Preview
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024
STATE OF NEW YORK : SUPREME COURT
COUNTY OF ERIE : PART 3
________________________________________
MONEY INVESTIGATIONS, INC.,
Plaintiff,
vs. INDEX NO. 809538/2017
BLUE BRIDGE FINANCIAL, LLC,
Hearing (Continuation)
Defendant.
________________________________________
92 Franklin Street
Buffalo, New York
October 25, 2022
B E F O R E:
HONORABLE HENRY J. NOWAK,
Supreme Court Justice.
A P P E A R A N C E S:
JOSEPH G. MAKOWSKI, ESQ.,
Appearing for the Plaintiff.
JEFFREY B. NOVAK, ESQ.,
Appearing for the Defendant.
JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ
Official Court Reporter
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024
2
1
2 INDEX TO WITNESSES
3 WITNESS PAGE
4 J O H N R O B E R T S S N O W
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. NOVAK 11
5 VOIR DIRE EXAMINATION BY MR. MAKOWSKI 36
CONTINUED DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. NOVAK 44
6 CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. MAKOWSKI 69
REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. NOVAK 125
7 RECROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. MAKOWSKI 134
8 INDEX TO EXHIBITS
9 PLF'S EXH. ID. EVD.
10
DEFT'S EXH.
11 51 Gallegos Account Report 44
53 Complaint 10
12 54 Spreadsheet 10
13 COURT'S EXH.
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ, RPR
Official Court Reporter
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024
Money Investigations v. Blue Bridge Financial
3
1 THE CLERK: In the matter of Money
2 Investigations, Inc., versus Blue Bridge Financial, LLC,
3 index number 809538 of 2017. Counsel, please place your
4 appearances on the record starting with plaintiff.
5 MR. MAKOWSKI: Good morning, Your Honor.
6 Joseph Makowski appearing on behalf of Money
7 Investigations, Inc.
8 MR. NOVAK: Good morning, Your Honor. Jeffrey
9 Novak, Hogan Willig, for the defendant Blue Bridge
10 Financial.
11 THE COURT: Thank you. All right. And we are
12 continuing a trial that we had began last year. The
13 plaintiff had put on their proof, and at the close of the
14 proof the defendant had moved for a directed verdict, and
15 I issued a decision regarding that motion on June 24th of
16 this year. So we are now continuing with the defense case
17 at this time. So, Mr. Novak, I think we're ready for your
18 first witness?
19 MR. MAKOWSKI: Your Honor, consistent with the
20 telephone conference we had, would the Court ask the
21 witness if he has any documents in front of him, whether
22 there's anyone else in the room looking at a computer or
23 anything like that?
24 THE COURT: We will get to that, but I take it
25 you're going to call Mr. Snow?
JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ
Official Court Reporter
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024
Money Investigations v. Blue Bridge Financial
4
1 MR. NOVAK: I am, Judge. Yes.
2 THE COURT: All right. And we have Mr. Snow
3 now appearing virtually through Microsoft Teams.
4 Mr. Snow, it looks to me from what I can see on the image
5 that you have that there's -- you are in what appears to
6 be a conference room?
7 MR. SNOW: I'm in my office.
8 THE COURT: Your office. Okay. And is there
9 anybody else present with you in the office?
10 MR. SNOW: There's not.
11 THE COURT: Okay. Have you been provided any
12 documents that you are going to be using for your
13 testimony, anything that you may be relying on?
14 MR. SNOW: I do not have any documents with me.
15 THE COURT: Okay. Do you have a computer at
16 the ready in case we need to send you something?
17 MR. SNOW: I do.
18 THE COURT: Okay. Is it on now? Is there
19 anything that you are looking at that's on the computer,
20 any digital records or any information?
21 MR. SNOW: No. It's just a home screen. It's
22 attached to the Microsoft Teams which is up on the main
23 screen here.
24 THE COURT: All right. So the only thing you
25 have that you are relying on at the moment is just the
JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ
Official Court Reporter
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024
Money Investigations v. Blue Bridge Financial
5
1 video that we have that we can see on our screen as well?
2 MR. SNOW: Correct.
3 MR. NOVAK: Just for the record, Judge, I sent
4 Rob an e-mail with the about six exhibits that I do plan
5 to put in front of him. So when I refer to them, Rob, you
6 have that e-mail with the exhibits labeled, and you can
7 open that up.
8 MR. SNOW: Okay.
9 THE COURT: All right. Mr. Makowski, any other
10 questions?
11 MR. MAKOWSKI: On the exhibits, do we know what
12 the exhibits are, Judge, so I can have them in front of
13 me? I probably have them here. I just would like to know
14 what they are.
15 MR. NOVAK: As we discussed, Judge, there are a
16 couple housekeeping items on a couple of the exhibits. I
17 think we have --
18 THE COURT: Let's do that now before we swear
19 in Mr. Snow.
20 MR. NOVAK: So I -- in terms of exhibits that I
21 have available that are stickered, we had -- I'm going to
22 use H and H-1.
23 THE COURT: Okay. And those have been marked
24 already?
25 MR. MAKOWSKI: Those are in evidence.
JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ
Official Court Reporter
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024
Money Investigations v. Blue Bridge Financial
6
1 MR. NOVAK: Yes. S.
2 MR. MAKOWSKI: That's in evidence to my
3 knowledge.
4 MR. NOVAK: D.
5 MR. MAKOWSKI: D as in dog?
6 MR. NOVAK: Yes. And then I have an
7 unstickered copy of Exhibit 51 which was marked for
8 identification. It was not admitted into evidence
9 previously.
10 THE COURT: Marked for identification as
11 Plaintiff's Exhibit 51 in this case?
12 MR. NOVAK: Defendant's Exhibit 51. Yes,
13 Judge.
14 THE COURT: Was this the case where we were
15 using letters for plaintiff and numbers for defendant?
16 MR. NOVAK: Yes.
17 MR. MAKOWSKI: Yeah. We inverted it because he
18 had a book, and we were just -- I have all the exhibits
19 that we used, Judge, so we will get them back to you.
20 THE COURT: All right. So you are going to use
21 what's previously been marked as Exhibit 51? Okay.
