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Case: 3:06-cv-02859-JGC Doc #: 19 Filed: 12/17/07 1 of 2. PageID #: 271
Case: 3:06-cv-02859-JGC Doc #: 19 Filed: 12/17/07 2 of 2. PageID #: 272
1
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 1
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO
WESTERN DIVISION 2
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Transition Healthcare ) 4
Associates, Inc., )
) 5
Plaintiff, )
) 6
vs. ) Case No. 3:06CV2859
) James G. Carr, J. 7
Tri-State Health Investors, )
LLC., ) 8
)
Defendant. ) 9
- - - 10
11
Videoconference Deposition of Avi Klein, a witness 12
herein, called by the Plaintiff for oral examination 13
pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, taken 14
before Sara Glazer, Court Reporter and Notary Public 15
for the State of Florida, at the offices of Esquire 16
Deposition Services, 44 West Flagler, 14th Floor, 17
Miami, Florida, on Thursday, December 12, 2007, 18
commencing at 2:45 p.m. 19
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Case: 3:06-cv-02859-JGC Doc #: 19-1 Filed: 12/17/07 1 of 149. PageID #: 273
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APPEARANCES: 1
On behalf of the Plaintiff (via videoconference): 2
Douglas P. Whipple, Esq. 3
Seeley, Savidge, Ebert & Gourash Co., LPA
26600 Detroit Road 4
Cleveland, Ohio 44145-2397
216-566-8200 5
6
On behalf of the Defendant: 7
Michael I. Bernstein, Esq. 8
Law Office of Michael I. Bernstein, P.A.
1688 Meridian Avenue, Suite 418 9
Miami Beach, Florida 33139
305-672-9544 10
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Case: 3:06-cv-02859-JGC Doc #: 19-1 Filed: 12/17/07 2 of 149. PageID #: 274
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I N D E X 1
WITNESS: DIRECT 2
Avi Klein 3
By Mr. Whipple 4 4
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E X H I B I T S 8
NUMBER PAGE 9
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Case: 3:06-cv-02859-JGC Doc #: 19-1 Filed: 12/17/07 3 of 149. PageID #: 275
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Deposition taken before Sara Glazer, Notary Public 1
in and for the State of Florida at Large, in the 2
above cause. 3
--- 4
Thereupon, 5
AVI KLEIN 6
has been first duly sworn or affirmed, was 7
examined and testified as follows: 8
DIRECT EXAMINATION 9
BY MR. WHIPPLE: 10
Q Sir, will you please state your full name 11
for the record? 12
A Avi Klein. 13
Q Klein is spelled K-L-E-I-N? 14
A That's correct. 15
Q What is your home address? 16
A 1680 Michigan Avenue, Miami Beach, Florida 17
33140. 18
Q That's your home or work address? 19
A That's my work address. 20
MR. BERNSTEIN: For the record, since this 21
witness is appearing in the corporate capacity of 22
the named Defendant, we are going to at this point 23
provide his office address. 24
MR. WHIPPLE: You are instructing him not to25
Case: 3:06-cv-02859-JGC Doc #: 19-1 Filed: 12/17/07 4 of 149. PageID #: 276
5
give his home address? 1
MR. BERNSTEIN: I am not instructing him not to 2
give his home address. I am saying I believe it 3
is sufficient for him to give an office address, 4
due to the fact that he is here as a corporate 5
representative and not in his individual capacity. 6
MR. WHIPPLE: You know, in Ohio, it's customary 7
that we can obtain a home address as well. I 8
don't know if he will still be here a month from 9
now. 10
MR. BERNSTEIN: I'll say on the record that in 11
the event he is no longer at that office address, 12
and you need an updated address for this case 13
against this Defendant, you can see me at that 14
time, and for whatever reason he is not a party 15
that we are not producing him, at that time, we 16
can revisit the issue, and I can give you his home 17
address. 18
MR. WHIPPLE: I am going to go ask for it now. 19
If you instruct him not to answer, then we will 20
proceed. 21
THE WITNESS: I prefer that my home address is 22
not on the record, since it's public record. 23
MR. WHIPPLE: Are you instructing him not to 24
answer, Mr. Bernstein?25
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6
MR. BERNSTEIN: It seems that the witness 1
himself is not going to volunteer the information. 2
So if you want to leave a space for a ruling, we 3
can address that at a later point. 4
I am not specifically instructing him not 5
to answer. I am merely objecting for the record, 6
saying that I do not believe it's necessary. It's 7
been my practice in these type of situations that 8
the office address is sufficient. 9
If it comes a time that it's insufficient 10
or we require a ruling from the judge, I am happy 11
to address the issue at that point. 12
Q Mr. Klein, what is your present 13
employment? 14
A 1680 Michigan Avenue. 15
Q For whom do you work? 16
A I do back-office support for nursing 17
homes. 18
Q But do you do this on your own or do you 19
work with a company? 20
A I am usually the president of the company. 21
Q What is the name of the company? 22
A Tri-State Health Investors is still the 23
name of the company. 24
Q Tri-State, is that hyphenated?25
Case: 3:06-cv-02859-JGC Doc #: 19-1 Filed: 12/17/07 6 of 149. PageID #: 278
7
A I believe, Tri-State Health Investors. 1
Q Tri-State Health Investors, LLC; is that 2
correct? 3
A That's correct. 4
Q What is the telephone number of Tri-State 5
Health Investors? 6
A (305)892-1790. 7
Q Do you have a direct dial number? 8
A No. 9
Q What is the Web site for Tri-State Health 10
Investors? 11
A There is none. 12
Q Have you been with Tri-State Health 13
Investors, LLC continuously from January 1st of 14
'04 to the present? 15
A Yes. 16
Q If you said it before, I apologize. What 17
is your formal title with Tri-State Health 18
Investors, LLC? 19
A Manager. 20
Q Have you any other titles? 21
A President. 22
Q So you are an officer; is that correct? 23
A That's correct. 24
Q Are you a director?25
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8
A I believe, yes. 1
MR. BERNSTEIN: Object to the extent that these 2
are asking for legal conclusions as to capacities 3
in a legal entity that the witness may not 4
understand the terminology. 5
MR. WHIPPLE: Understand. 6
Q Mr. Klein, do you have any role or 7
position with the entity Tri-State Healthcare of 8
West Carrolton, LLC? 9
A No. 10
Q Are you a manager of that entity? 11
A No. 12
Q Have you any role with the entity 13
Tri-State Healthcare of New London, LLC? 14
A No. 15
Q Have you any role or title with the entity 16
Tri-State Healthcare of Huber Heights, LLC? 17
A No. 18
Q Did you ever have a role or a title with 19
any of these entities? 20
A No. 21
Q There are ten premarked exhibits. I am 22
going to ask you to look at Plaintiff's Exhibit 23
Number 2. 24
MR. BERNSTEIN: That's over here. Exhibit 1.25
Case: 3:06-cv-02859-JGC Doc #: 19-1 Filed: 12/17/07 8 of 149. PageID #: 280
9
Let me just -- 1
Q Eight-page document. 2
MR. BERNSTEIN: The witness has the document. 3
MR. WHIPPLE: Thank you. 4
Q Mr. Klein, will you please look at the 5
last page of Plaintiff's Exhibit 2? 6
A The last page, page eight? 7
Q Correct. Is that your notarized 8
signature? 9
A Yes. 10
Q Okay. Now, I am going to ask you to 11
please turn to page two. At the top of that page, 12
you were giving an answer to a multi-part question 13
having to do with three nursing home facilities in 14
the State of Ohio. I am going to call your 15
attention to the last sentence of that answer. 16
It says as follows: quote, "The 17
back-office support services provided by 18
Defendant, related to the facilities referred to 19
in this action and "the relevant time period" 20
thereto included payroll and accounts payable 21
services for each facility pursuant to protocol 22
established between Defendant and each facility 23
via its administrator." 24
Mr. Klein, when you used the phrase25
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10
"back-office support services" in that answer, 1
tell me in your words what you mean by that 2
phrase. 3
A We help support nursing home facilities in 4
any back-office needs that they may need. 5
Q For example, if the nursing home facility 6
had a vendor who sent them an invoice, the 7
facility would forward the invoice to Tri-State 8
Health Investors; is that correct? 9
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection, predicate. I'll 10
object to the form of the question. 11
You can answer. 12
A They would forward -- you want to know the 13
accounts payable procedure; is that what it is you 14
are asking? 15
Q Yes, please. 16
A The facility would get an invoice. The 17
invoice would be sent to our back office, and it 18
will be processed for processing and for payment. 19
Q And when you say our back office, you are 20
referring to the back office of Tri-State Health 21
Investors, correct? 22
A Referring to 1680 Michigan Avenue, 23
correct. 24
Q Now, when you provided these back-office25
Case: 3:06-cv-02859-JGC Doc #: 19-1 Filed: 12/17/07 10 of 149. PageID #: 282
11
services -- I am going to strike that question. 1
Before I get to that question, I want to ask you a 2
different question. 3
Please turn to page six. Do you see 4
interrogatory 16? 5
A Yes. 6
Q And you see your answer, at the beginning 7
of subpart C, it says, quote, "Defendant had a 8
contractual relationship with Tri-State Healthcare 9
of West Carrolton, LLC; Tri-State Healthcare of 10
New London, LLC; Tri-State Healthcare of Huber 11
Heights, LLC." 12
Before I proceed with that, was that one 13
contract or three separate contracts? 14
A I don't -- I don't know. It's an oral 15
contract would be one, three. I don't know. 16
MR. BERNSTEIN: Object to the extent it asks 17
for a legal conclusion. 18
Q Are you telling me that this contract or 19
these contracts were not in writing? 20
A These contracts were month to month. 21
Q Were they in writing or verbal? 22
A No, were not in the writing. 23
Q They were verbal? 24
A Correct.25
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12
Q All right. And -- 1
A Well, I can give you a little background 2
as to why, if you are just confused, if you want 3
to know. 4
Q That would be great. 5
A Okay. Originally these facilities were 6
supposed to be CHOW'd to these entities: To the 7
Tri-State Healthcare West Carrolton, New London 8
and Huber Heights, but the landlord did not give 9
the necessary approvals to do the change of 10
ownership. 11
So we were in a limbo period, in a limbo 12
operational period and a limbo back-office support 13
period until the landlord gives such approval, 14
