This is an FBI investigation document from the Epstein Files collection (FBI VOL00009). Text has been machine-extracted from the original PDF file. Search more documents →
FBI VOL00009
EFTA00800508
343 pages
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221 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 to restrain fraudulent transfer of assets. You see that? A Yes. Q First, let's take a look at the last page. A Of this exhibit or of the motion? Q Of the motion. A Which is page 21 of the exhibit. Q I think it's page 19 of 41 at the top, right? A Okay. Q You see that's an electronic signature, right? A Yes. This is what typically was on -- the electronic signature that we would use when I would authorize filings. That's what I was talking about earlier. Q And you see this one includes Paul Cassell, right? A Yeah, I do. Q Now, let's go back to page four of 41. A He drafted this motion, so I know Q He drafted it? A Yeah. Q But you put your name on it and filed this, right? Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800728
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222 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A Of course. And I agreed with it. Q So let's take a look. This motion was on behalf of plaintiff Jane Doe? A Right. Q And you represented Jane Doe A Yes. Q -- while you were at Mr. Rothstein's firm. And this was filed while you were at Mr. Rothstein's firm, right? A It was. Q Look at the first paragraph on page five. It says, "Epstein is a billionaire, who recently has been fraudulently transferring his assets overseas." Do you see that? A Yes. Q What evidence -- admissible evidence -- did you have of that statement before you made it in this pleading? A I had information that he was doing this from sources, including sources close to him. I had evidence that he had placed significant assets into at least one other person's name, as well as properties that were placed in the names of corporations or other companies, as I remember, that was already going to make it difficult on the collection end. Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800729
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223 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q So what I'm asking is about your statement here, sir, which is, that I would like to know the evidence that you had that he was fraudulently transferring his assets overseas. What evidence do you have -- or did you have at the time? MR. SCAROLA: That's the question that was just asked and just answered. MR. LINK: He didn't answer it. MR. SCAROLA: I disagree with you. MR. LINK: Okay. BY MR. LINK: Q Will you answer the question for me specifically on transferring his assets overseas? You told me about titling them, you told me about things, but you didn't tell me about the evidence for transferring his assets overseas. A I told you that we had a very good source of information that had given us this information that was a longtime associate of Mr. Epstein's. MR. SCAROLA: Are you disregarding the affidavit attached to the motion? Are you asking for information apart from the affidavit attached to the motion? MR. LINK: I'm asking what evidence he had of this happening. Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800730
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224 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR. SCAROLA: But there's an affidavit attached to the motion. MR. LINK: I know there is, and it doesn't answer this question. MR. SCAROLA: Well, respectfully, I disagree. MR. LINK: Okay. We disagree a lot today. It's okay. BY MR. LINK: Q Mr. Scarola wants you to look at the affidavit. Who signed the affidavit? MR. SCAROLA: Mr. Scarola wants to know whether your question is excluding the affidavit. BY MR. LINK: Q Take a look at the affidavit and tell me who signed it. A Paul Cassell. Q And he's a lawyer, right? A Yes, he's a lawyer. Q And he's a lawyer involved in this case, right? A He was a lawyer -- Q Was he going to get on the stand as the lawyer involved in this case and testify about Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800731
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225 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 personal knowledge that Mr. Epstein transferred assets overseas? Was he going to do that? MR. SCAROLA: Was he going to do that in this case? BY MR. LINK: Q Was he going to do it then? A You will have to take Mr. Cassell's deposition and ask him that question. Q So did you have -- did you and Mr. Cassell, when you filed this injunction paper in federal court, have evidence -- not sources -- I mean you were a prosecutor. You know the difference between sources and evidence, right? There's lots of information out there. Doesn't mean we get it in evidence, right? You know that, as a trial lawyer. A Okay. Q You agree with me? A I agree with you. Q What evidence did you have? MR. SCAROLA: Excuse me. May he finish the answer to the question that you asked before you ask the next question? THE WITNESS: This case was a little different than most in this sense. If I get Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800732