22 MR. MAKOWSKI: 51 is an account report for
23 account report for Guillermo Gallegos, G-U-I-L-L-E-R-M-O
24 G-A-L-L-E-G-O-S -- it says Junior here -- lease 113596.
25 MR. NOVAK: I plan to use, Judge, what I
JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ
Official Court Reporter
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024
Money Investigations v. Blue Bridge Financial
7
1 believe was marked Exhibit E, which was the plaintiff's
2 response to notice to produce.
3 THE COURT: Okay. I understand we had trouble
4 locating that exhibit even though that was marked into
5 evidence, right?
6 MR. NOVAK: Yes, Judge.
7 THE COURT: Mr. Makowski, have you by any
8 chance been able to go through your items and see if that
9 was an exhibit that may have ended up in your bag when we
10 left the first time?
11 MR. MAKOWSKI: Judge, I have an E here. It was
12 in my pile that was placed outside. So I do have an E
13 here.
14 THE COURT: Good. Does it has an original
15 sticker on it?
16 MR. MAKOWSKI: Yes. I have a sticker.
17 THE COURT: That's our fault. We put it in the
18 bin outside, but I'm glad we recovered it.
19 MR. MAKOWSKI: I am sorry, Judge. Frankly, I
20 didn't pick up my exhibits until yesterday because I
21 thought they were with the Court because we hadn't closed
22 testimony. So my thought process is you were holding
23 them, so I came yesterday afternoon to look at my
24 exhibits.
25 THE COURT: We should hold on to that one.
JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ
Official Court Reporter
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024
Money Investigations v. Blue Bridge Financial
8
1 Great. Is there anything else other than Exhibit E that
2 is in evidence that wound up in your pile?
3 MR. MAKOWSKI: In the interest -- yes. Sure.
4 I have got Exhibit A. I have B. I have C, D, anything I
5 put in. I can't stand up -- there is an exhibit report,
6 Judge, of everything that was either identified or
7 circled. I have that, and so whatever circle I believe I
8 have, and it goes A through II, I believe. Not all of
9 those are in evidence because some of them were
10 duplicative, but I have all the exhibits that I put in in
11 our case in chief.
12 THE COURT: Let's return those to the counsel
13 table up here so then they will return back to the
14 courtroom, and we will hang on to those until the case is
15 concluded.
16 MR. MAKOWSKI: Okay. But I thought that they
17 were with you, so I didn't -- I never came to get them. I
18 just looked at them in the courtroom --
19 THE COURT: Okay.
20 MR. MAKOWSKI: -- because they were in
21 evidence.
22 THE COURT: Perfect. Thank you. All right.
23 So E is in that pile?
24 MR. MAKOWSKI: Right.
25 THE COURT: All right.
JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ
Official Court Reporter
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024
Money Investigations v. Blue Bridge Financial
9
1 MR. NOVAK: And then I only have two additional
2 documents that weren't previously marked. One I would
3 think is going to be pretty noncontroversial. It is a
4 copy of the complaint.
5 THE COURT: Okay. Let's have that marked now.
6 What are we up to in terms of defense exhibits? What
7 number?
8 MR. NOVAK: I know the audit trail went to 52.
9 Those were admitted.
10 THE COURT: Want to mark the complaint
11 Exhibit 53 then?
12 MR. NOVAK: Judge, I would ask to mark it 63.
13 My notebook goes to 62, but I don't have a copy of
14 anything beyond the -- actually, 52 was the last of the
15 audit trails.
16 THE COURT: I don't want to mark it as 62 or 63
17 if we don't have a 53 through 61.
18 MR. NOVAK: I don't see any indication on the
19 exhibit.
20 THE COURT: Let's mark a copy of the complaint
21 as Exhibit 53 for identification. Now, is there something
22 else?
23 MR. NOVAK: Then I have a very short Excel
24 spreadsheet prepared by my client off of what is
25 Exhibit 51, the audit trail.
JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ
Official Court Reporter
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024
Money Investigations v. Blue Bridge Financial
10
1 THE COURT: Let's mark that 54 and both for
2 identification. So the complaint 53, and the Excel
3 spreadsheet portion 54.
4
The following was marked for identification:
5 DFT. EXH. 53 - Complaint
DFT. EXH. 54 - Spreadsheet
6
7 THE COURT: With that, are we ready to begin?
8 MR. NOVAK: Yes.
9 THE COURT: Mr. Snow, are you all set?
10 THE WITNESS: Yes, I am.
11 THE COURT: Would you please raise your right
12 hand?
13
14 J O H N R O B E R T S S N O W, after being duly called and
15 sworn, testified as follows:
16
17 THE COURT: Thank you. You could put your hand
18 down. Could you please state your full name for me and
19 just spell your last name?
20 THE WITNESS: John Roberts Snow, S-N-O-W.
21 THE COURT: Middle name Roberts with an S on
22 the end?
23 THE WITNESS: Correct.
24 THE COURT: And could I have either a home or
25 business address?
JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ
Official Court Reporter
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024
Snow - Direct - Novak
11
1 THE WITNESS: Home address is 5609 Springfield
2 Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20816.
3 THE COURT: Thank you. I used to live off of
4 Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda. Anyway, all right.
5 Mr. Novak, your witness.
6 MR. NOVAK: Thank you, Judge.
7 DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. NOVAK:
8 Q. Good morning, Mr. Snow.
9 A. Good morning.
10 Q. And just for the record, you actually go by Rob,
11 correct? That's your preferred?
12 A. Yes, I do.
13 Q. Okay. So if I call you Rob, that's the way you would
14 appreciate it?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. You are here to testify today as a representative of
17 Blue Bridge Financial, correct?
18 A. That's correct.
19 Q. And can you tell me just briefly what Blue Bridge
20 Financial does?
21 A. Blue Bridge is a small --
22 THE COURT: Hold on one second. The audio on
23 our end, Mr. Snow, isn't ideal. So I just ask that you go
24 very slowly and kind of deliberately so we make sure we
25 get every word. Okay? If you could give the answer to
JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ
Official Court Reporter
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024
Snow - Direct - Novak
12
1 that last question one more time?
2 THE WITNESS: Blue Bridge Financial is a small
3 ticket equipment finance company that lends the purchase
4 of equipment around the country.
5 BY MR. NOVAK:
6 Q. And what is your position with the company?
7 A. I am the president and chief credit officer.
8 Q. And was that your position in around the time of
9 February of 2017 as well?
10 A. In 2017 I was just the chief credit officer.
11 Q. And as part of your job responsibilities in February
12 of 2017, were you involved with the company's efforts in
13 collections on accounts?