which never happened. So it was always just 15
another week, another week, another month. And it 16
never happened until the landlord came and took 17
possession of the facilities. 18
Q Was it the same landlord for all three 19
facilities? 20
A Yes, sir. 21
Q What's the name of the landlord? 22
A At the time, it was Medi Trust. I don't 23
know if they go by Health Bridge, now, but I 24
believe it was Medi Trust.25
Case: 3:06-cv-02859-JGC Doc #: 19-1 Filed: 12/17/07 12 of 149. PageID #: 284
13
Q Spell that, please. 1
A M-E-D-I, T-R-U-S-T, and I believe now they 2
are the same as the Health Bridge, I believe, 3
that's in the facility now, Health Bridge. 4
Q Health Bridge Management? 5
A I believe. I am not sure. It's just 6
speculation. 7
Q Where is the Medi Trust office located? 8
A I believe in New Jersey. 9
Q Do you know what city? 10
A I could look it up. I don't recall. 11
Engle -- I will look it up, if you need. 12
Q Well, let's take the entity Tri-State 13
Healthcare of New London, LLC as an example. Tell 14
me what that entity was. 15
A It was an entity formed to take over 16
operations of a specific nursing home in New 17
London. 18
Q Approximately when was it formed? 19
A The end of 2003. 20
Q It was supposed to take over operations 21
from whom? 22
A From IHS. 23
Q Integrated Health Systems? 24
A Correct.25
Case: 3:06-cv-02859-JGC Doc #: 19-1 Filed: 12/17/07 13 of 149. PageID #: 285
14
Q Do you know who it was who formed 1
Tri-State Healthcare of New London, LLC? 2
A Some attorneys. I don't recall. 3
Q Were you involved in the formation of 4
Tri-State Healthcare of New London, LLC? 5
A I did not form them. Some attorneys 6
formed them. 7
Q That wasn't my question. Do you want the 8
question read back? 9
A Yes. 10
(Thereupon, the requested portion was read back by 11
the court reporter. 12
A What do you mean by involved? 13
Q Did you participate in any way? Were you 14
involved in discussions, in meetings, in 15
decisions? 16
A Not as an officer or director. Just as 17
the Tri-State Health Investors will help 18
back-office support for these facilities. 19
Q And so when the agreement was entered into 20
to provide back-office support, were you the 21
representative from Tri-State Health Investors in 22
terms of that verbal contract? 23
A Yes. 24
Q And who was the representative?25
Case: 3:06-cv-02859-JGC Doc #: 19-1 Filed: 12/17/07 14 of 149. PageID #: 286
15
A I don't even know if it's a verbal 1
contract. It was verbal discussions that just 2
ended up being in a limbo period. I don't even 3
know if it was a contract. It just ended up that 4
we were doing back-office support for these 5
facilities until -- until change of ownership, 6
which never happened. It was just a whole limbo 7
period for two years or three years. 8
MR. WHIPPLE: Ma'am, could you please read the 9
first 20 or 30 words of that answer? 10
(Thereupon, the requested portion was read back by 11
the court reporter.) 12
Q Mr. Klein, in your previous answer, you 13
used the phrase "verbal discussions." And with 14
whom did you have these verbal discussions? 15
A With IHS. 16
Q Who at IHS? 17
A There was a Uri Kaufman there. Whoever 18
the initial -- whoever the operators on the ground 19
were, which is hard for me to remember right now. 20
To help with the transition. All the field -- the 21
field -- the field operators that IHS had, so that 22
we can -- the facilities could be transitioned to 23
a new back-office support system. 24
Q You mentioned Kaufman, K-A-U-F-M-A-N?25
Case: 3:06-cv-02859-JGC Doc #: 19-1 Filed: 12/17/07 15 of 149. PageID #: 287
16
A I don't recall the spelling. 1
Q Do you remember his first name? 2
A I don't remember. Ira or something like 3
that. 4
Q Where was he located? 5
A I believe IHS was in -- was in Baltimore. 6
Q Maryland? 7
A Maryland. 8
Q When you say the operators on the ground, 9
are you referring to the executive directors of 10
the three facilities? 11
A I am referring more to regional people 12
that IHS had at the time. 13
Q Regional people, would that include 14
someone like Dan Grant? 15
A No, no. Dan Grant was an administrator in 16
one of the facilities. He wasn't a regional. I 17
am trying to recall who the regional was. Can't 18
recall. 19
Q Where were these regional people located? 20
A I don't know. 21
Q Were any of them located in Ohio? 22
A I couldn't say. 23
Q Please look at that same page of Exhibit 24
2, page six, interrogatories number 15. You see25
Case: 3:06-cv-02859-JGC Doc #: 19-1 Filed: 12/17/07 16 of 149. PageID #: 288
17
there are five individuals whose names are listed 1
there? 2
A Yes. 3
Q I want to start by asking you about 4
Charley, C-H-A-R-L-E-Y, Menton, M-E-N-T-O-N. Was 5
he an employee of Tri-State Health Investors? 6
A Yes. 7
Q What was his title or role? 8
A He does accounts payables. 9
Q Does he do accounts payables for Tri-State 10
Health Investors or for other entities? 11
A He is the back-office accounts payables 12
expert. 13
Q So you are telling me that he only does 14
accounts payable for other entities, or does he 15
also do it for Tri-State Health Investors 16
themselves? 17
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection to form. 18
A He would mostly do it on a contract basis 19
to other entities. 20
Q Now, what role, if any, did Charley Menton 21
have with Tri-State Healthcare of New London, LLC? 22
A What do you mean by role? 23
Q Was he an employee? 24
A No.25
Case: 3:06-cv-02859-JGC Doc #: 19-1 Filed: 12/17/07 17 of 149. PageID #: 289
18
Q Was he a vendor? 1
A No. Well, Tri-State Health Investors may 2
be a vendor, and he worked for Tri-State Health 3
Investors. 4
Q All right. 5
A I don't know. 6
Q So Tri-State Healthcare of New London, 7
LLC, essentially was a -- had a verbal contract 8
with Tri-State Health Investors? 9
A Right. 10
Q And Charley Menton provided services under 11
that verbal contract? 12
A Correct. 13
Q Okay. Ted Duay, D-U-A-Y. What was his 14
role or title with Tri-State Health Investors? 15
A He would make sure that the facility is 16
doing their accounts receivables properly. He 17
would help with putting budgets together for the 18
facility. That kind of aspect. 19
Q Was Ted Duay, for the years '04, '05 and 20
'06, an officer of Tri-State Health Investors? 21
A No. 22
Q Was he the CFO or the accountant or the 23
bookkeeper? 24
A His title was CFO.25
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19
Q For Tri-State Health Investors? 1
A Correct. 2
Q What was the role or title of Lucas Velez, 3
V-E-L-E-Z? 4
A He was also in the accounts payable 5
department. 6
Q How would you compare his role to the role 7
of Charley Menton? 8
A Lucas is an accounts payable processor, 9
and Charley is more in a supervisory role to 10
Lucas. 11
Q What was the role or title of Karen 12
Osario, O-S-A-R-I-O? 13
A Office assistant, maybe scanning, whatever 14
needs to be done in the office. Answering 15
telephones, office assistant. 16
Q Was Karen Osario an office assistant for 17
Charley Menton? 18
A She is, I guess you call Gal Friday. She 19
is the office assistant. She was answering the 20
phones and the go-to girl for everybody, I guess. 21
She wasn't specifically Charley Menton's 22
assistant, no. 23
Q Okay. So the answer is yes for Charley 24
Menton, but also yes for Ted Duay and yes for25
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20
Lucas Velez, correct? 1
A Or I will say no to all. However you want 2
to define it. 3
Q She provided office assistance to all of 4
them? 5
A Right, but she is not specific to one. 6
Q Is Karen Osario still with the company? 7
A Yes. 8
Q Is Lucas Velez? 9
A Yes. 10
Q In the years '04 through '06, to whom did 11
Charley Menton report on the table of authority? 12
A To me. 13
Q To whom did Ted Duay report? 14
A To me. 15
Q To whom did Lucas Velez report? 16
A I guess to Charley. 17
Q To whom did Karen Osario report? 18
A I guess to me. 19
Q To whom did you report? 20
A To God. 21
Q Did you have a board? 22
A No. 23
Q Were you acquainted with the entity 24
Transition Healthcare Associates, Inc.?25
Case: 3:06-cv-02859-JGC Doc #: 19-1 Filed: 12/17/07 20 of 149. PageID #: 292
21
A Yes. 1
Q And you are aware that Transition 2
Healthcare provided therapy services in three 3
facilities, nursing home facilities, in the State 4
of Ohio in '04 through '06? 5
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection to form. Objection, 6
predicate. 7
A So I am told. 8
Q Now, can you explain to me what the 9
process would be in the event that Transition 10
Healthcare provided therapy services, and then 11
submitted an invoice to these three nursing home 12
facilities in Ohio? Do you know how the process 13
would work thereafter? 14
MR. BERNSTEIN: I am going to object to the 15
form. I am going to object to the hypothetical. 16
A I could give the general accounts payable 17
process to my understanding. Again, that's not my 18
expertise, but I could give a general process, 19
which I believe I said before. Facility would get 20
an invoice, forward it to the back office, so the 21
back office can process it on behalf of the 22
facility. 23
Q Would the invoice go directly to Charley 24
Menton or to someone else?25
Case: 3:06-cv-02859-JGC Doc #: 19-1 Filed: 12/17/07 21 of 149. PageID #: 293
22
A The invoice should go directly to the 1
facility. The facility administrator should look 2
at it, review it, and then send it up to Charley 3
or to Lucas, if Lucas was handling that facility. 4
Q Okay. So then would it be Charley or 5
Lucas' responsibility to review the materials to 6
make sure that the facility had approved the 7
payment of the invoice? 8
A It would be their responsibility to make 9
sure that there is a proper paperwork attached to 10
the invoice before processing. 11
Q And then assuming that Charley or Lucas 12
observed that the facility administrator had 13
approved the invoice for payment, where would 14
Charley or Lucas get the money to pay the invoice? 15
A Facility account. 16
Q Okay. Now, was the facility account kept 17
in a Florida bank? 18
A The facility account was kept in a Florida 19
bank, yes, I guess. 20
Q Who had signature authority on these 21
facility accounts? 22
A I had signature authority. 23
Q Who else? 24
A Barry Shisgul, I believe.25
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23
Q How do you spell that? 1
A B-A-R-R-Y, S-H-I-S-G-A-L (sic). 2
Q Who else what signature authority? 3
A Ted may have had or may not. I don't 4
recall. 5