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226 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 information in a case, such as this, I can then take Mr. Epstein's deposition and say, Is it true that you are transferring assets here, there and everywhere? And if he tells me the truth, he's going to tell me, Yes, and then I will have that evidence. He restricted our ability to gain evidence on many subjects, not only by claiming the Fifth himself, but having his co-conspirators claim the Fifth, and then having the next tier of associates show up with lawyers who were paid by him, which restricted our ability to gain the testimonial evidence that we would need to support many of our -- many of the things that we knew about the case. In this case, on this particular subject, we had good sources, reliable sources. And as this affidavit indicates, other plaintiff lawyers and I -- speaking on behalf of Paul Cassell -- have been greatly concerned that Epstein might attempt to transfer many of these assets overseas with the intent to defeat any judgment. This was one of the topics -- one of Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800733
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227 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 the many topics that, amongst plaintiffs' counsel, we discussed as the way in which Epstein intended to ultimately defeat these cases, which would ultimately prove his serial sexual molestation of minors. BY MR. LINK: Q So is your concern something that's evidence? A And we had a source telling us our concern was true. Q I understand. A Okay, so -- Q I have heard about the source. I am asking you about evidence. You told me you had concerns. Okay, I don't know that a federal judge cares about your personal concerns. I doubt that a federal judge cares that you have a source who won't get on the stand. So whenever I have filed a motion for injunction, I intend to put evidence on in front of the court. And I'm asking you, sir, what evidence did you have in this federal proceeding to prove your statement that Mr. Epstein was fraudulently transferring his assets overseas? MR. SCAROLA: Excuse me. I'm going to Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800734
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228 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 object to Counsel's speech about Counsel's experience. Move that it be stricken. And the question as to what evidence did Mr. Edwards have MR. LINK: Yes. MR. SCAROLA: -- is a question that has been asked and answered repeatedly. BY MR. LINK: Q So would you agree you had no admissible evidence at the time that you filed this pleading? A Hold on one second. So -- Q Yes, sir. A -- this is evidence. Q What is it? A In request for admission I asked Mr. Epstein Q Yes. A -- admit you are moving financial assets overseas outside of the direct territorial reach of the US and Florida courts. Question 22, you were making asset transfers with the intent to defeat any judgment that might be entered against you in this case or similar cases. Twenty-three, do you currently have the Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800735
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229 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ability to post a $15 million bond to satisfy a judgment in this case without financial or other difficulty? Q Uh-huh. A If he told the truth, he would have said yes. And that is what the adverse inference requirement allows for us to draw when he says in response to those direct requests for admissions that he's invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, which is tantamount to an admission. So that is evidence. Q Okay. So you think that the adverse inference A That's going to happen in this case, too. Q Hang on. Let me just make sure I understand. You thought when you filed this that having an adverse inference to a question -- whatever question you asked -- because he raised the Fifth, makes it an admission? That's your understanding of an adverse inference in federal court? A I had an admission by Mr. Epstein in response to his question. Q That was it? You told me he pled the Fifth and didn't answer. All I'm asking is, was it your Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800736
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230 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 belief that at the time in federal court that an adverse inference based on raising a Fifth Amendment privilege is an admission of your question? A If his answer to that -- MR. SCAROLA: I'm sorry. The question about what Mr. Edwards' belief was is clearly a question that invades the work-product privilege. MR. LINK: Okay. Fair enough. BY MR. LINK: Q But the only evidence you had that you can point to was your asking Mr. Epstein a question that he raised his constitutional privilege to and that you considered that an admission for purposes of federal court? MR. SCAROLA: Pardon me. That's compound. You can ask him what the evidence was. You cannot ask him what he considered. What he considered is an operation of his mind, and that is protected work product. BY MR. LINK: Q Do you remember on September 29, 2009, writing a memo saying it would be really nice if we can find evidence of a transfer? A Show it to me. I will see it. Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800737