14 A. Yes. I have responsibility for collections,
15 operations, and management of people in the collections group.
16 Q. And did you have responsibility for hiring personnel
17 in the collections group as well?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. And are you familiar with a former employee of the
20 company named Syaed Ali?
21 A. Yes, I am.
22 Q. And do you recall the hiring of Mr. Ali by Blue
23 Bridge?
24 A. Yes. I was responsible for hiring him.
25 Q. And do you recall approximately when he was hired by
JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ
Official Court Reporter
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024
Snow - Direct - Novak
13
1 the company?
2 A. He started in late December of 2016. I don't
3 remember the exact day.
4 Q. And what was he hired to do at Blue Bridge?
5 A. His responsibility was to collect our past due
6 accounts. When we make a loan, if that borrower doesn't make
7 the payment, it was his responsibility to contact the borrower
8 to make payment arrangements for the collection of that loan.
9 And if the borrower didn't ultimately pay, then he would manage
10 the repossession and liquidation of any collateral.
11 Q. So is it fair to say that Blue Bridge had -- at least
12 in that late 2016 early 2017 timeframe -- Blue Bridge had
13 internal personnel, an internal collections department that
14 handled collections directly for the company?
15 A. We had one person.
16 Q. Was that Mr. Ali?
17 A. No. We had -- there was a woman there who had told
18 us she was leaving the company, and so Mr. Ali was hired to
19 replace her, and they worked side by side for most of the month
20 of January of 2017 before she left the company.
21 Q. And it was part of his job responsibility to actually
22 make contact with the customers themselves and attempt to
23 collect on any past due amounts, correct?
24 A. Yes.
25 THE COURT: Mr. Novak, before I forget, do you
JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ
Official Court Reporter
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024
Snow - Direct - Novak
14
1 have the spelling of Mr. Ali's first name Syaed?
2 MR. NOVAK: S-Y-A-E-D, I believe.
3 THE COURT: Okay. Ali, A-L-I?
4 MR. NOVAK: Yes. I know that because I was
5 actually misspelling it on my outline the other night, and
6 then I looked at it and realized I had misspelled it.
7 BY MR. NOVAK:
8 Q. Rob, during this time period, again the late 2016
9 early 2017 time period, did Blue Bridge also work with outside
10 third-party collection agents to collect debt?
11 A. We did not.
12 Q. Has Blue Bridge historically ever worked with outside
13 third-party collection agents for collecting debt?
14 A. We have since that time where our charged-off loans
15 we do periodically assign accounts out to third-party
16 collectors.
17 Q. But prior to this time in late 2016, early 2017, you
18 had not done that historically?
19 A. Right. We managed all of that in house.
20 Q. And were you part of the actual interviews conducted
21 with Mr. Ali when Blue Bridge was hiring him?
22 A. Yes, I was.
23 Q. And were you part of any on-boarding process, if you
24 understand that term, when he was ultimately hired by the
25 company?
JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ
Official Court Reporter
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024
Snow - Direct - Novak
15
1 A. Yes. Since he worked for me, it was my
2 responsibility to set out my goals and expectations for him
3 when we hired him. Although he wanted the training, the first
4 month was done by the other collector that we had who was
5 leaving, but a lot of the direction in terms of, you know, my
6 expectations and things that he would do came from me.
7 Q. Did you have any conversations with him during those
8 time periods about whether or not he had the authority to enter
9 into any type of agreements with outside collection agents?
10 MR. MAKOWSKI: Object, Your Honor.
11 THE COURT: Well, the question did you have any
12 conversations with him, I will allow that.
13 THE WITNESS: I don't recall any specific
14 conversations with him about third-party collection
15 agencies.
16 BY MR. NOVAK:
17 Q. And can you pull up the e-mail that I sent to you, I
18 believe it was on Friday? I want you to open up Exhibit D for
19 me. That's a copy of the contract.
20 MR. NOVAK: I think I have a copy of it, Judge.
21 MR. MAKOWSKI: I have one here, but I just
22 wanted to make sure.
23 THE WITNESS: I have the e-mail. Which exhibit
24 would you like me to look at?
25
JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ
Official Court Reporter
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024
Snow - Direct - Novak
16
1 BY MR. NOVAK:
2 Q. It should be labeled Exhibit D. It's a copy of the
3 contract.
4 A. Okay.
5 Q. Do you have that in front of you? You can see that
6 now?
7 A. Yes. Yes, I do.
8 Q. And is it your understanding that this is the
9 contract that the plaintiff in this case has brought their
10 lawsuit based on, correct?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And if you go to the final page of the document
13 there's a --
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. -- signature block?
16 A. Yep.
17 Q. And the contract is dated February 3rd, 2017,
18 correct?
19 A. Yes, it is.
20 Q. And it has what appears to be an electronic signature
21 by Mr. Ali?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. And there's no apparent signature on behalf of Money
24 Investigations, correct?
25 A. That's correct.
JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ
Official Court Reporter
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024
Snow - Direct - Novak
17
1 Q. And in terms of Blue Bridge's structure, who with the
2 company in this late 2016 early 2017 timeframe had authority to
3 enter into contracts on behalf of the company?
4 MR. MAKOWSKI: Your Honor, I'm going to object
5 to this. It's law of the case. Your Honor has already
6 passed on this question. We did extensive questioning of
7 Mr. Ali on this. Your Honor's allowed the contract to be
8 admitted into evidence, and there appears now to be an
9 effort to somehow disclaim the responsibilities of
10 Mr. Ali. I'm anticipating those questions, but I think
11 this is law of the case, Judge. I do.
12 THE COURT: I think we have had the issue
13 preserved as to whether or not Mr. Ali had the authority
14 to enter into the contract to begin with.
15 MR. NOVAK: My understanding, Judge, of how the
16 contract came into evidence is it came into evidence under
17 that limitation.
18 MR. MAKOWSKI: Under what?
19 MR. NOVAK: Under that limitation. That -- my
20 understanding of the ruling from the Court -- and I have a
21 copy of the transcript so we can go back to it. But the
22 contract came in on a limited basis for the fact that it's
23 the contract that he -- the plaintiff is claiming in this
24 case, and it was put in front of Mr. Syaed -- or Mr. Ali
25 that that was the contract that he says he signed. But
JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ
Official Court Reporter
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024
Snow - Direct - Novak
18
1 certainly the issue of whether or not he had the authority
2 to sign on behalf of my client, I don't believe that that
3 could be law of the case or settled because we haven't had
4 any testimony from anyone from Blue Bridge saying such.