Q Ted Duay, D-U-A-Y? 6
A Yes. 7
Q Anybody else? 8
A Not to my recollection. 9
Q Okay. Now, where would you get the money 10
to fund those bank accounts? 11
A From the facility, facility operation. 12
Q How would that happen? 13
A Via facility deposits or direct deposit. 14
Q Facility deposit means someone at the 15
nursing home would send the money to fund the 16
checking account, correct? 17
A Either make the deposits, or if they did 18
not want to make the deposits, mail it to the back 19
office so we can make the deposits. 20
Q Okay. Now, how do the facilities know 21
that you have the authority to receive their 22
money? 23
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection to the form, and I am 24
going to object, predicate.25
Case: 3:06-cv-02859-JGC Doc #: 19-1 Filed: 12/17/07 23 of 149. PageID #: 295
24
A I guess during the transition period of 1
'03, they were instructed by IHS that the 2
Tri-State Healthcare facilities -- Tri-State 3
Healthcare would be taking over the IHS 4
facilities, Tri-State Healthcare of New London, et 5
cetera, et cetera, will be taking over the IHS 6
facilities. So I guess that's how they knew. 7
Q Do you know who it was at IHS that passed 8
on this information to the facilities? 9
A I guess it must have been their regional. 10
Q And you don't remember the person's name? 11
A I don't remember the person's name. 12
Q You weren't part of instructing the 13
facilities as to what protocol would be? 14
A I don't believe I did. I had a conference 15
call with them once in '03 to introduce myself, 16
and that we are there to provide back-office 17
support and services, whatever they may need. 18
I don't recall specifically. I probably 19
wouldn't specifically say that, because on a 20
conference call, it would be way too long to give 21
them protocol on that conference call. 22
Q Was this a separate conference call with 23
each facility or were all the facilities combined? 24
A I believe they were all combined.25
Case: 3:06-cv-02859-JGC Doc #: 19-1 Filed: 12/17/07 24 of 149. PageID #: 296
25
Q Now, was Tri-State Health Investors 1
compensated for these back-office services that 2
were being provided to the three facilities in 3
Ohio? 4
A Yes. 5
Q How was Tri-State Health Investors 6
compensated? 7
A The facility would issue a check to 8
Tri-State Health Investors. 9
Q You wouldn't just pay yourself out of the 10
facility's bank account? 11
A The facility would issue a check to 12
Tri-State Health Investors. 13
Q Okay. When you say the facility issued a 14
check, you are not talking about your offices 15
issuing the check on their behalf, are you? 16
A Charley would process the check as 17
accounts payable, like all the other checks. 18
Q Oh, okay. So you didn't get a separate 19
check from some other bank account in Ohio, for 20
example? 21
A No, no. 22
Q All right. I am going to ask you to take 23
a look at Exhibits 7, 8 and 9. Each exhibit is 24
three pages in length.25
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26
A Okay. 1
Q Mr. Klein, these exhibits are copies of 2
checks that were issued by your office as part of 3
back-office support for these nursing facilities 4
in Ohio; isn't that correct? 5
A Apparently these are checks from the 6
facility-specific accounts. 7
Q And most, if not all, of these checks were 8
signed by you; isn't that correct? 9
A That's correct. 10
Q I want to call your attention, please, to 11
Plaintiff's Exhibit 8. The first page of 12
Plaintiff's Exhibit 8 depicts checks dating back 13
to September of 2004. And it indicates at the top 14
of the page Union Planters Bank. Is Union 15
Planters Bank a Florida bank? 16
A I don't know if they are considered a 17
Florida bank, but there is a branch in Florida, 18
yes. 19
Q And Tri-State Health Investors opened up 20
that account; isn't that correct? 21
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection, form. 22
A Tri-State Healthcare of New London would 23
have opened this account. 24
Q Who at Tri-State Healthcare of New London25
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27
opened the account? 1
A I would have opened it for them or someone 2
in my office would have opened it for them. 3
Q Okay. So you or someone in your office 4
opened up this bank account and gave you signature 5
authority; isn't that correct? 6
A That's correct. 7
Q And you did this on behalf of Tri-State 8
Healthcare of New London, LLC; is that correct? 9
A That's correct. 10
Q And who at Tri-State Healthcare of New 11
London, LLC did you do that for? Who gave you 12
authority from that entity to do that? 13
A Barry Shisgul. 14
Q What is his relationship to Tri-State 15
Healthcare of New London, LLC? 16
A He would be the manager of that company. 17
Q Is he also a lawyer who represents them? 18
A Not that I know of. 19
Q Does he have a law degree, do you know? 20
A I don't think so. 21
Q Okay. Please turn to the third page of 22
Plaintiff's Exhibit 8. You see where it shows at 23
the top Regions Bank? The third page of 24
Plaintiff's Exhibit 8, at the top of the page.25
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28
A Yes. 1
Q Did Union Planters Bank have a name 2
change? 3
A I believe so. 4
Q So to the best your recollection, the 5
Regions Bank that appears on the third page of 6
Plaintiff's Exhibit 8 is really the same bank as 7
what was on the first page; is that correct? 8
A That's correct. 9
Q To the best of your knowledge, the account 10
number did not change, did it? 11
MR. BERNSTEIN: I will just object to the 12
extent the document speaks for itself. 13
A I wouldn't know. 14
Q You don't remember a change in the account 15
numbers, do you? 16
A I really don't follow it that closely. I 17
wouldn't know. 18
Q But with respect to these checks that 19
appear on the third page of Plaintiff's Exhibit 8 20
for Regions Bank, those are all your signatures, 21
aren't they? 22
A Yes, sir. 23
Q Okay. Do you see towards the top of that 24
page where they indicate that the name on this25
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29
account is, quote, Tri-State Healthcare of New 1
London, LLC, d/b/a New London Health Care Center, 2
d/b/a IHS of New London at Fireland, closed quote? 3
Do you see that there? 4
A Yes. 5
Q And it shows the address of 1680 Michigan 6
Avenue, right? 7
A Yes. 8
Q That's your business address, isn't it? 9
A That's Tri-State Health Investors' 10
business address, yes. 11
Q Suite 736, is that Tri-State Health 12
Investors? 13
A Yes. 14
Q What do you know about IHS of New London 15
at Fireland? 16
A That is the facility in New London, the 17
IHS facility in New London. 18
Q Is that the same or different from 19
Tri-State Healthcare of New London, LLC? 20
MR. BERNSTEIN: I am going to object to the 21
form of the question. 22
A Tri-State Healthcare of New London was 23
going to take over IHS of New London. 24
Q Did you or someone from your office have25
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30
this checking account at Regions Bank opened in 1
this name? 2
A Most likely someone in my office, yes. 3
Q Did anyone at IHS of New London or 4
Fireland know that your office had opened a 5
checking account that had their name on the 6
account? 7
A I am sure they -- I am sure they did. 8
Q And give me the name of the person or 9
persons who knew that. 10
A I would think the administrators would 11
know. They were instructed to make the deposits 12
in these accounts. 13
Q I asked you for the name or names of the 14
persons at IHS of New London at Fireland. 15
MR. BERNSTEIN: Object to the extent it was 16
asked and answered. 17
MR. WHIPPLE: I asked for names. He didn't 18
give me names. 19
A I don't recall specific names. I don't 20
recall. Perhaps a name was Susan. I don't 21
recall. I could be wrong. 22
Q Understanding that it may or may not be 23
Susan, do you remember her last name? 24
A Ruskin, Rutkin.25
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31
Q Rusnack (phonetic)? 1
A I believe so. 2
Q Susan Rusnack? 3
A If that was an administrator at the time. 4
Who were the business office managers, one of the 5
two, would have -- 6
Q Well, if I represent to you that Susan 7
Rusnack was the administrator the nursing home in 8
New London, is it your testimony that she was 9
affiliated with IHS of New London at Fireland? 10
A Yes. 11
Q Was it your belief that she was an 12
employee of IHS of New London at Fireland? 13
A Yes. 14
Q And did she approve of this account being 15
opened in the name IHS of New London at Fireland? 16
MR. BERNSTEIN: Object to the form of the 17
question. I'll object to predicate. 18
A I would think so, because that was the 19
structure that was set up and the deposits were 20
being made. So I would think so. 21
Q When Tri-State Healthcare Investors was 22
compensated for the services that it provided for 23
the nursing home in New London, did she sign off 24
on that compensation?25
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32
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection, predicate. 1
A She would -- she would have known about 2
it, because it would have been in the financials. 3
Q Who was it who decided how much 4
compensation Tri-State Healthcare Investors would 5
receive? 6
A It was original discussions with IHS and 7
Barry in '03. 8
Q And who at IHS, if you know? 9
A Most likely Kaufman or someone in that 10
capacity. 11
Q Was the agreement for compensation, for 12
the amount of compensation, to Tri-State 13
Healthcare Investors ever reduced to writing? 14
A No. Because of the transition that it was 15
supposed to be with change of ownership, it just 16
never happened. 17
Q Well, then how much would Charley Menton 18
know how much was the appropriate compensation? 19
Was there a formula or something? 20
A It was established from the start that it 21
would be -- I believe it was two and a half 22
percent of gross revenue. 23
Q On what? A monthly basis? 24
A Correct.25
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33
Q So that if the nursing home at New London 1
had a certain amount of revenue in, for example, 2
June of 2004, that two and a half percent of that 3
gross revenue would be payable to Tri-State 4
Healthcare Investors as compensation, correct? 5
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection. 6
A As Tri-State Health Investors as 7
back-office support, correct. 8
Q What sort of documentation did the nursing 9
homes in Ohio send to Tri-State Healthcare 10