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231 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 (Plaintiff's Exhibit Number 15 was marked for identification.) BY MR. LINK: Q Take a look at Exhibit 15. This is an email from Mr. Edwards to Ken Jenne. You remember you told me earlier you weren't sure if Ken Jenne, who was the sheriff that had criminal issues, worked on the Epstein matter. You see his name there? A Yes. Q Who is Elizabeth Villar? A I don't remember her. Q Was she an investigator? A No. I don't think that there investigators that I remember. So this is on the subject of forensics. Q Yep. Do you see the sentence that says, "We need to be able to file a supplement to his were any female response, and it will be great to put in evidence of a transfer." So that you wanted to get a forensic report done at that time and were having trouble do you remember this -- you were having trouble getting the funding necessary to pay the forensic person to determine if there had been any transfers of assets? Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800738
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232 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A That's not true, the statement that you just made, having trouble getting the -- Q Okay. That statement that I just made is untrue and not supported by the files that have been produced in this case? Is that your testimony? A Right. You are basically implying that the Josefsberg firm and the Searcy firm -- and nobody could come up with money to do this. This is clearly talking about the checks that were coming from the other plaintiff's lawyers for the purposes of hiring the forensic accountant. Q Did Mr. Searcy -- did Mr. Scarola sign this injunction paper? A No. But now you're talking about two different things. Q Did Mr. Josefsberg sign this paper? A You are talking about different things. Q I'm asking you did they sign it. A You tell me. Did they sign it? Q I don't see it. A Okay, then they didn't. Q Did Mr. Scarola in his case file a federal injunction seeking a bond? A No. I did the work. Q Did Mr. Josefsberg? Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800739
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233 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 You did the work -- this is for Mr. Scarola's case? A No, but -- yes, the cases -- Q This is one of Mr. Scarola's cases? A The cases were combined. Q Let's look at the style. I just want to make sure I understand this. This motion you filed was to benefit Mr. Scarola's client; is that right? A No. What I'm saying is it was filed in Jane Doe No. 2, Jane Doe No. 3, Jane Doe No. 4, Jane Doe No. 5, Jane Doe No. 6, Jane Doe No. 7, C.M.A., Jane Doe, Doe No. 2, Doe No. 101, Doe No. 102. So there was a motion filed in that case, filed by me. This was work that was done by me to freeze Mr. Epstein's money so that he could not move assets out of the country and defeat any judgment that I was to obtain. Q For your client, right? A Right. Q Mr. Scarola even filed a federal court action on behalf of his client? A No. You're showing me this email that's talking about -- an email that I sent about other firms' checks that relate to the forensic accountant. Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800740
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234 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 That's why I'm telling you, you're talking about different things here. Q This says right here, right, "Epstein has to respond to the Judge as to why he's taking the Fifth on all asset transfer questions." You just read me asset transfer questions, true? A And if -- and if his answer to those questions was no, that obviously wouldn't incriminate him. He's not moving money overseas, okay, it doesn't incriminate him. So clearly the answer was going to incriminate him. Now it looks like -- I'm saying -- the Judge is going to make him respond as to why. What we need is to file a supplement. It would be great to have evidence of the transfer -- Q I agree -- A -- to file with our supplement. Q -- it would have been great. Did you have any evidence of the transfer? It's what I've been asking for. A We didn't have evidence that we could use at that time to support the transfer. What we had was a really good source, and we had evidence that Epstein's invocation of the Fifth was evidence that he had indeed Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800741
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235 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 done those things. Q Is there any part of Rule 11 that says that you do not have to have an evidentiary support for your filings because a witness takes the Fifth Amendment? MR. SCAROLA: You know -- you know that Rule 11 requires a good faith basis. MR. LINK: I do. MR. SCAROLA: It does not require that you have evidence in your possession at the time of the filing. Complaints are filed on the basis of good faith with a view towards obtaining evidence all the time. MR. LINK: And that's okay. MR. SCAROLA: That's okay, as long as there's a good faith basis. MR. LINK: I agree with that. MR. SCAROLA: So you are talking about apples and oranges. You don't have to have evidence for filing. MR. LINK: This isn't a complaint. This is a motion for injunction, which is not -- MR. SCAROLA: You do not have to have Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800742