5 THE COURT: Right. I don't necessarily
6 consider it a limitation. This might be semantics that we
7 are talking about. Limitation on something in evidence
8 either it's in or it's not. It's in evidence, but I think
9 that there was also a reservation of rights as to the
10 issue as to whether or not he was able to sign it. We can
11 enter lots of things into evidence, but the question of
12 whether or not someone was authorized to sign something
13 may still be a live issue. So I will allow testimony
14 concerning that with the understanding that of course the
15 exhibit is in evidence and stays in evidence, but the
16 issue as to whether or not Mr. Syaed was authorized on
17 that day to sign it is something that you may each pursue
18 if you wish.
19 MR. MAKOWSKI: Respectfully, Judge, just for
20 the record, I think Your Honor ruled on this very issue
21 with Mr. Syaed's testimony. There was a direct challenge
22 to his authority to my recollection. And I laid -- I know
23 I asked a lot of questions about this. It will be in the
24 record. I don't need to belabor it. So I think
25 Your Honor has already ruled on this issue in terms of
JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ
Official Court Reporter
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024
Snow - Direct - Novak
19
1 Mr. Syaed's authority, specifically that he had the
2 authority. But I understand Your Honor's ruling. I'm not
3 going to be argumentative on it, but I think you have
4 passed on this, Judge.
5 THE COURT: I know Mr. Syaed believed -- at
6 least testified that he believed that he did have the
7 authority to sign it, and all of that evidence remains,
8 and that's something that I will consider in deciding the
9 issue, but I will certainly allow further testimony.
10 MR. MAKOWSKI: Yes, Your Honor.
11 THE COURT: Okay. Thank you.
12 MR. NOVAK: Would you be able to read my
13 question back?
14 (The above-requested question was read by the
15 reporter.)
16 BY MR. NOVAK:
17 Q. Were you able to hear the court reporter, Rob?
18 A. Yes, I was.
19 Q. Are you able to answer that question for me?
20 A. Yes. It would be the signing authorities for the
21 company are established by the board, and at that time the
22 signing authorities were Blue Bridge Financial were established
23 by the board of managers, and the four people in the company
24 that had signing authority to execute contracts on behalf of
25 Blue Bridge included the CEO, the president, myself, and our VP
JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ
Official Court Reporter
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024
Snow - Direct - Novak
20
1 of finance.
2 MR. MAKOWSKI: Your Honor, not to belabor it,
3 but I think that's a hearsay answer to the extent that
4 he's relying on materials, apparently board materials that
5 are not before the Court. Now, he may have knowledge of
6 those materials, but he seems to be referencing something
7 to do with board materials. Whether they are minutes,
8 whether it's the charter or the certificate of the
9 corporation or other documents, I don't know, but I think
10 it's a hearsay answer. I'm going to move to strike.
11 THE COURT: Mr. Novak, hearsay on how this
12 information must have come by either something that he
13 read or heard?
14 MR. NOVAK: Well, I think he can testify to
15 what's in his personal knowledge and in terms of what the,
16 you know, general policy of the company, how it plays out
17 day to day, who has authority to enter into contracts and
18 who doesn't. I don't know that it's entirely -- he's
19 testifying that it's derived from or that that is stated
20 in some, you know, operating procedure or something like
21 that. But certainly as to what their policy is, I don't
22 know that it needs to be in writing in a documentary
23 evidence to -- for him to testify that that's how Blue
24 Bridge operates.
25 THE COURT: Right. He learned it from
JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ
Official Court Reporter
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024
Snow - Direct - Novak
21
1 someplace, and we don't -- it's being offered for the
2 truth of the matter that that's really what was directed
3 by the board. So I'm going to sustain the objection.
4 MR. MAKOWSKI: Move to strike, Judge.
5 THE COURT: It's not necessary. I'm the trier
6 of fact.
7 MR. MAKOWSKI: Okay, Judge.
8 BY MR. NOVAK:
9 Q. Rob, do you recall having any conversations with
10 Mr. Ali about whether or not he had authority to sign contracts
11 on behalf of Blue Bridge?
12 A. Not specifically about contracts, but in terms of the
13 scope of his duties we had extensive conversations about what
14 things needed approval and what things did not. We didn't -- I
15 don't have any recollection specifically discussing contracts
16 or signing contracts.
17 Q. And at some point the existence of this contract came
18 to your attention, correct?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. And have you had any other incidents where employees
21 entered into contracts on behalf of the company?
22 MR. MAKOWSKI: Objection, relevance.
23 THE COURT: Sustained.
24 BY MR. NOVAK:
25 Q. Do you recall when you became aware of this contract?
JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ
Official Court Reporter
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024
Snow - Direct - Novak
22
1 A. I believe it was late March or early April of 2017.
2 Q. And prior to becoming aware of the contract, had you
3 ever heard any reference to the plaintiff Money Investigations,
4 Inc.?
5 MR. MAKOWSKI: Objection, form. From whom?
6 How?
7 THE COURT: We can get to that. I will allow
8 it. I will allow the question as to this, if the witness
9 understands it.
10 THE WITNESS: I had not had any -- never heard
11 the name Money Investigations, Inc., prior to that time.
12 BY MR. NOVAK:
13 Q. Did Mr. Ali have any discussions with you about Money
14 Investigations, Inc., prior to you becoming aware of the
15 contract?