Investors that would document their gross revenue? 11
MR. BERNSTEIN: I think there is going to be a 12
lot of confusion if you keep using the name 13
Tri-State Healthcare Investors. The name is 14
Tri-State Health Investors. 15
The other entities are Tri-State 16
Healthcare of New London, Tri-State Healthcare of 17
West Carrolton and Tri-State Healthcare of Huber 18
Heights. But the name of the entity that's here 19
as the defendant is Tri-State Health Investors. 20
There is no "Healthcare" in the name. 21
MR. WHIPPLE: Thank you. I appreciate your 22
comment. I am going to rephrase the question. 23
Q What documentation would the nursing homes 24
in Ohio provide to Tri-State Health Investors to25
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34
document their gross revenue so that Tri-State 1
Health Investors would know how much compensation 2
it was entitled to? 3
A The facilities have a billing system 4
called Achieve that Janice Klugman, who is a 5
billing expert, would help support the facility in 6
any billing needs that they may have, and she 7
would be able to pull the amount of their gross 8
charges on a monthly basis, and the facility 9
itself could pull it if they knew how and most of 10
them knew how. 11
Q Was Janice Klugman an employee of 12
Tri-State Health Investors? 13
A No. She was an employee of a different 14
Tri-State facility that was the most expert of 15
back-office -- of back-office billing. So she was 16
used for support for the other facilities. 17
Q And what facility was that? 18
A I don't recall. 19
Q Was it an Ohio facility? 20
A I don't think so, but I don't recall. 21
Q What state was it in, if you know? 22
A No, I don't recall. 23
Q Now, during this period of time that 24
Tri-State Health Investors was receiving25
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35
compensation, a percentage of the gross revenue of 1
the nursing homes, what compensation, if any, was 2
Tri-State Healthcare of New London, LLC receiving? 3
A I don't understand the question. 4
Q Did Tri-State Healthcare of New London get 5
anything out of this? 6
A No. Tri-State Healthcare of New London 7
was waiting for a change of ownership that never 8
happened. So they were in limbo, waiting. 9
Q They were in limbo for the whole time, 10
weren't they? 11
A Correct. 12
Q Until the landlord regained possession of 13
the facilities; isn't that correct? 14
A Correct. 15
Q I am going to ask you to please look at 16
Plaintiff's Exhibit 3. This is a three-page 17
document. 18
A Yes. 19
Q Let's start on the last page, if you 20
would, please. 21
A Yes. 22
Q The signature of the authorized 23
representative, that's your signature, isn't it? 24
A No.25
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36
Q Do you know who signed that name, Avi 1
Klein, on the third page of Exhibit 3? 2
A No. 3
Q Did someone sign your name with your 4
authorization? 5
A Not that I know of. 6
Q Are you familiar with the address 1111 7
Kane, K-A-N-E, Concourse, Suite 301, Bay Harbor, 8
Florida 33154? 9
A Yes. 10
Q What's that address? 11
A That's an old office of mine. 12
Q When your office was at 1111 Kane 13
Concourse, what company were you affiliated with? 14
A At this time, Tri-State Health Investors. 15
Q When you say at this time, you are 16
referring to September of 2003, correct? 17
A Correct. 18
Q When did your office change to 1680 19
Michigan Avenue, Miami Beach? 20
A Probably -- it says September 3rd. I 21
would have thought September 1st, but maybe I am 22
wrong. Maybe October 1st. But during that 23
period, during that month. 24
Q Now, if you look just above that, it25
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37
states that the name and the complete address for 1
the agent for Tri-State Health Investors, LLC is 2
Avi Klein at 5440 Charles Gate Road, Huber 3
Heights, Ohio 45424. 4
Did you yourself ever have an office in 5
Huber Heights, Ohio? 6
A No. 7
Q Did you know that you were the statutory 8
agent for Tri-State Health Investors in Ohio? 9
A No. 10
Q Did you know that your name was on this 11
document claiming that you were the statutory 12
agent? 13
A No. 14
Q Please turn to the first page. Do you see 15
at the top it makes reference to an entity by the 16
name of Spiegel & Utrera, S-P-I-E-G-E-L and 17
U-T-R-E-R-A, P.A., Miami, Florida. 18
You are acquainted with that organization, 19
aren't you? 20
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection, form. 21
A I believe they're attorneys that formed 22
corporations. 23
Q And did Spiegel & Utrera provide services 24
of that nature for Tri-State Health Investors?25
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38
A Yes. They would have been called to form 1
Tri-State Health Investors, and that would have 2
given them a brief background of what Tri-State 3
Health Investors was attempting to do as a 4
corporation, and then I guess they incorporated 5
what they think is fit. 6
Q All right. And I am not going to ask you 7
the specifics of what was said, but I am going to 8
ask you the names of the attorney or attorneys who 9
you spoke with in terms of the incorporating of 10
Tri-State Health Investors. 11
A I really don't recall. It's been awhile. 12
Q Do you remember meeting with attorneys 13
from that firm in September of '03? 14
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection. 15
Q Or August of '03? 16
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection, predicate. 17
A I never met with the attorneys at the 18
firm. 19
Q Do you remember having conversations with 20
the attorneys from that firm in the year 2003? 21
A Yes, I remember calling them in 2003. 22
Q Did Tri-State Health Investors ever pay 23
legal fees to that law firm? 24
A I am sure they sent a bill for their25
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39
services. I can't say if I recall. 1
Q Please look at Plaintiff's Exhibit 4, 2
which is also a three-page document. 3
A Yes. 4
Q Again, looking at the last page, is that 5
your signature as the authorized representative? 6
A Yes. 7
Q And did you sign that on or about June 26, 8
2007? 9
A Yes. 10
Q I would like you to please look at 11
Plaintiff's Exhibit 5. 12
A Yes. 13
Q Please look at the third page of that. 14
A Yes. 15
Q That indicates an individual by the name 16
of Barry Shisgul, S-H-I-S-G-U-L. Is that the 17
individual about whom you testified earlier today? 18
A Yes. 19
Q And it shows the same address, 1111 Kane 20
Concourse. Was Barry Shisgul in the same office 21
as you back in September of '03? 22
A No. 23
Q Was he ever at 1111 Kane Concourse? 24
A No.25
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40
Q Do you know why that address appears under 1
his name on this exhibit? 2
A I guess the attorneys was just as 3
competent as the other thing that they filed. 4
Q Would you recognize Barry Shisgul's 5
signature if you saw it? 6
A I believe so. Maybe. 7
Q Let's look at that third page of Exhibit 8
5. Does that appear to you to be Barry Shisgul's 9
signature? 10
A I can't for certain say. 11
Q You are not saying that it is and you are 12
not saying that it's not; is that correct? 13
A That's correct. 14
Q In September of 2003, was Berry Shisgul an 15
employee of Tri-State Health Investors? 16
A No. 17
Q What connection, if any, did he have with 18
Tri-State Health Investors in September of '03? 19
A None. 20
Q What dealings did you have with him at 21
that period of time? 22
A I was being contracted to help in the 23
back-office services of these facilities. 24
Q I apologize. I couldn't hear. Did you25
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41
say he was being contracted? 1
A No. Tri-State Health Investors was being 2
contracted for back-office support for these nine 3
IHS facilities that are being sold or transferred 4
to Tri-State Healthcare facilities. 5
Q Okay. So Barry Shisgul was someone 6
involved in that contracting? 7
A Barry Shisgul was someone involved in this 8
whole -- yes. 9
Q What company was he affiliated with? 10
A He was going to be the new operator, which 11
never happened. 12
Q Right. And before -- I know that never 13
happened, but what was he at the time? Was he 14
just unemployed or did he have some affiliation of 15
some sort with someone? 16
A I don't know. 17
Q Do you remember where his office was? 18
A No. 19
Q Was it in Florida? 20
A No. 21
Q What state was it in? 22
A New York somewhere. 23
Q Do you have in your business records his 24
last-known address and phone number?25
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42
A I could look for it. 1
Q If you wanted to find out why Spiegel & 2
Utrera had your name on it as the document Exhibit 3
4, and while they had Barry Shisgul's name on the 4
document Exhibit 6, who at Spiegel & Utrera would 5
you contact? 6
A I really don't recall. I mean, I could 7
give you speculation as to why, if that's what you 8
want. But I really -- I would just call -- I 9
don't remember. 10
MR. BERNSTEIN: I would caution against 11
speculation. 12
Q Even though I don't want speculation, this 13
is discovery. So yes, I would like you to answer 14
it. 15
I am going to correct that previous 16
question. When I said Exhibit 4, I meant to say 17
Exhibit 3. Having corrected that and 18
understanding it's speculation, tell me what your 19
speculation is. 20
A I would have told them that Tri-State 21
Health Investors was going to be back-office 22
support and help in the management of these 23
facilities upon CHOW, upon change of ownership, 24
and they may have thought that Tri-State Health25
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43
Investors will actually work in that state in come 1
capacity. That's my speculation. 2
Q And to the best of your knowledge or 3
speculation, who at Spiegel & Utrera would have 4
been in on this conversation? 5
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection to the extent it was 6
asked and answered. 7
A I really don't recall. I never met anyone 8
at Spiegel & Utrera. I just picked up the phone 9
and called their generic company that incorporates 10
corporations. Probably cheapest company out there 11
to call. 12
Q Did you have any notes or records that 13
would disclose, memorialize, the name of whoever 14
it is you talked to? 15
A I wouldn't have that. It's been so long. 16
Q Did Spiegel & Utrera ever send documents 17
to Tri-State Health Investors other than bills? 18
A I remember at some point they sent 19
