EXHIBIT 65¶
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK¶
GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS,¶
Plaintiff,¶
vs.¶
JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.,¶
Defendant.¶
JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.,¶
Third-Party Plaintiff,¶
v.¶
JAMES EDWARD STALEY, Third-Party Defendant. No. 22-cv-10904-JSR¶
THE ORAL DEPOSITION OF SANDRA BESS was taken on the 18th day of May, 2023 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, 6900 Great Bay, Nazareth, Charlotte Amalie, St. U.S. Virgin Islands, between the hours of 8:43 a.m. and 11:53 a.m. pursuant to Notice and Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.¶
Reported by:¶
DESIREE D. Registered Merit Reporter Reporting Services P.O. Box 307501 St. Virgin Islands (340) 714-0269¶
A-P-P-E-A-R-A-N-C-E-S¶
For Plaintiff: Government of the VI¶
Law Offices of MOTLEY RICE 401 9th St. NW. Ste 630 Washington, DC 20004¶
BY: David I. Ackerman, Esq.¶
For Defendant: JPMorgan Chase¶
Law Offices of WILMER CUTLER PICKERING HALE and DOOR, LLP 7 World Trade Center 250 Greenwich Street New York, NY 10007¶
BY: Peter Neiman, Esq. & Sara Maldonado, Esq.¶
For Defendant: James Staley¶
Law Offices of WILLIAM & CONNOLLY, LLP 725 12th St NW, Washington, DC 20005¶
BY: Stephen L. Wohlgemuth, Esq. Jonathan (J.J.) Dunn, Esq.¶
1 done for the period.¶
2 3 4 Q. I see. So if there were a renewal coming up and there was no recent compliance report, you would prepare a summary of their compliance?¶
5 MR. ACKERMAN: Objection to form.¶
6 7 Q. (By Mr. Neiman:) Is that fair? You can answer.¶
8 A. Yes, sir.¶
9 10 11 Q. All right. Now, these compliance reports that you prepare for a particular certificate holder, how often would you put together a compliance report?¶
12 13 14 15 16 17 A. A compliance report should be done annually, but because the agency had some backlog as we termed it, sometimes the report would take probably three years before completion, five years before completion, and sometimes you'd have one that's done on an annual basis.¶
18 19 20 21 Q. Would it be unusual for a company to not get a compliance report until nine years after they started as a certificate holder? Would that be unusual?¶
22 23 A. It is -- should not be unusual 7but it maybe has happened in one or two cases.¶
24 25 Q. Okay. So not the normal practice but might have happened one or two times.¶
1 A. From the annual report.¶
2 3 Q. Okay. So, you get the information provided by the certificate holder?¶
4 A. Yes, sir.¶
5 6 7 Q. All right. And what do you do to audit whether the income information and tax information provided by the certificate holder is accurate?¶
8 MR. ACKERMAN: Objection to form.¶
9 THE WITNESS: Excuse me one¶
10 second. So we verify it. So I look¶
11 12 13 14 I would look at the presentation and what was presented at the back and ensure that the numbers total, and then that's the information I would use.¶
15 16 17 18 Q. (By Mr. Neiman:) Okay. So, you would make sure that what's in the cover sheet of the annual report matches what the company has provided to you in the support behind the cover sheet?¶
19 A. Yes, sir.¶
20 21 22 23 Q. And would you look at any third-party sources or just the information the company provided in terms of verifying their income and the tax benefit?¶
24 25 A. Only if it's unclear, and I would need to veri -- go a little further to clarify the¶
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information provided.¶
Q. Okay. But as long as what was provided appear to support the numbers on the cover sheet, that will be the end of your analysis?¶
MR. ACKERMAN: Object to form.¶
Vague.¶
THE WITNESS: Typically, it would¶
be.¶
Q. (By Mr. Neiman:) Okay. Now, is any part of your job as a compliance officer reviewing the character of the people who are the owners of the companies receiving tax benefits?¶
A. No, sir.¶
Q. Is there anybody at the Economic Development Authority who has that responsibility?¶
A. To the best of my knowledge, that would come prior to -- I -- to me receiving the certificate as a compliance officer, it would usually come from the application side -- application division.¶
Q. Okay. And what if -- withdrawn.¶
Is there anything that is done to see if any character issues have arisen since the application process?¶
A. None that I know of.¶
1 2 Q. Okay. Did you do any unannounced visits to the Financial Trust Company as best as you can recall?¶
3 4 A. As best as I can recall, I probably would have done one or two.¶
5 6 Q. Okay. Tell me about the one or two unannounced visits that you recall.¶
7 8 9 10 11 A. Nothing that I can specifically recall, but I would show up at the door, identify myself, and then ask to see the compliance person -- the person that I relayed to, speak to on the email, on the phone, or anyone else if that person is not there.¶
12 13 Q. Who was the person or people at the Financial Trust Company that you dealt with?¶
14 A. Cecile de Jongh.¶
15 Q. Okay. And who is Cecile de Jongh?¶
16 17 A. The office manager at the Financial Trust and Southern Trust.¶
18 19 20 Q. And during the time that you were interacting with her as a compliance officer, was she also the First Lady of the Virgin Islands?¶
21 A. Yes, sir.¶
22 Q. So, her husband was the governor?¶
23 A. Yes, sir.¶
24 25 Q. Okay. Did the fact that she was married to the governor affect how you interacted with her in any¶
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 12 11 10 I, DESIREE D. , a Registered Merit Reporter and Notary Public for the U.S. Virgin Islands, Charlotte Amalie, St. , do hereby certify that the above and named witness, SANDRA BESS, was first duly sworn to testify the truth; that said witness did thereupon testify as is set forth; that the answers of said witness to the oral interrogatories propounded by counsel were taken by me in Stenotype and thereafter reduced to typewriting under my personal direction and supervision.¶
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1 C-E-R-T-I-F-I-C-A-T-E¶
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23 22 21 20 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand as such Certified Court Reporter on this the 17th day of June, 2023, at Charlotte Amalie, St. , United States Virgin Islands.¶
19 18 17 I further certify that I am not counsel, attorney or relative of either party, nor financially or otherwise interested in the event of this suit.¶
16 15 14 13 I further certify that the facts stated in the caption hereto are true; and that all of the proceedings in the course of the hearing of said deposition are correctly and accurately set forth herein.¶
Desiree D. , RMR¶