16 A. He did not.
17 MR. MAKOWSKI: Is that a no?
18 MR. NOVAK: I believe he said he did not.
19 THE COURT: He did not, yes.
20 MR. MAKOWSKI: Okay. I didn't hear.
21 BY MR. NOVAK:
22 Q. And the date of this contract is February 3rd, 2017,
23 correct?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. And I believe you testified that Mr. Ali was hired in
JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ
Official Court Reporter
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024
Snow - Direct - Novak
23
1 December of 2016, correct?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. So in terms of a timeframe, he had only been with
4 Blue Bridge for a relatively short period of time, correct?
5 A. That is correct.
6 Q. Or it sounds like a little over a month would be
7 about accurate, a month and a half?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. Again, going back to this time period of late 2016
10 early 2017, if one of your employees thought it necessary for
Preview
FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024 STATE OF NEW YORK : SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF ERIE : PART 3 ________________________________________ MONEY INVESTIGATIONS, INC., Plaintiff, vs. INDEX NO. 809538/2017 BLUE BRIDGE FINANCIAL, LLC, Hearing (Continuation) Defendant. ________________________________________ 92 Franklin Street Buffalo, New York October 25, 2022 B E F O R E: HONORABLE HENRY J. NOWAK, Supreme Court Justice. A P P E A R A N C E S: JOSEPH G. MAKOWSKI, ESQ., Appearing for the Plaintiff. JEFFREY B. NOVAK, ESQ., Appearing for the Defendant. JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ Official Court Reporter FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024 2 1 2 INDEX TO WITNESSES 3 WITNESS PAGE 4 J O H N R O B E R T S S N O W DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. NOVAK 11 5 VOIR DIRE EXAMINATION BY MR. MAKOWSKI 36 CONTINUED DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. NOVAK 44 6 CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. MAKOWSKI 69 REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. NOVAK 125 7 RECROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. MAKOWSKI 134 8 INDEX TO EXHIBITS 9 PLF'S EXH. ID. EVD. 10 DEFT'S EXH. 11 51 Gallegos Account Report 44 53 Complaint 10 12 54 Spreadsheet 10 13 COURT'S EXH. 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ, RPR Official Court Reporter FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024 Money Investigations v. Blue Bridge Financial 3 1 THE CLERK: In the matter of Money 2 Investigations, Inc., versus Blue Bridge Financial, LLC, 3 index number 809538 of 2017. Counsel, please place your 4 appearances on the record starting with plaintiff. 5 MR. MAKOWSKI: Good morning, Your Honor. 6 Joseph Makowski appearing on behalf of Money 7 Investigations, Inc. 8 MR. NOVAK: Good morning, Your Honor. Jeffrey 9 Novak, Hogan Willig, for the defendant Blue Bridge 10 Financial. 11 THE COURT: Thank you. All right. And we are 12 continuing a trial that we had began last year. The 13 plaintiff had put on their proof, and at the close of the 14 proof the defendant had moved for a directed verdict, and 15 I issued a decision regarding that motion on June 24th of 16 this year. So we are now continuing with the defense case 17 at this time. So, Mr. Novak, I think we're ready for your 18 first witness? 19 MR. MAKOWSKI: Your Honor, consistent with the 20 telephone conference we had, would the Court ask the 21 witness if he has any documents in front of him, whether 22 there's anyone else in the room looking at a computer or 23 anything like that? 24 THE COURT: We will get to that, but I take it 25 you're going to call Mr. Snow? JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ Official Court Reporter FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024 Money Investigations v. Blue Bridge Financial 4 1 MR. NOVAK: I am, Judge. Yes. 2 THE COURT: All right. And we have Mr. Snow 3 now appearing virtually through Microsoft Teams. 4 Mr. Snow, it looks to me from what I can see on the image 5 that you have that there's -- you are in what appears to 6 be a conference room? 7 MR. SNOW: I'm in my office. 8 THE COURT: Your office. Okay. And is there 9 anybody else present with you in the office? 10 MR. SNOW: There's not. 11 THE COURT: Okay. Have you been provided any 12 documents that you are going to be using for your 13 testimony, anything that you may be relying on? 14 MR. SNOW: I do not have any documents with me. 15 THE COURT: Okay. Do you have a computer at 16 the ready in case we need to send you something? 17 MR. SNOW: I do. 18 THE COURT: Okay. Is it on now? Is there 19 anything that you are looking at that's on the computer, 20 any digital records or any information? 21 MR. SNOW: No. It's just a home screen. It's 22 attached to the Microsoft Teams which is up on the main 23 screen here. 24 THE COURT: All right. So the only thing you 25 have that you are relying on at the moment is just the JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ Official Court Reporter FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024 Money Investigations v. Blue Bridge Financial 5 1 video that we have that we can see on our screen as well? 2 MR. SNOW: Correct. 3 MR. NOVAK: Just for the record, Judge, I sent 4 Rob an e-mail with the about six exhibits that I do plan 5 to put in front of him. So when I refer to them, Rob, you 6 have that e-mail with the exhibits labeled, and you can 7 open that up. 8 MR. SNOW: Okay. 9 THE COURT: All right. Mr. Makowski, any other 10 questions? 11 MR. MAKOWSKI: On the exhibits, do we know what 12 the exhibits are, Judge, so I can have them in front of 13 me? I probably have them here. I just would like to know 14 what they are. 15 MR. NOVAK: As we discussed, Judge, there are a 16 couple housekeeping items on a couple of the exhibits. I 17 think we have -- 18 THE COURT: Let's do that now before we swear 19 in Mr. Snow. 20 MR. NOVAK: So I -- in terms of exhibits that I 21 have available that are stickered, we had -- I'm going to 22 use H and H-1. 23 THE COURT: Okay. And those have been marked 24 already? 25 MR. MAKOWSKI: Those are in evidence. JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ Official Court Reporter FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024 Money Investigations v. Blue Bridge Financial 6 1 MR. NOVAK: Yes. S. 2 MR. MAKOWSKI: That's in evidence to my 3 knowledge. 4 MR. NOVAK: D. 5 MR. MAKOWSKI: D as in dog? 6 MR. NOVAK: Yes. And then I have an 7 unstickered copy of Exhibit 51 which was marked for 8 identification. It was not admitted into evidence 9 previously. 10 THE COURT: Marked for identification as 11 Plaintiff's Exhibit 51 in this case? 12 MR. NOVAK: Defendant's Exhibit 51. Yes, 13 Judge. 14 THE COURT: Was this the case where we were 15 using letters for plaintiff and numbers for defendant? 16 MR. NOVAK: Yes. 17 MR. MAKOWSKI: Yeah. We inverted it because he 18 had a book, and we were just -- I have all the exhibits 19 that we used, Judge, so we will get them back to you. 20 THE COURT: All right. So you are going to use 21 what's previously been marked as Exhibit 51? Okay. 22 MR. MAKOWSKI: 51 is an account report for 23 account report for Guillermo Gallegos, G-U-I-L-L-E-R-M-O 24 G-A-L-L-E-G-O-S -- it says Junior here -- lease 113596. 