something, probably a year later, to be named as a 20
registered agent or something like that. We may 21
have seen something like a year after or 22
thereafter. 23
Q Okay. That document to name a registered 24
agent, was that for someone at your company to be25
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44
named a registered agent or someone from Spiegel & 1
Utrera to be named as registered agent? 2
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection to the form. 3
A For someone at Spiegel & Utrera to be 4
named a registered agent for a fee. 5
Q Did Tri-State Health Investors proceed to 6
appoint them as registered agent or did you elect 7
not to? 8
A I don't recall. I don't recall. 9
MR. WHIPPLE: This is a good time to take a 10
break. 11
(Whereupon, a break was taken.) 12
Q Mr. Klein, when Tri-State Health Investors 13
would receive invoices and vouchers from the 14
nursing home facilities that were approved for 15
payment, did Tri-State Health Investors make any 16
independent determination itself on whether to pay 17
or not pay, or was it merely an administerial 18
function of cutting the check? 19
MR. BERNSTEIN: I am going to object to the 20
form of the question. I am going to object to 21
predicate. 22
A Charley and an administrator would go 23
through their invoices together. Charley has 24
nursing experience, and that's why he was good for25
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45
the job, and together they would go through the 1
invoices and determine the validity or not. 2
Q All right. So from time to time Charley 3
Menton might decide not to pay an invoice; is that 4
correct? 5
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection to form. 6
A Well, it wouldn't be his decision, but he 7
would help the facility come up with their 8
decision. 9
Q To your knowledge, were invoices submitted 10
from Transition Healthcare Associates from these 11
Ohio facilities to Tri-State Health Investors that 12
were never paid? 13
A I don't understand the question. 14
Q Isn't it true that there are some 15
Transition invoices that have never been paid? 16
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection to form. Objection, 17
predicate. 18
A Well, it's my understanding. I guess 19
that's why we are here. More than that, I don't 20
know. 21
Q You are not denying that there are 22
invoices that are not paid, are you? 23
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection, form. 24
A I wouldn't know specifically the answer.25
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46
I don't get involved in that specific level. So I 1
assume we are here because there are invoices that 2
weren't paid, if that's the question. 3
Q Have you ever had conversations with 4
Charley Menton about unpaid Transition invoices? 5
A Most likely. More in general terms when 6
the facility went back to the landlord, in 7
general, what do we do with invoices that the 8
facility doesn't have money for? So it wasn't 9
specific to this Transition. 10
Q So you are saying the general 11
conversations with Charley Menton would not have 12
been conversations specific to Transition 13
Healthcare; is that your testimony? 14
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection to the extent the 15
witness' testimony speaks for itself. 16
A Yes. 17
Q I am going to represent to you that Susan 18
Rusnack testified a few days ago that there were 19
Transition Healthcare invoices that she approved 20
for payment that Charley Menton did not process 21
for payment. Do you have any knowledge of those 22
circumstances? 23
A Not specifically. I could speculate if 24
that happened as to why, but not specifically.25
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47
Q Are you aware of there being situations 1
where Charley Menton did not process invoices that 2
had been approved by the local nursing home 3
facility? 4
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection, form. 5
A I said in general terms, when these 6
facilities went back to Medi Trust or Health 7
Bridge, the facilities in question did not have 8
enough funds to pay all of its accounts payables, 9
and Charley and an administrator would figure out 10
which one is valid, pay them first, and then 11
determine other invoices. So I can't say I was 12
involved in every minute aspect of it, but that's 13
the general gist. 14
Q So if there wasn't enough money, Charley 15
would decide who got paid, who didn't? 16
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection, form. Objection, 17
predicate. 18
A Not necessarily decide. The facility 19
administrator's job was to choose the most 20
important invoices first. They were always 21
instructed to pay payroll, to pay the food bills, 22
electric and all those things first. 23
Q Assuming hypothetically that the nursing 24
home administrator approved a Transition25
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48
Healthcare invoice for payment, and then Charley 1
Menton made the decision not to pay it, you 2
wouldn't know one way or the other whether that 3
scenario ever occurred, would you? 4
A It could have gone both ways. They were 5
supposed to work together. I don't know. 6
Q I am talking about your own knowledge, 7
what you know about Charley Menton. Did that ever 8
happen? 9
A I don't know. 10
Q Have you ever talked to Charley Menton 11
about if he ever refused to pay a bill that was 12
approved by the nursing home? 13
A Charley is very good at his job, and I 14
trust that he knew how to help the facility work 15
through their accounts payables. 16
Q So what's the answer to my question? 17
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection to the form. 18
A Charley was doing his job, and he would be 19
able to work through the accounts payables with 20
the facilities, and he wouldn't really need my 21
interaction. 22
Q I didn't ask you if he needed it. I 23
didn't ask you if he was good at his job. I am 24
going to invite the court reporter to read my25
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49
question back to you, and I would ask you to 1
listen to it carefully and then answer it. 2
(Thereupon, the requested portion was read back by 3
the court reporter.) 4
A I don't know any specific conversation. 5
Q Do you recall generally? 6
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection to form. 7
A In general, many things are brought to my 8
attention, but I don't recall any specific 9
conversation. 10
Q Isn't it true that towards the end of when 11
Transition Health Investors was providing these 12
back-office services, that there were a whole 13
bunch of invoices that Charley Menton wasn't 14
processing for payment? Isn't that true? 15
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection to form. Objection, 16
predicate. 17
A No, sir, that's not true. 18
Q Isn't it true that you had knowledge that 19
there were a large number of creditors of these 20
nursing homes who weren't getting paid? 21
A I was aware of that, yes. 22
Q That came out in the lawsuit involving 23
Integrated Health Services and THCI Company in 24
Delaware Federal Court; isn't that correct?25
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50
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection. 1
Q And -- 2
MR. BERNSTEIN: One second. Objection to the 3
form. Objection, predicate. And object to 4
mischaracterization of facts. 5
Q Your company entered into a settlement 6
agreement in that lawsuit that included, among 7
other things, listing of accounts payable; is that 8
right? 9
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection, mischaracterization 10
of facts. Objection, predicate. Objection to 11
form. 12
A I don't recall every document that was in 13
that case. 14
Q I didn't ask you if you recall every 15
document. That case did involve preparing a list 16
of accounts payable? 17
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection to the extent that 18
any documents in that case speak for themselves, 19
and objection to the extent that this Defendant is 20
not a named entity in that litigation. 21
MR. WHIPPLE: I am going to remind you, 22
Mr. Bernstein, speaking objections are prohibited 23
in the State of Ohio, and so is prompting of the 24
witness.25
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51
Now, you are supposed to just say 1
"objection" and move on. I am giving you quite a 2
bit of latitude. I am going to ask you just to 3
speak your objection and move on, so we don't get 4
in a situation where you are signaling the witness 5
as to what his testimony might be. 6
Q I am asking you, Mr. Klein, about your 7
knowledge. You knew about the lawsuit, didn't 8
you? 9
A Which lawsuit? 10
Q The one in Delaware Federal Court 11
involving THCI Company. 12
A Yes. 13
Q And you know that it involved the 14
preparing of a list of accounts payable, didn't 15
you? 16
A I am -- I don't specifically recall that. 17
Q Weren't you involved in preparing such a 18
list? 19
A I don't recall. I never prepared that 20
list, if that list was prepared. 21
Q Have you ever talked to Mike Freeman of 22
Transition Healthcare? 23
A No. 24
Q You don't remember him talking to you25
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about the fact that he wasn't paid? 1
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection, asked and answered. 2
A I don't recall. 3
Q Do you remember having conversations with 4
any of the administrators in the three Ohio 5
facilities about Transition Healthcare not being 6
paid? 7
A No, never had that conversation. 8
Q Are you saying you never had it or you 9
just don't remember one way or the other? 10
A I am saying, I wouldn't be speaking to the 11
administrators on a day-to-day basis. That wasn't 12
part of my duties. I could say I probably 13
never -- 14
Q Isn't it true that from time to time, 15
representatives of the three Ohio facilities would 16
call you because they were frustrated that Charley 17
Menton wasn't paying invoices? 18
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection, form. Objection, 19
predicate. 20
A I don't recall. I don't recall that 21
conversation ever happening. 22
Q That's not just specific to Transition? 23
You are saying that with respect to all of them, 24
correct?25
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MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection to form. 1
A That wouldn't be the process. So that's 2