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236 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 evidence at the time of the filing of the motion. You have to have a good faith belief that it's well-founded. MR. LINK: Okay. MR. SCAROLA: But you're arguing and my arguing about what about Rule 11 has to do with these pleadings has nothing to do with any of these issues in this lawsuit. But it has a lot to do with wasting time in this fourth section of Mr. Edward's deposition the fourth and last session of Mr. Edward's deposition. MR. LINK: I think it's really most of the first session, but that's okay. I understand your position. BY MR. LINK: Q All right, so let me just wrap this up real quick. All these Jane Does on here that you mentioned, Mr. Scarola, did he have any clients in this federal case that you are aware of? A I think he represented C.M.A. Although, you shake your head no, so maybe you know information that I don't. If you are telling me the truth, I will believe you. Q I'm not telling you anything, sir. Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800743
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237 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A You are shaking your head. Q Did Mr. Scarola have one of these Jane Doe clients? A You can't ask the question, then shake your head, which indicates an answer no, and then ask me to answer the question. If you're telling me the answer is no, I will agree with you. I assume you're telling me the truth. Q I'm not telling you any answer, sir. That's your job. A Why are you still shaking your head? Still. Right now you are still shaking your head. Q Maybe I have some kind of a twitch in my neck. I don't know. A So do know the answer to the question? Q I'm not here to answer the question, sir. A I don't know. Q Did Mr. Josefsberg have any plaintiffs in this federal action? A I believe so. Q Did Mr. Josefsberg authorize you to file the motion for injunction on his behalf -- of his clients? A He knew that it was being filed. Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800744
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238 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q You can file whatever you want for your clients. I get that. Did Mr. Josefsberg authorize you to file this motion on behalf of his clients? A No. That's not how we worked. Q All right. Take a look, if you would, please, at Exhibit Number 16. (Plaintiff's Exhibit Number 16 was marked for identification.) BY MR. LINK: Q Is my head still shaking no or -- A No, it's not. It's still now. Q Okay. Good. This is the order that the court entered on the motion for injunction, true -- see Judge Marra -- November 5th, 2009? A Yeah. Q And I want you look on page three. Do you see where it says, "Plaintiff's motion" A I'm going to read it. I will get there. Q Okay. A Yeah. Q Do you see where the federal district court judge says, "Plaintiff's motion is entirely devoid of evidence of defendants alleged fraudulent transfers"? Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800745
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239 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 You see the court's statement? A Yes. I'm just reading it in the context of the rest of the order. Q Is there something in the context of the order that changes the court's words that the motion that you and Mr. Cassell filed was entirely devoid of evidence of Mr. Epstein's alleged fraudulent transfers? A No. I see that that is what the court says. And also in light of the defendant being a billionaire, the various retitling of vehicles in the view of the court was de minimis in relativity. So, yeah -- and there's a long string -- cite of cases indicating that prejudgment relief of this type is not easy to obtain. Q Mr. Edwards, I'm handing you what we just marked as Exhibit 17, which is the Fourth Amended Counterclaim that you filed against Mr. Epstein, correct? (Plaintiff's Exhibit Number 17 was marked for identification.) THE WITNESS: It appears like that's what this is. BY MR. LINK: Q Would you take a look, please -- and this Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800746
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240 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 is the operative pleading? Do you know? A Are we on the fourth amended -- I don't know. Are we on the fourth amended counterclaim? Not sure. Q Not sure. Okay. A I don't think so. Well, I only say that because count one is abuse of process. I don't know that we have an abuse of process in this case still left. I thought it was only malicious prosecution. I could be wrong. Q Let's take a look at paragraph five. This was filed on January 9th, 2013. Do you see that, the Fourth Amended Counterclaim? A Paragraph five? Q No, the entire counterclaim. Look at the first page of it. See the file stamp? A January 9, 2013. Q So as of January 13, 2000 -- January 9th, 2013 -- look at the last sentence of paragraph five. Can you tell me on that day who are the victims seeking compensatory and punitive damages against Mr. Epstein that you represented? A Okay. MR. SCAROLA: If that information has not been publicly disclosed, then I instruct you that it is attorney-client privilege and Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800747