25 MR. NOVAK: I plan to use, Judge, what I JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ Official Court Reporter FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024 Money Investigations v. Blue Bridge Financial 7 1 believe was marked Exhibit E, which was the plaintiff's 2 response to notice to produce. 3 THE COURT: Okay. I understand we had trouble 4 locating that exhibit even though that was marked into 5 evidence, right? 6 MR. NOVAK: Yes, Judge. 7 THE COURT: Mr. Makowski, have you by any 8 chance been able to go through your items and see if that 9 was an exhibit that may have ended up in your bag when we 10 left the first time? 11 MR. MAKOWSKI: Judge, I have an E here. It was 12 in my pile that was placed outside. So I do have an E 13 here. 14 THE COURT: Good. Does it has an original 15 sticker on it? 16 MR. MAKOWSKI: Yes. I have a sticker. 17 THE COURT: That's our fault. We put it in the 18 bin outside, but I'm glad we recovered it. 19 MR. MAKOWSKI: I am sorry, Judge. Frankly, I 20 didn't pick up my exhibits until yesterday because I 21 thought they were with the Court because we hadn't closed 22 testimony. So my thought process is you were holding 23 them, so I came yesterday afternoon to look at my 24 exhibits. 25 THE COURT: We should hold on to that one. JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ Official Court Reporter FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024 Money Investigations v. Blue Bridge Financial 8 1 Great. Is there anything else other than Exhibit E that 2 is in evidence that wound up in your pile? 3 MR. MAKOWSKI: In the interest -- yes. Sure. 4 I have got Exhibit A. I have B. I have C, D, anything I 5 put in. I can't stand up -- there is an exhibit report, 6 Judge, of everything that was either identified or 7 circled. I have that, and so whatever circle I believe I 8 have, and it goes A through II, I believe. Not all of 9 those are in evidence because some of them were 10 duplicative, but I have all the exhibits that I put in in 11 our case in chief. 12 THE COURT: Let's return those to the counsel 13 table up here so then they will return back to the 14 courtroom, and we will hang on to those until the case is 15 concluded. 16 MR. MAKOWSKI: Okay. But I thought that they 17 were with you, so I didn't -- I never came to get them. I 18 just looked at them in the courtroom -- 19 THE COURT: Okay. 20 MR. MAKOWSKI: -- because they were in 21 evidence. 22 THE COURT: Perfect. Thank you. All right. 23 So E is in that pile? 24 MR. MAKOWSKI: Right. 25 THE COURT: All right. JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ Official Court Reporter FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024 Money Investigations v. Blue Bridge Financial 9 1 MR. NOVAK: And then I only have two additional 2 documents that weren't previously marked. One I would 3 think is going to be pretty noncontroversial. It is a 4 copy of the complaint. 5 THE COURT: Okay. Let's have that marked now. 6 What are we up to in terms of defense exhibits? What 7 number? 8 MR. NOVAK: I know the audit trail went to 52. 9 Those were admitted. 10 THE COURT: Want to mark the complaint 11 Exhibit 53 then? 12 MR. NOVAK: Judge, I would ask to mark it 63. 13 My notebook goes to 62, but I don't have a copy of 14 anything beyond the -- actually, 52 was the last of the 15 audit trails. 16 THE COURT: I don't want to mark it as 62 or 63 17 if we don't have a 53 through 61. 18 MR. NOVAK: I don't see any indication on the 19 exhibit. 20 THE COURT: Let's mark a copy of the complaint 21 as Exhibit 53 for identification. Now, is there something 22 else? 23 MR. NOVAK: Then I have a very short Excel 24 spreadsheet prepared by my client off of what is 25 Exhibit 51, the audit trail. JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ Official Court Reporter FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024 Money Investigations v. Blue Bridge Financial 10 1 THE COURT: Let's mark that 54 and both for 2 identification. So the complaint 53, and the Excel 3 spreadsheet portion 54. 4 The following was marked for identification: 5 DFT. EXH. 53 - Complaint DFT. EXH. 54 - Spreadsheet 6 7 THE COURT: With that, are we ready to begin? 8 MR. NOVAK: Yes. 9 THE COURT: Mr. Snow, are you all set? 10 THE WITNESS: Yes, I am. 11 THE COURT: Would you please raise your right 12 hand? 13 14 J O H N R O B E R T S S N O W, after being duly called and 15 sworn, testified as follows: 16 17 THE COURT: Thank you. You could put your hand 18 down. Could you please state your full name for me and 19 just spell your last name? 20 THE WITNESS: John Roberts Snow, S-N-O-W. 21 THE COURT: Middle name Roberts with an S on 22 the end? 23 THE WITNESS: Correct. 24 THE COURT: And could I have either a home or 25 business address? JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ Official Court Reporter FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024 Snow - Direct - Novak 11 1 THE WITNESS: Home address is 5609 Springfield 2 Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20816. 3 THE COURT: Thank you. I used to live off of 4 Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda. Anyway, all right. 5 Mr. Novak, your witness. 6 MR. NOVAK: Thank you, Judge. 7 DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. NOVAK: 8 Q. Good morning, Mr. Snow. 9 A. Good morning. 10 Q. And just for the record, you actually go by Rob, 11 correct? That's your preferred? 12 A. Yes, I do. 13 Q. Okay. So if I call you Rob, that's the way you would 14 appreciate it? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. You are here to testify today as a representative of 17 Blue Bridge Financial, correct? 18 A. That's correct. 19 Q. And can you tell me just briefly what Blue Bridge 20 Financial does? 21 A. Blue Bridge is a small -- 22 THE COURT: Hold on one second. The audio on 23 our end, Mr. Snow, isn't ideal. So I just ask that you go 24 very slowly and kind of deliberately so we make sure we 25 get every word. Okay? If you could give the answer to JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ Official Court Reporter FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024 Snow - Direct - Novak 12 1 that last question one more time? 2 THE WITNESS: Blue Bridge Financial is a small 3 ticket equipment finance company that lends the purchase 4 of equipment around the country. 5 BY MR. NOVAK: 6 Q. And what is your position with the company? 7 A. I am the president and chief credit officer. 8 Q. And was that your position in around the time of 9 February of 2017 as well? 10 A. In 2017 I was just the chief credit officer. 11 Q. And as part of your job responsibilities in February 12 of 2017, were you involved with the company's efforts in 13 collections on accounts? 14 A. Yes. I have responsibility for collections, 15 operations, and management of people in the collections group. 