not -- that's why I probably don't recall it ever 3
happening, because it wouldn't be the process. 4
Q I am not asking you what was the process. 5
I am asking you what you remember. Your testimony 6
is you don't remember any such conversations; is 7
that correct? 8
A Correct. 9
Q Whether it was Transition or some other 10
vendor; is that correct? 11
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection, form. 12
A Correct. 13
Q I would like you to please take a look at 14
Plaintiff's Exhibit 10. This is two pages from 15
the Web www.manta.com. 16
A Yes. 17
Q Do you see that the first page, it refers 18
to, in bold, Tri-State Health Investors (Elm Creek 19
Nursing Center)? 20
A Yes. 21
Q Do you have any idea how that information 22
got to manta.com? 23
A Nope. 24
Q Do you see farther down where it talks25
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54
about detailed Tri-State Health Investors company 1
profile? 2
A Where is that? 3
Q Middle of the page, bold, detailed 4
Tri-State Health Investors company profile? 5
A Yes. 6
Q Where they indicate that you have a branch 7
located in Dayton, Ohio? 8
A It appears to indicate that, yes. 9
Q Do you dispute that information? 10
A Did I receive that? What's the question? 11
Q Do you dispute that information? 12
A I have never seen this before. Yes, I do 13
dispute. We don't -- Tri-State Health Investors 14
does not have an office in Dayton, Ohio. 15
Q Do you have any idea how manta.com got 16
that information? 17
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection to the extent asked 18
and answered. 19
A You would have to ask them. 20
Q I am asking you if you have any knowledge. 21
A I have no knowledge. 22
Q Do you see the second page from the same 23
Web site, that does accurately set out the address 24
and phone number for Tri-State Health Investors,25
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55
doesn't it? 1
A It does have the correct address, yes. 2
Q It indicates that your SIC for Tri-State 3
Health Investors is management services. Do you 4
agree that that's the proper SIC? 5
A Where is that? 6
Q Right beneath that name and address. 7
Right beneath the phone number. 8
A Management services is very broad, so -- 9
Q Is it a proper SIC code or not? 10
A I don't even know what SIC code means. 11
Q Do you see below that where it says line 12
of business, healthcare management? 13
A Yes. 14
Q Do you dispute that? 15
A No. 16
Q With respect to these bank accounts that 17
we were talking about earlier that had been marked 18
as exhibits in this case, Exhibits 7, 8 and 9, 19
those bank statements were mailed to the address 20
of Tri-State Health Investors, weren't they? 21
A It appears so. 22
Q They were not mailed to the local nursing 23
home facility, were they? 24
A I wouldn't know. I don't open the mail.25
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Q Who is Peter Lavalette, L-A-V-A-L-E-T-T-E? 1
A I don't know. 2
Q If any of these nursing homes provided 3
services or had contractors who provided services 4
that were covered by Medicare or Medicaid, do you 5
know what the procedure was for applying for 6
reimbursement? 7
A The way I -- 8
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection, predicate. 9
A The way I understand the skilled nursing 10
facilities setting is that they will bill on a day 11
of stay for that day of stay. So the business 12
office would bill based on the length of stay and 13
not specifically for any services provided. 14
Q The business office at the nursing home 15
itself, correct? 16
A Correct. 17
Q Did Tri-State Health Investors provide any 18
services with respect to billing or obtaining 19
reimbursement for Medicare or Medicaid? 20
A The billing is done at the facility itself 21
by a business office manager at the facility. 22
Q So the answer to my question is no? 23
A Correct. 24
MR. WHIPPLE: Michael, as long you have that in25
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57
front of, could you please extract Plaintiff's 1
Exhibit 11? Should be a six-page document, with 2
an additional page on the back. 3
MR. BERNSTEIN: Okay. 4
Q Okay. Just drawing your attention to the 5
first page of that document. In the middle of the 6
page on the right side, is that your signature? 7
A Yes. 8
Q Okay. It makes reference to West 9
Carrolton, LLC, a Florida corporation. What is 10
West Carrolton, LLC? 11
A I don't know. 12
Q If you wanted to find out what West 13
Carrolton, LLC was, who would you ask? 14
A I would ask the Florida Department of 15
State. 16
Q Are you an officer or director of West 17
Carrolton, LLC? 18
A No. 19
Q Beneath your signature, it indicates that 20
you are the owner. Are you the owner of West 21
Carrolton, LLC? 22
A West Carrolton, LLC does not exist. These 23
contracts were made by PharMerica, and they wanted 24
to get my business, and they were sitting down --25
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and they wanted to get the facility business, and 1
they were sitting down and negotiating contracts, 2
and trying to provide pharmacy services to the 3
facility. 4
They presented this contract. When it was 5
brought to their attention that it named the wrong 6
name, they said just sign it like this and they 7
will change it. 8
Q So you signed it as is? 9
A Yes. Or else the facility wouldn't have 10
pharmacy services, and the nursing home residents 11
would not have pharmacy. 12
Q Your testimony is you are not and never 13
were the owner of West Carrolton, LLC; is that 14
correct? 15
A Correct. And I did not prepare this 16
contract or have any involvement in preparing it. 17
Q Do you see where it says the name and 18
address of the facility is Tri-State of West 19
Carrolton, d/b/a Elm Creek Nursing Center? 20
A Yes. 21
Q Elm Creek Nursing Center was, in fact, the 22
name of the nursing home in West Carrolton, Ohio; 23
isn't it? 24
A I sometimes don't recall specific names,25
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but it sounds right. 1
Q Do you see where it says below that, 2
licensed owner's address for notice was Tri-State 3
Health Investors, Inc., 1680 Michigan Avenue, 4
suite 736, South Beach, Miami, Florida? 5
A I see where it says that, but like I said, 6
this contract was prepared by PharMerica and not 7
by myself. 8
Q Okay. But this information here on the 9
first page of Plaintiff's Exhibit 11, that is how 10
it read the day you signed it; isn't it? 11
A Yes. 12
Q You signed it on June 30, 2004; isn't that 13
correct? 14
A Yes. 15
Q I am going to ask you, would your answers 16
also be the same with respect to Plaintiff's 17
Exhibit 12, which relates to the nursing home in 18
New London, Ohio? 19
A All the pharmacy contracts were wrong, but 20
the facility needed pharmacy services. So I went 21
along with it until they made the changes. I 22
believe -- I think they made changes at a later 23
date, but I am not sure. 24
Q So the answer to my question is yes, and25
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60
all your answers as to Plaintiff's Exhibit 11 1
would also be the same as Plaintiff's Exhibit 12; 2
is that correct? 3
A Yes. 4
Q Would Plaintiff's Exhibit 13, if I asked 5
you the same question as I did for Plaintiff's 6
Exhibit 11, your answers would be the same, 7
wouldn't it? 8
A Yes. 9
Q Do you have in your possession subsequent 10
versions of these pharmacy services agreement 11
where the information has been corrected? 12
A I can -- I can look for it. I know they 13
were notified that it's wrong. 14
Q Are you telling me that you specifically 15
remember signing versions of these agreements that 16
were corrected, or you are not sure one way or the 17
other? 18
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection, form. 19
A I don't recall signing anything, but I do 20
recall notifying them that the names were wrong. 21
Q Do you believe that that notification was 22
in writing? 23
A I don't recall. 24
Q When you send business communications on25
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61
behalf of Tri-State Health Investors, do you use 1
word processing? 2
A On occasion. 3
Q Did you use word processing back in 2004, 4
2005? 5
A On occasion. I mostly like doing most of 6
my business the old fashioned way, with a 7
telephone or face to face. But from time to time. 8
Q Let's take Exhibits 11, 12 and 13 as an 9
example. If you signed a document such as this, 10
would it be your custom and practice to keep 11
photocopies in your files? 12
A No. I would have called Jim Allen and 13
tell him -- and actually, at the time, I told him 14
this is wrong. And he said, listen, if you want 15
this done, this is how it has to be done. We will 16
change it at a later date. There was definitely 17
subsequent conversations to that to get them 18
right. 19
Q When you sign written agreements, you 20
would not necessarily keep copies in your files; 21
is that what you are saying? 22
A A pharmacy service agreement, there may 23
have been a pharmacy services book in the back 24
office referencing the pharmacy services, yes.25
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Q And do you have a procedure in place where 1
you destroy those documents after so many years or 2
do you keep them indefinitely? 3
A There is no formal procedure, but as 4
paperwork fills up the office and as they get 5
stale, they are disposed of. 6
Q Not by a formal records destruction 7
policy; is that correct? 8
A That's correct. 9
Q Did you ever have written communication to 10
or from the nursing home facilities in Ohio? 11
A No, no. 12
Q Did you ever have e-mail communications to 13
or from the nursing home facilities in Ohio? 14
A If an administrator would e-mail me, I 15
would respond. 16
Q And either that incoming e-mail or the 17
outgoing e-mail, would those be saved anywhere in 18
the computer system? 19
A No. They automatically -- I guess when 20
the computer gets -- hits its memory, just delete 21
the old ones. 22
Q Did you ever print out hard copies of 23
those e-mail messages? 24
A No.25
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Q In years '04, '05 and '06, what was your 1
e-mail address? 2
A I believe [email protected], I 3
believe. Something like that. 4
Q Is that your e-mail address today? 5
A No. 6
Q What's your e-mail address today? 7
A Klein-avi@yahoo. 8
Q Dot com? 9
A Dot com. 10
Q Klein_avi, are those all lower case? 11
A I don't think it matters. 12
MR. BERNSTEIN: Mr. Bernstein, would you mind 13
