.
1 about Jeffrey Epstein in that context in 2008.
BY MS. LIU:
Q. I assume you haven't reviewed the priv log that JPMorgan provided to us in this case, correct?
A. Correct.
Q. Do you recall somebody by the name of David Weintraub --
10 A. Yes.
Q. -- at bear.com?
A. Yes.
Q. And do you recall that as early as June 11th of 2008 he was communicating with you related to rendering and discussing legal advice as prepared because of anticipated or current litigation regarding Epstein's Bear Stearns?
A. I don't.
Q. But you have no reason to doubt the accuracy that David Weintraub at Bear Stearns was e-mailing with you related to possible litigation by Jeffrey 1 Epstein in June of 2008?
2 3 MR. EDELMAN: Objection to form.
4 BY MS. LIU:
5 Q. Could that be true?
6 7 8 9 A. That Mr. Weintraub was communicating with me about potential litigation by Mr. Epstein concerning Bear Stearns matters?
10 Q. Correct.
11 12 MR. EDELMAN: The question is, could that be true?
13 14 15 THE WITNESS: Yes, it could have been true -- it could be true.
16 BY MS. LIU:
17 18 19 20 Q. And you recall June of 2008 is the month and year that Jeffrey Epstein pled guilty and became a convicted felon, correct?
21 A. I know that, yes.
22 23 24 Q. And so brewing at the same time that he is being kept on at the bank is a lawsuit that he has against Bear
1 Stearns, correct?
2 MR. GAIL: Objection.
3 THE WITNESS: If I
4 understand your question, at the
5 same time that he is potentially
6 asserting claims against Bear
7 Stearns, he is also pleading
8 guilty to the crimes he pled
9 guilty to, that lines up.
10 BY MS. LIU:
11 Q. Right. And it also lines up
12 that it's the same time period that the
13 company had a decision to make about
14 whether or not to retain Jeffrey Epstein
15 as a client, and they did so, correct?
16 A. Correct.
17 Q. So if you look at the top of
18 the exhibit I just shared with you --
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. -- you'll see Dominique
21 Pranito e-mails you on 8/11/2010 and
22 says, Alan Greenberg just called and
23 wants to know -- and then there's a
1 Do you see that?
2 A. I do.
3 Q. So, presumably, Alan
4 5 6 Greenberg called related to something about Jeffrey Epstein and the lawsuit; is that fair?
7 MR. GAIL: Objection.
8 THE WITNESS: I don't know.
9 BY MS LIU:
10 Q. Who is Dominique Pranito?
11 12 A. My assistant. I should say she was my assistant.
13
14 (Whereupon, Exhibit
15 Cutler-15, JPM-SDNYLIT-00009597,
16 17 8/26/10 E-mail, was marked for identification.)
18
19 BY MS. LIU:
20 21 Q. I'm handing you what has been marked as Exhibit-15.
22 23 You'll see this is an e-mail from Jeffrey Epstein,
1 August 26th, 2010.
2 Do you see that?
3 A. I do.
4 5 6 7 8 9 Q. And this says, Steve Cutler sent Alan Greenberg a note telling him you and I settled, question mark, question mark, question mark. I haven't seen anything since our conversation, period, question mark, question mark.
10 Do you see that?
11 A. I do.
12 13 14 Q. Do you recall sending Alan Greenberg a note or a communication around this time?
15 A. I do not.
16
17 (Whereupon, Exhibit
18 Cutler-16, JPM-SDNYLIT-00274402,
19 20 9/24/10 E-mail, was marked for identification.)
21
22 BY MS. LIU:
23 Q. I'm handing you what has
1 2 3 4 5 So you'll see from the top e-mail this is, approximately, a month later from the last e-mail we looked at. It's from Melissa Getler to you, Stephen M. Cutler, 9/24/10.
6 Do you see that?
7 A. I do.
8 Q. Who is Melissa Getler?
9 10 A. I think she was a litigator, but I'm not positive.
11 Q. So she worked for
12 13 14 A. She was -- she was in the legal department. I just don't recall which area.
15 16 17 Q. So you'll see the bottom e-mail is from Jeffrey Epstein to Jes Staley, Please forward to Cutler?
18 A. I do.
19 Q. Do you see that?
20 A. Yes.
21 22 23 Q. And then Jes Staley forwards you something, and it's redacted, privileged.