16 Q. And did you have responsibility for hiring personnel 17 in the collections group as well? 18 A. Yes. 19 Q. And are you familiar with a former employee of the 20 company named Syaed Ali? 21 A. Yes, I am. 22 Q. And do you recall the hiring of Mr. Ali by Blue 23 Bridge? 24 A. Yes. I was responsible for hiring him. 25 Q. And do you recall approximately when he was hired by JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ Official Court Reporter FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024 Snow - Direct - Novak 13 1 the company? 2 A. He started in late December of 2016. I don't 3 remember the exact day. 4 Q. And what was he hired to do at Blue Bridge? 5 A. His responsibility was to collect our past due 6 accounts. When we make a loan, if that borrower doesn't make 7 the payment, it was his responsibility to contact the borrower 8 to make payment arrangements for the collection of that loan. 9 And if the borrower didn't ultimately pay, then he would manage 10 the repossession and liquidation of any collateral. 11 Q. So is it fair to say that Blue Bridge had -- at least 12 in that late 2016 early 2017 timeframe -- Blue Bridge had 13 internal personnel, an internal collections department that 14 handled collections directly for the company? 15 A. We had one person. 16 Q. Was that Mr. Ali? 17 A. No. We had -- there was a woman there who had told 18 us she was leaving the company, and so Mr. Ali was hired to 19 replace her, and they worked side by side for most of the month 20 of January of 2017 before she left the company. 21 Q. And it was part of his job responsibility to actually 22 make contact with the customers themselves and attempt to 23 collect on any past due amounts, correct? 24 A. Yes. 25 THE COURT: Mr. Novak, before I forget, do you JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ Official Court Reporter FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024 Snow - Direct - Novak 14 1 have the spelling of Mr. Ali's first name Syaed? 2 MR. NOVAK: S-Y-A-E-D, I believe. 3 THE COURT: Okay. Ali, A-L-I? 4 MR. NOVAK: Yes. I know that because I was 5 actually misspelling it on my outline the other night, and 6 then I looked at it and realized I had misspelled it. 7 BY MR. NOVAK: 8 Q. Rob, during this time period, again the late 2016 9 early 2017 time period, did Blue Bridge also work with outside 10 third-party collection agents to collect debt? 11 A. We did not. 12 Q. Has Blue Bridge historically ever worked with outside 13 third-party collection agents for collecting debt? 14 A. We have since that time where our charged-off loans 15 we do periodically assign accounts out to third-party 16 collectors. 17 Q. But prior to this time in late 2016, early 2017, you 18 had not done that historically? 19 A. Right. We managed all of that in house. 20 Q. And were you part of the actual interviews conducted 21 with Mr. Ali when Blue Bridge was hiring him? 22 A. Yes, I was. 23 Q. And were you part of any on-boarding process, if you 24 understand that term, when he was ultimately hired by the 25 company? JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ Official Court Reporter FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024 Snow - Direct - Novak 15 1 A. Yes. Since he worked for me, it was my 2 responsibility to set out my goals and expectations for him 3 when we hired him. Although he wanted the training, the first 4 month was done by the other collector that we had who was 5 leaving, but a lot of the direction in terms of, you know, my 6 expectations and things that he would do came from me. 7 Q. Did you have any conversations with him during those 8 time periods about whether or not he had the authority to enter 9 into any type of agreements with outside collection agents? 10 MR. MAKOWSKI: Object, Your Honor. 11 THE COURT: Well, the question did you have any 12 conversations with him, I will allow that. 13 THE WITNESS: I don't recall any specific 14 conversations with him about third-party collection 15 agencies. 16 BY MR. NOVAK: 17 Q. And can you pull up the e-mail that I sent to you, I 18 believe it was on Friday? I want you to open up Exhibit D for 19 me. That's a copy of the contract. 20 MR. NOVAK: I think I have a copy of it, Judge. 21 MR. MAKOWSKI: I have one here, but I just 22 wanted to make sure. 23 THE WITNESS: I have the e-mail. Which exhibit 24 would you like me to look at? 25 JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ Official Court Reporter FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024 Snow - Direct - Novak 16 1 BY MR. NOVAK: 2 Q. It should be labeled Exhibit D. It's a copy of the 3 contract. 4 A. Okay. 5 Q. Do you have that in front of you? You can see that 6 now? 7 A. Yes. Yes, I do. 8 Q. And is it your understanding that this is the 9 contract that the plaintiff in this case has brought their 10 lawsuit based on, correct? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. And if you go to the final page of the document 13 there's a -- 14 A. Yes. 15 Q. -- signature block? 16 A. Yep. 17 Q. And the contract is dated February 3rd, 2017, 18 correct? 19 A. Yes, it is. 20 Q. And it has what appears to be an electronic signature 21 by Mr. Ali? 22 A. Yes. 23 Q. And there's no apparent signature on behalf of Money 24 Investigations, correct? 25 A. That's correct. JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ Official Court Reporter FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024 Snow - Direct - Novak 17 1 Q. And in terms of Blue Bridge's structure, who with the 2 company in this late 2016 early 2017 timeframe had authority to 3 enter into contracts on behalf of the company? 4 MR. MAKOWSKI: Your Honor, I'm going to object 5 to this. It's law of the case. Your Honor has already 6 passed on this question. We did extensive questioning of 7 Mr. Ali on this. Your Honor's allowed the contract to be 8 admitted into evidence, and there appears now to be an 9 effort to somehow disclaim the responsibilities of 10 Mr. Ali. I'm anticipating those questions, but I think 11 this is law of the case, Judge. I do. 12 THE COURT: I think we have had the issue 13 preserved as to whether or not Mr. Ali had the authority 14 to enter into the contract to begin with. 15 MR. NOVAK: My understanding, Judge, of how the 16 contract came into evidence is it came into evidence under 17 that limitation. 18 MR. MAKOWSKI: Under what? 19 MR. NOVAK: Under that limitation. That -- my 20 understanding of the ruling from the Court -- and I have a 21 copy of the transcript so we can go back to it. But the 22 contract came in on a limited basis for the fact that it's 23 the contract that he -- the plaintiff is claiming in this 24 case, and it was put in front of Mr. Syaed -- or Mr. Ali 25 that that was the contract that he says he signed. But JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ Official Court Reporter FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024 Snow - Direct - Novak 18 1 certainly the issue of whether or not he had the authority 2 to sign on behalf of my client, I don't believe that that 3 could be law of the case or settled because we haven't had 4 any testimony from anyone from Blue Bridge saying such. 5 THE COURT: Right. I don't necessarily 6 consider it a limitation. This might be semantics that we 7 are talking about. Limitation on something in evidence 8 either it's in or it's not. It's in evidence, but I think 9 that there was also a reservation of rights as to the 10 issue as to whether or not he was able to sign it. We can 11 enter lots of things into evidence, but the question of 12 whether or not someone was authorized to sign something 13 may still be a live issue. So I will allow testimony 14 concerning that with the understanding that of course the 15 exhibit is in evidence and stays in evidence, but the 16 issue as to whether or not Mr. Syaed was authorized on 17 that day to sign it is something that you may each pursue 18 if you wish. 19 MR. MAKOWSKI: Respectfully, Judge, just for 20 the record, I think Your Honor ruled on this very issue 21 with Mr. Syaed's testimony. There was a direct challenge 22 to his authority to my recollection. And I laid -- I know 23 I asked a lot of questions about this. It will be in the 24 record. I don't need to belabor it. So I think 25 Your Honor has already ruled on this issue in terms of JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ Official Court Reporter FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024 Snow - Direct - Novak 19 1 Mr. Syaed's authority, specifically that he had the 2 authority. But I understand Your Honor's ruling. I'm not 3 going to be argumentative on it, but I think you have 4 passed on this, Judge. 5 THE COURT: I know Mr. Syaed believed -- at 6 least testified that he believed that he did have the 7 authority to sign it, and all of that evidence remains, 8 and that's something that I will consider in deciding the 9 issue, but I will certainly allow further testimony. 10 MR. MAKOWSKI: Yes, Your Honor. 11 THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. 12 MR. NOVAK: Would you be able to read my 13 question back? 14 (The above-requested question was read by the 15 reporter.) 16 BY MR. NOVAK: 17 Q. Were you able to hear the court reporter, Rob? 18 A. Yes, I was. 19 Q. Are you able to answer that question for me? 20 A. Yes. It would be the signing authorities for the 21 company are established by the board, and at that time the 22 signing authorities were Blue Bridge Financial were established 23 by the board of managers, and the four people in the company 24 that had signing authority to execute contracts on behalf of 25 Blue Bridge included the CEO, the president, myself, and our VP JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ Official Court Reporter FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024 Snow - Direct - Novak 20 1 of finance. 2 MR. MAKOWSKI: Your Honor, not to belabor it, 3 but I think that's a hearsay answer to the extent that 4 he's relying on materials, apparently board materials that 5 are not before the Court. Now, he may have knowledge of 6 those materials, but he seems to be referencing something 7 to do with board materials. Whether they are minutes, 8 whether it's the charter or the certificate of the 9 corporation or other documents, I don't know, but I think 10 it's a hearsay answer. I'm going to move to strike. 11 THE COURT: Mr. Novak, hearsay on how this 12 information must have come by either something that he 13 read or heard? 14 MR. NOVAK: Well, I think he can testify to 15 what's in his personal knowledge and in terms of what the, 16 you know, general policy of the company, how it plays out 17 day to day, who has authority to enter into contracts and 18 who doesn't. I don't know that it's entirely -- he's 19 testifying that it's derived from or that that is stated 20 in some, you know, operating procedure or something like 21 that. But certainly as to what their policy is, I don't 22 know that it needs to be in writing in a documentary 23 evidence to -- for him to testify that that's how Blue 24 Bridge operates. 25 THE COURT: Right. He learned it from JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ Official Court Reporter FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024 Snow - Direct - Novak 21 1 someplace, and we don't -- it's being offered for the 2 truth of the matter that that's really what was directed 3 by the board. So I'm going to sustain the objection. 4 MR. MAKOWSKI: Move to strike, Judge. 5 THE COURT: It's not necessary. I'm the trier 6 of fact. 7 MR. MAKOWSKI: Okay, Judge. 8 BY MR. NOVAK: 9 Q. Rob, do you recall having any conversations with 10 Mr. Ali about whether or not he had authority to sign contracts 11 on behalf of Blue Bridge? 12 A. Not specifically about contracts, but in terms of the 13 scope of his duties we had extensive conversations about what 14 things needed approval and what things did not. We didn't -- I 15 don't have any recollection specifically discussing contracts 16 or signing contracts. 17 Q. And at some point the existence of this contract came 18 to your attention, correct? 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. And have you had any other incidents where employees 21 entered into contracts on behalf of the company? 22 MR. MAKOWSKI: Objection, relevance. 23 THE COURT: Sustained. 24 BY MR. NOVAK: 25 Q. Do you recall when you became aware of this contract? JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ Official Court Reporter FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024 Snow - Direct - Novak 22 1 A. I believe it was late March or early April of 2017. 2 Q. And prior to becoming aware of the contract, had you 3 ever heard any reference to the plaintiff Money Investigations, 4 Inc.? 5 MR. MAKOWSKI: Objection, form. From whom? 6 How? 7 THE COURT: We can get to that. I will allow 8 it. I will allow the question as to this, if the witness 9 understands it. 10 THE WITNESS: I had not had any -- never heard 11 the name Money Investigations, Inc., prior to that time. 12 BY MR. NOVAK: 13 Q. Did Mr. Ali have any discussions with you about Money 14 Investigations, Inc., prior to you becoming aware of the 15 contract? 16 A. He did not. 17 MR. MAKOWSKI: Is that a no? 18 MR. NOVAK: I believe he said he did not. 19 THE COURT: He did not, yes. 20 MR. MAKOWSKI: Okay. I didn't hear. 21 BY MR. NOVAK: 22 Q. And the date of this contract is February 3rd, 2017, 23 correct? 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. And I believe you testified that Mr. Ali was hired in JILL R. DRASZKIEWICZ Official Court Reporter FILED: ERIE COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2024 03:53 PM INDEX NO. 809538/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 134 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19/2024 Snow - Direct - Novak 23 1 December of 2016, correct? 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. So in terms of a timeframe, he had only been with 4 Blue Bridge for a relatively short period of time, correct? 5 A. That is correct. 6 Q. Or it sounds like a little over a month would be 7 about accurate, a month and a half? 8 A. Yes. 9 Q. Again, going back to this time period of late 2016 10 early 2017, if one of your employees thought it necessary for