handing him Exhibit 14? 14
Q Again, let's start at the last page. Is 15
this an affidavit that you either signed or you 16
approved for a signature? 17
A I don't see that it's signed, but. 18
Q You don't dispute that you authorized your 19
signature -- your typed signature to be placed on 20
this affidavit, do you? 21
A Most likely, if this was signed, then I 22
authorized it. I don't see that it's signed here. 23
Q Well, as a matter of fact, it shows that 24
Mr. Bernstein, who is sitting in the room with25
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you, notarized your signature. Now, you don't 1
deny that you authorized this document on 2
April 18, 2007? 3
A Oh, is this an electronic signature? I am 4
not sure. 5
Q My question is: Do you authenticate this 6
affidavit? 7
A And my answer is I sign a lot of things 8
from day to day, and if this is an electronic 9
signature, then I would give approval. If it is 10
not an electronic signature, then I did not give 11
approval. So I don't know. I don't see a 12
physical signature on it. 13
Q We are going to go through this, and if 14
there is any point in time where you decide this 15
is not authentic, I would like you to please let 16
me know that. 17
A Okay. 18
Q Now, it mentions at the beginning of this 19
affidavit on the first page, it says that Avi 20
Klein -- of course, that's you -- declares, one, I 21
am the manager of the Tri-State Health Investors, 22
LLC. Do you see that? 23
A Yes. 24
Q That's accurate, isn't it?25
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A Yes. 1
Q Then it says, manager for Tri-State 2
Healthcare of Erie, LLC. Then is says Tri-State 3
Healthcare of New London, LLC. Is it true that 4
you are the manager of Tri-State Healthcare of New 5
London, LLC? 6
A No, sir, it's not true. 7
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection. Objection to form. 8
Objection to predicate. 9
Q Go on to the next page. 10
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection to the extent the 11
document speaks for itself. 12
Q It says here you are the manager of 13
Tri-State Healthcare of Huber Heights, LLC. Is 14
that a true statement or is that a false 15
statement? 16
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection to form. Objection 17
to the extent the document speaks for itself. 18
Objection, predicate. 19
A No, I'm not the manager of Tri-State 20
Healthcare of Huber Heights, LLC. 21
Q Do you remember reading this language when 22
Mr. Bernstein presented this to you for your 23
notarization? 24
A Yes, I believe I do.25
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Q You didn't ask to him correct those, did 1
you? 2
A No. I don't think it's a mistake. 3
Q At the beginning -- 4
A I don't think it's a mistake. I don't 5
think it needs correction. 6
Q Why do you say it's not a mistake? 7
A I don't know. Maybe you should read it 8
again. 9
Q It says, Avi Klein declares, one, I am the 10
manager of Tri-State Health Investors, LLC, 11
manager for Tri-State Healthcare of Erie, LLC, 12
Tri-State Healthcare of New London, LLC, Tri-State 13
Healthcare of Alabastor, LLC, Tri-State Healthcare 14
of Grand Blanc, LLC, Tri-State Healthcare of 15
Greensburg, LLC, Tri-State Healthcare of Huber 16
Heights, LLC and Tri-State Healthcare of Sound 17
Brook, LLC. 18
A My understanding is that Tri-State Health 19
Investors were managing these specific facilities. 20
Q Oh. So your interpretation was that 21
Tri-State Health Investors was the manager of 22
those entities, not you personally? 23
A That Tri-State Health Investors had an 24
agreement to manage these limbo facilities25
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67
until -- until IHS would actually be CHOW, change 1
of ownership, or transferred to these facilities. 2
Q And who at Tri-State Health Investors had 3
the responsibility to perform those management 4
services? 5
A Tri-State Health -- 6
Q For Tri-State Healthcare of New London and 7
Tri-State Healthcare of Huber Heights? 8
A Tri-State Health Investors had the 9
responsibility to manage the Tri-State Healthcare 10
entities, until such time that we have a formal 11
change of ownership and a formal agreement. 12
Q And which employee of Tri-State Health 13
Investors was assigned those management 14
responsibilities? 15
A No one specifically. But I guess I 16
assumed those. It's not like there is one person 17
who has responsibility. It's, again, whoever is 18
in the office responsible for specific tasks 19
related to whatever needs to be done. 20
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection to the extent that it 21
asks for a legal conclusion. 22
Q You and other employees of Tri-State 23
Health Investors shared that management 24
responsibility; is that correct?25
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MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection, form. Objection, 1
predicate. 2
A Well, Tri-State Health Investors would 3
have the management responsibility to help manage 4
these facilities. And I think we described before 5
how the responsibilities were broken up. 6
Q The first page refers to Abe Briarwood 7
Corporation. What do you know about that entity? 8
A Abe Briarwood Corporation, I believe, 9
bought IHS out of bankruptcy. 10
Q Did you yourself ever have any connection 11
or relationship with Abe Briarwood Corporation? 12
A No. 13
Q Does Tri-State Health Investors have any 14
connection or affiliation with Abe Briarwood 15
Corporation? 16
A No. 17
Q Who are the owners, shareholders or 18
members of Tri-State Health Investors, LLC? 19
MR. BERNSTEIN: Object to the form. 20
A Myself. 21
Q Anybody else? 22
A No. 23
Q Who were the owners, shareholders or 24
members of Tri-State Healthcare of West Carrolton,25
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LLC, if you know? 1
A Barry. 2
Q Barry Shisgul? 3
A Yes. 4
Q Tri-State Healthcare of New London, LLC? 5
A Would be the same. 6
Q Barry Shisgul? 7
A Yes. 8
Q Tri-State Healthcare of Huber Heights, 9
LLC? Same? 10
A Yes. 11
Q As to those three entities, Tri-State 12
Healthcare of West Carrolton, New London and Huber 13
Heights, do you know the directors of any of those 14
entities? 15
A I would think it would be the same, Barry. 16
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection to the extent it 17
calls for a legal conclusion. 18
Q Do you know the officers of any of those 19
entities? 20
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection. There is a running 21
objection to predicate to all these questions. 22
A I would think the same, Barry. 23
Q Are you an officer or director of any of 24
those three entities?25
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A No. 1
Q Have you ever been? 2
A No. 3
Q If there are members, officers or 4
directors other than Barry Shisgul, do you know 5
who they would be? 6
A No. 7
Q Is Barry Shisgul an officer, director or 8
member of Tri-State Health Investors, LLC? 9
A No. 10
Q When was the last time you talked to Barry 11
Shisgul? 12
A I can't recall. 13
Q Approximately. 14
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection to the extent asked 15
and answered. 16
A I definitely spoke to him at the time when 17
these facilities were going back to Medi Trust, 18
which I guess the legal name is THCI, advising him 19
that we are never going to get approval for change 20
of ownership now. 21
Q Did you talk to Barry Shisgul in the year 22
2007? 23
A Perhaps. Maybe once, yes, once or twice 24
maybe.25
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Q And at that time, where was he located? 1
A I don't know. The conversation was is 2
there any other nursing homes out there, and I 3
said I will keep him posted. Call me later, 4
but -- 5
Q It would have been a phone conversation, a 6
telephone conversation? 7
A Yes. 8
Q Do you have a current telephone number for 9
Barry Shisgul? 10
A If I could find it, yes. 11
Q Do you have a current e-mail address for 12
Barry Shisgul? 13
A I don't know. I don't know. I don't 14
communicate by e-mail that much. 15
Q The notice of deposition to you today, 16
Exhibit 1, asks you to bring with you the 17
Tri-State Health Investors corporate record book. 18
First, does such a corporate record book exist? 19
A Define corporate record book. 20
Q Articles of incorporation, bylaws. 21
A Spiegel & Utrera must have made it. So I 22
am sure they existed at some point. 23
Q Have you ever seen it? 24
A I definitely saw -- saw whatever they25
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prepared for Tri-State Health Investors, or a book 1
to that form, in '03, '04 time, yes. 2
Q Do you know where it is today? 3
A I could look for it. 4
Q Do you believe that it is in the 5
possession of Tri-State Health Investors? 6
A Yes. 7
Q Do you have somebody in your office that 8
is generally responsible for hanging onto things 9
of that nature? 10
A No. 11
Q If you wanted to put your hands on it, 12
where would you look or who would you ask? 13
A I would look in the offices on some of the 14
shelves. I didn't have need for it, so I don't -- 15
Q You said the offices. Whose office? 16
A I would look at 1680 Michigan Avenue on 17
one of the shelves. 18
Q Does Tri-State Healthcare Investors have 19
meetings of the shareholders or members? 20
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection, predicate. 21
A No. 22
Q Does it have meetings of directors? 23
A No. 24
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection, predicate.25
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73
Q Do you from time to time sign a document 1
in lieu of a meeting, like a resolution, something 2
of that nature? 3
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection, predicate. 4
A No. 5
Q With respect to the invoices that were 6
transmitted to Tri-State Health Investors from the 7
nursing home facilities -- and I am referring to 8
the Transition Healthcare invoices -- would hard 9
copies of those invoices still exist today? 10
A You would have to ask Charley. I don't 11
know. 12
Q With respect to the checks for which we 13
have photocopies, Exhibits 7, 8 and 9, does 14
Tri-State Health Investors maintain a ledger, like 15
a checking account log or a ledger or some other 16
accounting of receipts and disbursements? 17
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection to form. Can you 18
repeat the question? I didn't hear that question. 19
MR. WHIPPLE: Please read it back. 20
(Thereupon, the requested portion was read back by 21
the court reporter.) 22
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection to form. 23
A Well, 8 or 9, Tri-State Healthcare of West 24
Carrolton and Tri-State Healthcare of New London,25
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74
there would be some sort of financials put 1
together for these facilities, if that's what you 2
are asking. 3
Q Do those financials still exist today? 4
A I could -- I could look for them. It's 5
been awhile. 6
Q Well, when Charley would cut checks on a 7
day-to-day basis, did he have a ledger or a log or 8
something of that nature where he would record the 9
checks he had written out? 10
A No. He uses a computer system, and 11
everything is entered into the computer system, 12
and the checks are printed when they are due on a 13
timely -- on a timely basis, on a month-to-month 14
basis. 15
Q Does that computer system keep track of 16
the balance in the account? 17
A You would have to ask Charley. 18
Q You understand that it's something like 19
Quicken or QuickBooks or Microsoft Money? 20
A It's one of those systems. I don't know 21
which one. 22
Q To the best of your knowledge, the data 23
and that computer system still exist today, 24
correct?25
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A I actually don't know, because it's been 1
awhile since we had any involvement with these 2
facilities, since they went back to THCI. 3
Q If you wanted to know the answer to that 4
question, who would you ask? 5
A Charley. 6
Q You mentioned earlier the name Dan Grant. 7
Is that someone who you had any dealings with on a 8
day-to-day basis? 9
A More often than other administrators, yes. 10
Q Okay. What did you understand Dan Grant's 11
role to be? 12
A He was an administrator in the facilities 13
in Greater Pittsburgh, and he was the most 14
experienced administrator in the area, and he 15
was -- other administrators used him as a resource 16
if they need any administrative help. 17
Q I am going to represent to you that 18
Ms. Rusnack referred to him as being a regional 19
director. Is that a term that's familiar to you 20
in context of Dan Grant? 21
A He was an administrator at Great Pitt, and 22
I guess he could -- he held himself out as the 23
regional -- so that the other administrators feel 24
like they have a security blanket.25
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Q Okay. But did he report to you? 1
A Yes. 2
Q And was he an employee of Tri-State Health 3
Investors? 4
A No. 5
Q Who was he an employee of? 6
A Greater -- IHS of Greater Pitt, the 7
Greater Pitt facility. 8
Q In general, in the context of him 9
reporting to you, what sorts of things did he 10
report to you? 11
A He would probably have a conference call 12
on a monthly basis, and he was welcome to call any 13
time he liked for any type of advice or a shoulder 14
to cry on in his operations of his facility. Or 15
any type of other advice that he may have needed, 16
that other administrators call him for his help. 17
Q Did you ever have conversations with him 18
about facility vendors not being paid? 19
A We might have had that conversation, yes. 20
Q Do you remember the individual Samford 21
Mann, M-A-N-N? 22
A Yes. 23
Q What was his role? 24
A He also was administrative support for the25
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administrators. 1
Q Where did he work out of? 2
A He worked out of one of the facilities. I 3
don't remember which facility. 4
Q Do you remember what state? 5
A I am thinking Alabama. I am not 100 6
percent sure. 7
Q Did he report to you? 8
A Yes. 9
Q Do you remember Reid Aaron? 10
A Yes. 11
Q Was that R-E-I-D? 12
A I believe so, yes. 13
Q What was his title or role? 14
A He was administrative support as well for 15
the administrators. 16
Q Where did he work out of? 17
A I am thinking either Michigan or Ohio. I 18
am not sure. 19
Q During the period of time that Tri-State 20
Health Investors was providing these back-office 21
services, did it ever make payments to IHS? 22
A No. 23
Q Did ever make payments to THCI? 24
A No.25
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Q Did IHS or THCI ever make payments to 1
Tri-State Health Investors, other than the funds 2
you have told us about that came directly from the 3
facility? 4
A No. 5
Q So who, if anyone, realized the profits 6
from the nursing home facilities in '04, '05 and 7
'06? 8
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection, relevance. 9
A I believe the facilities lost six million, 10
four million, seven million in those years. 11
Q And who got to -- 12
A I would think THCI realized the profits, 13
because their lease payment was exorbitant. That 14
was part of the issue. 15
Q Who got to claim those losses on their tax 16
returns, if you know? 17
A I would think IHS. 18
Q Did Tri-State Health Investors declare its 19
two and a half percent of gross revenues as 20
income? 21
A Yes. Or the net thereof. 22
Q What does that mean? 23
A People need to get paid. 24
Q What people are you referring to?25
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A Charley, Lucas, Karen, Duay. 1
Q Tri-State Health Investors employees? 2
A Correct. 3
Q When Tri-State Health Investors ceased to 4
provide these back-office services, was there any 5
document in writing that formalized that event? 6
A Maybe only the paperwork that was filed in 7
connection to this case, but no. 8
Q In this case, you are referring to the one 9
in Delaware Federal Court? 10
A Correct. 11
Q Nothing else that you are aware of; is 12
that correct? 13
A Correct. 14
Q You didn't have any kind of a 15
communication to the nursing homes memorializing 16
the end of your services? 17
A Charley may have sent out to vendors. He 18
may have sent out that no longer send or 19
communicate with him if there is any issues. But 20
there shouldn't have been -- I don't recall of any 21
formal document. 22
Q But Charley did from time to time 23
communicate with the facilities in writing or by 24
e-mail?25
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A I would think he would respond to e-mail 1
as well, if they would e-mail him. 2
Q And do you believe that copies of those 3
communications have been saved either in hard copy 4
or electronically? 5
MR. BERNSTEIN: Objection, form. Objection, 6
predicate. 7
A I actually don't think they have been 8
saved, because I had difficulty finding e-mails 9
from three, four, five months ago. 10
Q Why is that? 11
A Because I don't think we have enough 12
capacity to keep all the e-mails. So they just -- 13
as they get old, they get -- unless you physically 14
save it on your own computer. 15
Q Well, someone can still save hard copy. 16
Do you know if anyone is saving hard copies of 17
these communications? 18
A No. 19
Q No, you don't know, or no, it's not saved? 20
A I don't know, and I don't think anybody 21
is. They were always instructing people, if they 22
need anything from their e-mail, download it and 23
save it on your hard drive. No one that I know 24
saved it.25
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Q When Tri-State Health Investors needs 1
information, technology, assistance or advice, 2
does it have an employee that gives that? 3
A Yes. Not an employee, but there was a 4
company that we contracted to help us. 5
Q Okay. And who at the present time 6
provides that assistance and advice? 7
A No one. There is no one servicing 8
Tri-State Health Investors. It doesn't really do 9
much since the -- 10
Q In '04, '05, and '06, who provided 11
information, technology, assistance and advice? 12
A It would be a company ETE. 13
Q Where are they located? 14
A I believe in Broward somewhere. 15
Q Spell that. 16
A B-R-O-W-A-R-D. 17
Q Florida? 18
A Yes. 19
MR. WHIPPLE: Mr. Klein, I have no further 20
questions. Thank you for your time. 21
In Ohio, you can elect to read or you can 22
elect to waive. 23
MR. BERNSTEIN: We will read. We would read 24
anyway.25
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MR. WHIPPLE: ASCII by Friday. 1
MR. BERNSTEIN: Copy in a Word document. 2
(Thereupon, the deposition was concluded at 12:00 3
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STATE OF FLORIDA ) 1
COUNTY OF DADE ) 2
I, the undersigned authority, certify that witness 3
personally appeared before me and was duly sworn.
4
WITNESS my hand and official seal this 14th day of
December 2007. 5
______________________________________ 6
SARA GLAZER
Notary Public - State of Florida 7
My Commission No. 448437
My Commission expires August 21, 2009 8
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C E R T I F I C A T E 1
2
The State of Florida )
3
County of Dade )
4
I, SARA GLAZER, Notary Public in and 5
for the State of Florida at Large, do hereby certify
that the aforementioned witness was by me first duly 6
sworn to testify the whole truth; that I was
authorized to and did report said deposition in 7
stenotype; and the foregoing pages are a true and
correct transcription of my shorthand notes of said 8
deposition.
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I further certify that said deposition
was taken at the time and place hereinabove set 10
forth and that the taking of said deposition was
commenced and completed as hereinabove set out. 11
I further certify that I am not an 12
attorney or counsel of any of the parties, nor am I
a relative or employee of any attorney or counsel of 13
party connected with the action, nor am I
financially interested in the action. 14
The foregoing certification of this 15
transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the
same by any means unless under the direct control 16
and/or direction of the certifying reporter.
17
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my
hand this 14th day of December 2007. 18
19
______________________________________ 20
SARA GLAZER 21
Notary Public - State of Florida.
My Commission No. 448437. 22
My Commission expires August 21, 2009
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I have read the foregoing transcript from page 1
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Date Avi Klein 24
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State of Ohio, ) 1
) SS:
County of Cuyahoga. ) 2
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Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 4
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