1 A. I see that.
2 Q. And you forward it to
3 Melissa Getler.
4 Do you see that?
5 A. I do.
6 Q. And then she writes
7 something to you that we can't see
8 because it's redacted.
9 Do you see that?
10 A. I do.
11 Q. Okay. So do you recall that
12 Melissa Getler was also involved in
13 discussions related to the litigation
14 that Jeffrey Epstein had against Bear
15 Stearns?
16 A. I don't have an independent
17 recollection of that. Seeing this
18 document, that -- it's entirely possible
19 that she would have been involved in
20 litigation against -- or with
21 Mr. Epstein.
22
23 (Whereupon, Exhibit
1 JPM-SDNYLIT-00010065-080, 9/23/10
2 E-mail, was marked for
3 identification.)
4
5 BY MS. LIU:
6 Q. I'm handing you what has
7 been marked as Exhibit-17.
8 You'll recall in the last
9 exhibit, 16, the bottom e-mail was
10 Jeffrey Epstein, September 23rd, with a
11 please forward to Cutler to Jes Staley,
12 right?
13 A. I do.
14 Q. Okay. So now you can see
15 that this e-mail, which contains that
16 same bottom e-mail, then forwards
17 something to Jes Staley, which he then
18 forwards to you, 9/23/2010, DKI 9/23
19 draft FTC settlement agreement.
20 Do you see that?
21 A. I do.
22 Q. And do you recognize the
23 initials DKI?
1 Q. Do you recall Darren K.
2 Indyke being the lawyer for Jeffrey
3 Epstein?
4 A. I think I've seen documents
5 recently that suggested that -- that
6 Mr. Indyke was someone who was associated
7 with Mr. Epstein. I don't -- I don't
8 have any knowledge of that.
9 Q. So, then, this -- if you
10 turn to the first page of the attachment,
11 you'll see there's a draft, Settlement
12 agreement and release.
13 Do you see that?
14 A. I do.
15 Q. And it's entered into by and
16 among Jeffrey Epstein Financial Trust
17 Company.
18 Do you see that?
19 A. I do.
20 Q. And others and the Bear
21 Stearns companies and some others.
22 Do you see that?
23 A. I do.
1 recollection in any way about the lawsuit 2 3 that Jeffrey Epstein had brought against Bear Stearns?
4 5 6 A. I still don't know if there was an actual lawsuit, but I can read -- I just read that first paragraph.
7 8 9 10 11 I don't know whether there was, in fact, a lawsuit or whether there were claims. But you may not be -- that distinction may not be important to you in your question. I just don't know.
12 13 14 15 Q. Well, it looks like, I think on the next page, it's referring to an arbitration proceeding. Maybe I'm calling that a lawsuit.
16 Is that fair?
17 18 19 A. I see that. And I wouldn't have known that either. But okay, I see that.
20 21 Q. So if you turn to Page 15 of this document, there's an Exhibit A.
22 A. Yes.
23 24 Q. And it says, Party, and it lists the three parties.
2 A. I do.
3 4 Q. And it talks about fund, date, contribution.
5 Do you see that?
6 A. I do.
7 8 9 Q. And the contribution totals, for the three parties, approximately \$41 million.
10 Do you see that?
11 12 form. MR. EDELMAN: Objection to
13 THE WITNESS: I do.
14 BY MS. LIU:
15 16 17 18 19 Q. Does that refresh your recollection in any way that Jeffrey Epstein was suing Bear Stearns over losses that were approximately \$41 million?
20 21 MR. EDELMAN: Objection to form.
22 23 THE WITNESS: I don't think that's what it says.
Do you see that?
1 Q. What does it say?
2 3 4 5 6 A. I would have to read the whole document, but I would read, if I'm -- I'm just focusing on Exhibit A, having not read the remainder of the document.
7 8 It looks like that's the amount that those parties invested.
9 Q. I'm sorry.
10 A. But I'm not sure.
11 12 Q. Okay. And that -- fair enough.
13 14 15 It looks like that's the contribution amount made by those parties in the Bear Stearns funds; is that fair?
16 17 18 A. That's what it -- that's what it looks like. I don't know if that's what is meant.
19 Q. Okay.
20 21 A. If you want me to study the document, I can study it.
22
23 (Whereupon, Exhibit
1 there.
2 A. Okay.
3 Q. Maybe not coincidentally,
4 Todd called me about Epstein last week.
5 Do you see that?
6 A. I do.
7 Q. Ace Greenberg wants to do
8 business with him.
9 Do you see that?
10 A. I do.
11 12 13 Q. And at this time, Ace, or Alan Greenberg, was already at JPMorgan, correct?
14 A. Yes.
15 16 17 Q. And he's the person we were talking about who was formerly with Bear Stearns, correct?
18 A. Correct.
19 20 21 22 Q. And I think you did not remember or recall, but he was named in a lawsuit that Jeffrey Epstein brought against Bear Stearns.
23 Do you know that?
was named in a lawsuit?
Q. He was -- there were allegations related to Mr. Greenberg in the lawsuit.
A. I don't recall that.
Q. Okay. Ace Greenberg wants to do business with him. I told Todd -- and then there's a redaction.
Do you see that?
A. I do.
Q. So maybe Ace is pushing it. Do you see that?
A. I do.
Q. Did you know at this time, in 2010, that Alan "Ace" Greenberg wanted to do business with Jeffrey Epstein?
A. Well, I thought you showed me another e-mail that suggested that. I don't know.
I don't remember that.
Q. You're thinking about Exhibit --
23 A. Yeah, I see it says, Alan Greenberg just called and wants to know. 1 I don't know what it is that 2 he wanted to know, because it's redacted.
3Q. So I'm asking, at the 4 time --
5 A. It may well be that 6 Mr. Greenberg was doing brokerage 7 8 business with Mr. Epstein. I just don't remember.
9 10 11 Q. So Melissa Getler writes back to James Condren, Okay. That provides some context, maybe. Thanks.
12 Do you see that?
13 A. I do.
14 15 Q. Okay. James Condren then forwards it to Todd
16 Do you see that?
17 A. I do.
18 19 Q. Todd is another lawyer, right?
20 A. Yes.
21 22 23 Q. Todd then forwards it to James Condren, Melissa Getler, Anne Verdon, Greg Quental.
1 A. I do.
2 Q. Who is Greg Quental?
3 4 5 A. I don't remember. I don't think he was a lawyer. I think he was a business person.
6 7 8 9 Q. After we spoke -- this is Todd writing to James Condren, Melissa Getler, Anne Verdon and Greg Quental, August 16th, 2010.
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 After we spoke, I realized that not only is Epstein suing us, but since he's a convicted felon, the approval of Cutler or Zubrow would be required by the firm's felon policy. It looks like Ace may have reached out to Cutler.
17 Do you see that?
18 A. I do.
19 20 21 Q. Do you recall Mr. Greenberg reaching out to you on or about this time?
22 23 A. I mean, I see this -- where is that e-mail?
1 2 3 4 Exhibit-14, my assistant writing to me that Mr. Greenberg just called and wants to know something, and it relates to Jeffrey Epstein.
5 6 7 8 I don't -- I don't have an independent recollection of this. I believe -- I believe Mr. Greenberg was servicing the -- the Epstein account.
9 10 11 12 Q. And Melissa Getler writes to Todd, James Condren, Anne Verdon, Greg Quental, We are in contact with Cutler on this.
13 Do you see that?
14 A. I do.
15 16 17 18 Q. And then Todd writes back to Melissa Getler, Anne Verdon, Greg Quental, Did Ace go to him for an exception to the felon policy?
19 Do you see that?
20 A. I do.
21 22 Q. What was an exception to the felon policy?
23 24 MR. EDELMAN: Objection to the form.
1 2 3 4 5 requirement in the policy that we reviewed earlier today that says that it must go to Jamie Dimon somehow, if that's the policy that we're talking about.
6 BY MS. LIU:
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Q. I'm asking if you know, that if Alan Greenberg came to you and said, I want to do business with Jeffrey Epstein, I would like an exception to the felon policy, and you said okay, would that have to go up to Jamie Dimon for final blessing?
14 15 MR. EDELMAN: Objection to form.
16 17 18 19 THE WITNESS: I don't believe Mr. Greenberg came to me and said we need -- I need an exception to a felon policy.
20 21 22 So I'm not sure I understand, then, the -- how to answer the question.
23 BY MS. LIU: