Rinat Depo Excerpts from DDC

EXHIBIT H


1  Q  Okay.  Anyone  else  that  you  recall?
2  A  There  was  another  partner,  Andy  Ryan,
3  who  was  ­­ I  ­­ I'm  not  sure  he  was  involved  that
4  much.  His  issues  were  different,  but  he  was
5  present  some  meetings.
6  Q  To  your  knowledge,  were  all  three  of
7  the  attorneys  that  you  just  mentioned  all  based  in
8  New  York?
9  A  To  the  best  of  my  knowledge,  yes.
10  Q  Okay.  This  consulting  agreement  that
11  you  entered  into  with  them,  do  you  recall  where
12  you  were  when  you  executed  it?
13  A  Probably  in  this  ­­ I  don't  remember,
14  but  most  likely  it  was  at  Salisbury  &  Ryan's
15  offices.
16  Q  Okay.  Did  you  have  meetings  in  New
17  York  with  Salisbury  &  Ryan  related  to  this
18  engagement?
19  A  I  did.
20  Q  Approximately  how  many?
21  A  Two,  three,  I  guess.
22  Q  Did  those  all  take  place  at
23  Salisbury  &  Ryan's  offices  in  New  York?
24  A  Yes.
25  Q  Did  you  travel  anywhere  else  for  this


1  project?
2  A I traveled to Moscow.
3  Q When?
4  A Sometimes in 2013.
5  Q For what purpose?
6  MR. SPERDUTO: Hold on. I object to
7  the extent that that calls for privileged
8  information under Rule 26(b)(4)(D) or the work
9  product privilege.
10  If you can answer the question without
11  divulging that, you can answer. Otherwise, you're
12  not ­­you're directed not to answer.
13  THE WITNESS: Yeah, I think that's when
14  I was engaged by Salisbury & Ryan. They were very
15  clear about describing what my tasks will be, and
16  also they instructed me on the sensitivity of this
17  issue. And I signed this confidentiality
18  agreement with them, or this agreement, in fact,
19  has a confidentiality clause, so . . .
20  BY MR. COGAN:
21  Q Okay. I'm going to put two and two
22  together here and assume that what you're saying
23  is that you don't believe that you can answer the
24  question of for what purpose did you travel to
25  Moscow without violating your counsel's


1  as  best  as  you  can?
2  A  Joffe.  It's  probably  J­O­F­F­E.
3  Q  Okay.  And  you  ­­ you  pronounce  it
4  Joffe?
5  A  Joffe.
6  Q  Okay.  Mr.  Joffe  is  one  of  the  lawyers
7  from  Salisbury  Ryan?
8  A  Correct.
9  Q  Other  than  Mr.  Joffe,  did  you  meet  with
10  anybody  else  in  Russia  in  connection  with  this
11  engagement  in  ­­
12  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Same  ­­
13  BY  MR.  COGAN:
14  Q  ­­ 2013?
15  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Same  objection.  You  can
16  answer  that  only  to  the  extent  that  it  does  not
17  divulge  information  that  you  were  purposed  to  do
18  by  Salisbury  &  Ryan.  And,  again,  the  rule  that
19  I'm  trying  to  say  is  26(b)(4)(d).
20  MR.  COGAN:  Okay.  Let  me  just  caveat
21  this.  I  think  the  ­­ the  pending  question  is  a
22  yes  or  no,  did  you  meet  with  anyone  else?  Will
23  you  allow  him  to  answer  that?
24  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Sure.
25  MR.  COGAN:  Okay.


1  BY MR. COGAN:
2  Q So, yes or no, other than Mr. Joffe,
3  did you meet with anybody else in Russia with
4  respect to this engagement?
5  A Yes.
6  Q Okay. Approximately how many people?
7  A This will violate my agreement with
8  Salisbury & Ryan.
9  Q Even ­­even just the number of how
10  many people?
11  A If it's relevant, it will be ­­
12  MR. COGAN: Why don't we do this: Do
13  you want to take a quick break and you guys can
14  consult, or ­­or is that not necessary?
15  MR. SPERDUTO: Well, maybe if ­­if he
16  thinks it does, perhaps we should. It will
17  expedite the rest of these questions and
18  objections.
19  MR. COGAN: Well, I don't think it's
20  going to take that much longer. I need to make my
21  record so ­­
22  MR. SPERDUTO: Yeah, okay.
23  MR. COGAN: So ­­
24  MR. SPERDUTO: If you think it's
25  privileged information, don't answer the question.


1  THE  WITNESS:  It  ­­ it  would  be
2  privileged  information.
3  BY  MR.  COGAN:
4  Q  Okay.  How  many  meetings  were  there?
5  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Same  objection.
6  THE  WITNESS:  Same  objection.
7  BY  MR.  COGAN:
8  Q  Okay.  So  you're  ­­ you're  declining  to
9  answer  on  privilege  grounds?
10  A  Correct.
11  Q  Is  there  anything  else  that  you  can
12  tell  me  about  the  meeting  or  meetings  in  Russia
13  related  to  this  engagement,  or  are  you  asserting
14  attorney­client  privilege  or  work  product  over
15  everything  else?
16  MR.  SPERDUTO:  I'll  object  to  the
17  extent  he's  asking  the  witness  for  a  legal
18  conclusion,  and  it  needs  to  be  a  particularized
19  question  for  us  to  understand  because  the
20  application  of  the  consulting  expert  privilege
21  under  26(b)(4)(d)  is  particularized  to  the  facts
22  and  circumstances  of  the  direction  of  the
23  question.
24  BY  MR.  COGAN:
25  Q  Is  there  anything  else  that  you  can


1  THE  VIDEOGRAPHER:  Okay.  We  are  back
2  on  the  record  at  10:24  a.m.
3  MR.  COGAN:  Okay.  I  conferred  with
4  counsel  for  the  witness  off  the  record.  We're
5  going  to  try  this  line  again.  Hopefully  it  will
6  go  more  smoothly.
7  BY  MR.  COGAN:
8  Q  Mr.  Akhmetshin,  with  respect  to  your
9  trip  to  Russia  in  2013  in  connection  with  this
10  engagement,  how  many  people  did  you  meet  with?
11  A  I  would  like  to  invoke  all  these  three
12  or  four  or  whatever  rules  we  have.
13  MR.  SPERDUTO:  And  for  the  record,  the
14  four  rules  that  we  are  applying  are  26(b)(4)(d),
15  the  attorney­work­product,  attorney­client
16  privilege  and  the  contractual  provision  in  the
17  engagement  letter.
18  MR.  COGAN:  Are  you  instructing  him  not
19  to  answer  that  ­­
20  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Yes.
21  MR.  COGAN:  ­­ question?
22  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Yes.
23  BY  MR.  COGAN:
24  Q  Did  you  have  more  than  one  meeting  in
25  Russia  in  connection  with  your  engagement?


1  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Asked  and  answered;
2  form.
3  BY  MR.  COGAN:
4  Q  You  can  answer.
5  A  I  might  have  had  more  than  one  meeting.
6  Q  Approximately,  how  many  meetings  did
7  you  have?
8  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Objection  on  the  basis
9  of  the  privilege.
10  MR.  COGAN:  Are  you  instructing  him  not
11  to  answer?
12  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Yes.
13  THE  WITNESS:  I  decline  to  answer.
14  BY  MR.  COGAN:
15  Q  Who  did  you  meet  with?
16  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Objection  on  the  basis
17  of  26(b)(4).
18  MR.  COGAN:  Instructing  him  not  to
19  answer?
20  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Yes.
21  BY  MR.  COGAN:
22  Q  What  did  you  discuss  at  this  ­­ at
23  these  meetings?
24  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Same  objection.
25  BY  MR.  COGAN:


1  A  Yes  ­­
2  Q  ­­ again.
3  A  ­­ please.
4  Q  When,  approximately,  did  you  have  a
5  communication  with  Mr.  Salisbury  after  this
6  engagement  ended?
7  A  Maybe  half  a  year  later.
8  Q  Half  a  year  after  the  conclusion  of  the
9  engagement?
10  A  To  the  best  of  my  recollection.
11  Q  So  approximately  end  of  2013,  beginning
12  of  2014?
13  A  Probably.
14  Q  Was  anyone  else  ­­ was  this  a  ­­ you
15  said  it  was  a  meeting?
16  A  It  was  a  phone  call.
17  Q  A  phone  call.
18  Was  anyone  else  on  the  telephone  call?
19  A  I'm  afraid  I  cannot  answer  this
20  without  ­­
21  Q  How  about  just  yes  or  no?  Can  you
22  answer  yes  or  no  whether  anyone  else  was  on  the
23  call?
24  A  Yes.
25  Q  Okay.  Who  was  on  the  call?


1  A I'm afraid that will violate this
2  Rule 26 ­­
3  MR. SPERDUTO: We'll invoke 26(b)(4)(D)
4  and direct the witness not to answer.
5  MR. COGAN: I just want to be clear,
6  Mr. Sperduto, about your instruction. You're ­­
7  you're instructing the witness not to answer a
8  question about who was on a call with him and
9  Mr. Salisbury?
10  MR. SPERDUTO: Yes, because his
11  reaction to your question indicated he thought
12  that that would resolve ­­that would reveal facts
13  and circumstances ­­facts or opinions on the
14  research he was doing or the identity of the
15  research he was doing by identifying the other
16  person on the telephone. And then on ­­on that
17  basis, I'll invoke 26(b)(4)(D).
18  BY MR. COGAN:
19  Q Was it more than one person on this
20  call besides you and Mr. Salisbury?
21  A I do not remember, actually.
22  Q What did you discuss on the call?
23  MR. SPERDUTO: 26(b)(4)(D) exception.
24  You're directed not to answer. Attorney­client as
25  well, work product as well, contractual agreement


1  as  well.
2  BY  MR.  COGAN:
3  Q  How  long  did  the  call  last?
4  A  I  do  not  remember.
5  Q  Other  than  this  conversation  that  you
6  had  on  the  telephone  with  Mr.  Salisbury  after  this
7  engagement  had  concluded,  do  you  recall  any  other
8  communications  that  you  had  with  Mr.  Salisbury
9  after  the  end  of  this  engagement?
10  A  Not  that  I  could  remember.
11  Q  How  about  anybody  else  from
12  Salisbury  &  Ryan?  Have  you  had  any
13  communications,  yes  or  no,  with  anyone  from
14  Salisbury  &  Ryan  after  this  engagement  concluded?
15  A  No,  not  ­­ not  from  Salisbury  &  Ryan.
16  Q  What  about  Mr.  Ryan?
17  A  He  has  left  the  firm.
18  Q  Yes.
19  Have  you  had  any  communications  with
20  Mr.  Ryan  since  this  engagement  concluded?
21  A  I  have.
22  Q  Approximately  how  many?
23  A  One  or  two.
24  Q  In  person  or  by  telephone?
25  A  In  person.


1  Q  Or  ­­ or  email  or  any  other  ­­
2  A  In  person.
3  Q  ­­ form  of  communication?
4  A  In  person.
5  Q  Okay.  Were  they  social  interactions  or
6  business  meetings?
7  A  Social  interactions.
8  Q  During  those  social  interactions  with
9  Mr.  Ryan  ­­ first  of  all,  when  did  they  take
10  place?
11  A  I  believe  within  the  last  year.  After
12  he  left  the  firm.
13  Q  Okay.  Did  they  occur  before  or  after
14  you  became  aware  that  IMR  was  seeking  to  take
15  discovery  from  you  in  these  proceedings?
16  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Objection  to  the  form.
17  You  can  answer.
18  THE  WITNESS:  I  do  not  remember.
19  Probably  before.  I  haven't  seen  him  in  a  long
20  time.
21  BY  MR.  COGAN:
22  Q  Did  you  discuss  in  the  ­­ in  those
23  communications  ­­ withdrawn.
24  Did  you  discuss  in  either  of  those
25  interactions  you  had  with  Mr.  Ryan  anything  having


1  to  do  with  either  EuroChem  or  IMR?
2  MR.  SPERDUTO:  To  the  extent  that  that
3  asks  for  the  content  of  communications,  you're
4  directed  not  to  answer  to  the  extent  it  would
5  divulge  legal  communications  or  communications  for
6  the  purposes  of  providing  legal  advice.
7  Otherwise,  you  can  answer  that.
8  THE  WITNESS:  We  ­­ we  ­­ he  was  not
9  involved  in  this  matter,  so  we  did  not  discuss
10  this  matter.
11  BY  MR.  COGAN:
12  Q  Since  you  first  were  engaged  on  a
13  matter  with  either  Mr.  Ryan  or  Salisbury  &  Ryan  in
14  2004,  2005,  can  you  give  me  a  rough  approximation
15  of  what  percentage  of  your  income  has  been  derived
16  from  the  consulting  work  that  you've  done  for
17  either  Mr.  Ryan  or  Patrick  Salisbury  or  the
18  Salisbury  &  Ryan  firm,  rough  approximation?
19  A  A  very  small  part.
20  Q  Prior  to  the  engagement  that's
21  memorialized  in  Akhmetshin  Exhibit  1,  had  you  ever
22  done  any  work  for  EuroChem?
23  A  No.
24  Q  And  same  answer  if  I  said  ECVK?
25  A  No.


1  BY  MR.  COGAN:
2  Q  Mr.  Akhmetshin,  I  wanted  to  go  back  and
3  clarify.  When  you  said  that  you  traveled  to
4  Russia  for  this  engagement,  I  wanted  to  make  sure,
5  other  than  traveling  to  Russia,  did  you  travel
6  anywhere  else  for  this  engagement?
7  A  I'm  afraid  that  will  violate  ­­
8  MR.  SPERDUTO:  That  ­­ that's  a  yes  or
9  no.  Don't  ­­ don't  ­­
10  THE  WITNESS:  Oh,  okay.  Yes.
11  BY  MR.  COGAN:
12  Q  Okay.  Where  did  you  travel?
13  MR.  SPERDUTO:  That  one  is  ­­ reveals
14  research  and  opinions  and  facts  held,  so  we're
15  going  to  invoke  26  ­­ Rule  26.
16  MR.  COGAN:  And  you're  going  to
17  instruct  not  to  answer?
18  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Yes.  I'm  sorry.
19  BY  MR.  COGAN:
20  Q  Okay.  So  other  than  Russia  and  this
21  other  place  that  you  can't  tell  me  about,  did  you
22  travel  anywhere  else  for  the  engagement?
23  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Again,  that's  a  yes  or  a
24  no.
25  THE  WITNESS:  Yes.


1  BY  MR.  COGAN:
2  Q  Can  you  tell  me  ­­ well,  let's  do  it
3  this  way:  How  many  different  places,
4  approximately,  did  you  travel  for  this  engagement?
5  A  About  three  or  four.
6  Q  Okay.  Three  or  four.
7  So  we  have  Russia,  and  then  we  have  two
8  or  three  others?
9  A  Correct.
10  Q  Okay.  And  are  you  able  to  tell  me  the
11  location  of  any  of  those  two  or  three  other
12  places?
13  MR.  SPERDUTO:  No.
14  THE  WITNESS:  No.  I'm  afraid  it  will
15  violate  ­­
16  MR.  SPERDUTO:  I'm  directing  him  not  to
17  answer.
18  BY  MR.  COGAN:
19  Q  Did  you  meet  with  people  concerning
20  this  engagement  in  any  of  these  two  or  three  other
21  locations  that  you  traveled?
22  A  I  did.
23  Q  Who  did  you  meet  with?
24  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Objection:  direct  him
25  not  to  answer  under  Rule  26(b)(4)(D).


1  BY  MR.  COGAN:
2  Q  Did  you  meet  with  people  at  each
3  location  to  which  you  traveled  on  this  engagement?
4  A  I  did,  yes.
5  Q  Okay.  So  with  respect  to  these  two  or
6  three  other  locations  to  which  you  traveled,
7  approximately  how  many  meetings  total  did  you
8  have?
9  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Objection.
10  THE  WITNESS:  I  ­­
11  THE  COURT  REPORTER:  I  can't  hear  you.
12  THE  WITNESS:  I  respectfully  decline  to
13  answer  this  on  the  basis  of  ­­ what  ­­ the
14  Rule  26  ­­
15  BY  MR.  COGAN:
16  Q  Let's  just  ­­ let's  just  make  sure  the
17  record  is  clear.
18  MR.  COGAN:  Mr.  Sperduto,  are  you
19  instructing  him  not  to  answer  the  question,
20  approximately  how  many  different  meetings  did  he
21  have  in  these  two  or  three  different  locations?
22  MR.  SPERDUTO:  That's  not  exactly  the
23  question  I  heard,  but  the  ­­ the  answer  is  yes
24  because  it  reveals  the  scope  ­­ the  scope  of  the
25  privilege  under  26(b)(4)(D)  is  so  broad  that  some


1  courts  have  said  witnesses  are  immune  from
2  discovery.
3  I  ­­ I  ­­ I'm  trying  to  be  more
4  discriminating  than  that.  But  that  one,  I  think,
5  crossed  the  line.
6  MR.  COGAN:  Okay.
7  BY  MR.  COGAN:
8  Q  If  you  could  turn  back  to  Exhibit  1
9  and,  in  particular,  the  engagement  letter  at
10  Exhibit  A  to  Exhibit  1.
11  Okay.  You  can  actually  put  that
12  exhibit  aside  for  now.  I'll  come  back  to  it
13  later.
14  You  mentioned  a  ­­ a  matter  on  which
15  you  previously  worked  with  attorneys  from
16  Salisbury  &  Ryan  in  2004,  2005.
17  What  matter  were  you  referring  to?
18  A  I  worked  on  two  or  three  matters  ­­
19  THE  COURT  REPORTER:  I'm  sorry.  I  just
20  can't  hear  you.
21  THE  WITNESS:  I'm  sorry.
22  THE  COURT  REPORTER:  That's  okay.
23  THE  WITNESS:  I'm  sorry.
24  I  worked  on  two  or  three  matters.
25  BY  MR.  COGAN:


1  delays.
2  Do you see that?
3  A Yes.
4  Q Now, focusing your attention on the
5  "claims it may have" language, does that refresh
6  your recollection that you were engaged prior to
7  the start of litigation between IMR and EuroChem?
8  A To be honest, I do not remember when
9  they filed, but I ­­I ­­I do not know ­­
10  Q Okay.
11  A ­­because I was not involved in the
12  litigation.
13  Q You write, You will assist in such ­­
14  I'm sorry. You don't write this.
15  They wrote, You will assist in such
16  endeavors by researching and providing information
17  concerning the relevant parties and other
18  requested information.
19  What research were you asked to
20  conduct?
21  MR. SPERDUTO: Same objection. That ­­
22  that's attorney­client; that's work product; and
23  that's 26(b)(4)(D).
24  MR. COGAN: And you're instructing not
25  to answer?


1  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Yes.
2  BY  MR.  COGAN:
3  Q  The  ­­ the  language  "and  other
4  requested  information,"  do  you  see  that  at  the  end
5  of  that  sentence?
6  A  I  do  see  that.
7  Q  What  is  that  a  reference  to?
8  A  Other  requested  information.
9  Q  Was  there  specific  other  information
10  that  they  asked  you  to  provide  in  July  of  2012?
11  MR.  SPERDUTO:  That's  a  yes­or­no
12  question.  Don't  reveal  the  communication,  but  you
13  can  answer  that  question.
14  THE  WITNESS:  I  would  say,  no.  I  just
15  don't  remember  it  was  ­­ if  it  was  just  general
16  statement.  I  don't  remember  was  ­­ anything  else
17  which  was  asked  from  me.
18  BY  MR.  COGAN:
19  Q  Sitting  here  today,  you  don't  have
20  anything  specific  in  mind  that  you  think  the  "and
21  other  requested  information"  relates  to?
22  A  No,  probably  not.  I  don't  remember.
23  Q  Okay.  Moving  down  to,  Compensation,
24  the  letter  says,  We  shall  transfer  to  you  on
25  behalf  of  the  client  an  initial  payment  of


1  $45,000,  and  you  will  bill  as  discussed  as  the
2  work  progresses.
3  Do  you  see  that?
4  A  I  do  see  that.
5  Q  What  was  discussed  about  the  billing
6  arrangements?
7  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Now,  to  the  extent  that
8  he's  asking  for  communications  on  substantive
9  issues,  you're  directed  not  to  answer.
10  To  the  extent  that  you  can  answer  that
11  without  revealing  legal  communications,  if  you
12  can,  you  can  answer.
13  THE  WITNESS:  I'm  afraid  that  will
14  violate  my  ­­ whatever  it  is,  those  four  rules.
15  BY  MR.  COGAN:
16  Q  Let  ­­ let's  come  at  it  in  a  slightly
17  different  way.
18  Were  you  billing  on  an  hourly  basis?
19  A  No.
20  Q  Okay.  So  how  did  you  and
21  Salisbury  &  Ryan  determine  how  much  money  they
22  owed  you?
23  A  On  a  timing  basis,  I  think  that  a
24  weekly,  monthly  base.
25  Q  Was  there  ­­


1  agreement. You know, I just said, okay, I would
2  like to get this amount of money, and they agreed.
3  BY MR. COGAN:
4  Q How much time did you spend on this
5  engagement, approximately?
6  A A lot of time, actually. I
7  researched ­­
8  MR. SPERDUTO: No, don't talk about
9  your research.
10  THE WITNESS: I'm sorry.
11  MR. SPERDUTO: The 26(b)(4)(D) directed
12  not to go there.
13  BY MR. COGAN:
14  Q I'm not even asking about what ­­the
15  substance of what you did. I'm just asking
16  approximately ­­and I know that you're
17  approximating. I'm asking you to approximate.
18  How much time did you spend working on
19  this engagement?
20  A It was a fraction of my other work.
21  Q What percentage, approximately, of your
22  work in 2012 and 2013 ­­withdrawn.
23  From the beginning of this engagement
24  in 2012 until the end of the engagement,
25  approximately how much of your work time was


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 (THIS CONCLUDES THE CONFIDENTIAL ­18 ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY PORTION.) 19 BY MR. COGAN: 20 Q Other than what you've already told us 21 about your engagement by Salisbury & Ryan, is 22 there anything else that you are able to share 23 about the instructions that Salisbury & Ryan gave 24 to you concerning this engagement? 25 MR. SPERDUTO: Objection to the form,

1  first of all.
2  And to the extent you can answer that
3  without revealing ­­I ­­no, I don't think you
4  can.
5  I'll instruct him not to answer that,
6  attorney­client privilege, 26(b)(4)(D), work
7  product.
8  BY MR. COGAN:
9  Q You mentioned early in your testimony
10  that one of the things you were engaged to do was
11  research social, economic, legal and financial
12  issues.
13  Do you recall testimony along those
14  lines?
15  A I do remember mentioning something
16  along those lines.
17  Q What were the social, economic, legal
18  and financial issues you researched?
19  MR. SPERDUTO: Hold on a minute.
20  No, he can't answer that. 26(b)(4)(D).
21  That's asking for the facts ­­that's asking for
22  exactly what the rule prohibits from being
23  disclosed.
24  You're directed not to answer.
25  BY MR. COGAN:


1  Q  Yes  or  no,  did  anyone  explain  to  you
2  why  you  were  being  asked  to  research  those  issues?
3  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Yes  or  no.
4  THE  WITNESS:  Yes.
5  BY  MR.  COGAN:
6  Q  Who  explained?
7  A  The  client.
8  Q  Salisbury  &  Ryan?
9  A  Correct.
10  Q  What  did  they  tell  you?
11  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Objection:
12  attorney­client  privilege;  26(b)(4)(D);  work
13  product.
14  I  direct  you  not  to  answer.
15  MR.  COGAN:  Mark  this  as  2.
16  (Akhmetshin  Deposition  Exhibit  2  was
17  marked  for  identification  and  attached  to  the
18  transcript.)
19  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Dana,  are  you  going  to
20  keep  the  originals?
21  Are  we  going  to  come  back  to  this?
22  MR.  COGAN:  I  think  we'll  come  back  to
23  this.
24  Mark  this  as  3.
25  (Akhmetshin  Deposition  Exhibit  3  was


1  privilege  log  which  was  produced  by  my  attorney.
2  BY  MR.  COGAN:
3  Q  A  few  questions  about  the  log.
4  On  the  first  page,  in  the  first  entry,
5  do  you  see  under  the  Author  or  Custodian  field  ­­
6  A  Uh­huh.
7  Q  ­­ it  says,  2703tarazuisun@gmail.com?
8  A  I  do  see  that,  yes.
9  Q  Whose  email  address  is  that?
10  A  I  believe  it's  an  email  associated
11  somehow  with  the  former  prime  minister  of
12  Kazakhstan  or  with  his  office,  his  people.
13  Q  Which  former  prime  minister  are  you
14  referring  to?
15  A  I  talk  about  the  prime  minister  of
16  Kazakhstan  in,  I  think,  '94,  '98  or  '93,  '97.
17  Mid­'90s.
18  Q  What's  his  name?
19  A  His  name  is  Akezhan.  It's
20  A­K­E­Z­H­A­N,  Akezhan.  Kazhegeldin.  It's
21  K­A­Z­H­E­D­I­L  ­­ I'm  sorry,  Kazhegel­ ­­ D­I­N,
22  yes  ­­ L­D­I­N.
23  Q  Do  you  recall  that  you  had
24  communications  with  him  regarding  the  work  that
25  you  were  doing  for  Salisbury  &  Ryan?


1  MR.  SPERDUTO:  To  the  extent  that  that
2  invokes  Rule  26(b)(4)(D),  I'll  direct  the  client
3  not  to  answer.
4  MR.  COGAN:  But  the  actual  pending
5  question  is  "do  you  recall  that  you  had
6  communications,"  which  is  a  yes  or  no.
7  MR.  SPERDUTO:  I  understand  that.  But
8  the  sources  of  his  information,  the  research  he
9  did  leads  to  the  facts  and  opinions  held,  so  I
10  think  it's  covered  by  26(b)(4)(D).
11  MR.  COGAN:  Okay.
12  MR.  SPERDUTO:  That's  my  best  legal
13  judgment.
14  MR.  COGAN:  So  you're  instructing  him
15  not  to  answer?
16  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Yes.
17  BY  MR.  COGAN:
18  Q  Could  you  give  me  the  pronunciation  of
19  his  last  name?
20  A  Kazhegeldin.
21  Q  Kazhegeldin?
22  A  Kazhegeldin.
23  Q  Kazhegeldin.
24  What  did  you  discuss  with
25  Mr.  Kazhegeldin  related  to  either  IMR,  ENRC  or


1  Shaft  Sinkers,  if  anything?
2  MR.  SPERDUTO:  First  of  all,  I'll
3  object  to  the  form;  and  then,  second,  I'll  object
4  on  the  grounds  of  Rule  26(b)(4)(D)  and  direct  the
5  witness  not  to  answer.
6  BY  MR.  COGAN:
7  Q  Where  does  Mr.  Kazhegeldin  live  now?
8  A  He  lives  in  Europe.
9  Q  Where  did  he  live  during  the  2012­2013
10  time  period?
11  A  He  has  several  residences.
12  Q  In  Europe?
13  A  In  Europe,  yes.
14  Q  Okay.  If  you  turn  to  page  3,  item  22.
15  Are  you  there?
16  A  Yes.
17  Q  Who's  Ken  Silverstein?
18  A  He's  a  journalist  and  a  researcher.
19  Q  And  same  questions:  Do  you  recall
20  having  communications  with  him  regarding  the  work
21  that  you  were  doing  for  Salisbury  &  Ryan?
22  MR.  SPERDUTO:  And  same  objection.  And
23  not  to  be  repetitive,  but  these  questions  are
24  asking  for  his  specific  or  may  be  asking  for  his
25  specific  research  undertaken  as  a  consulting


1  expert,  which  we  believe  to  be  immune  from
2  discovery  under  our  reading  of  the  cases
3  construe  ­­ construing  that  rule.  And  he's
4  directed  not  to  answer.
5  BY  MR.  COGAN:
6  Q  Is  Mr.  Silverstein  associated  with  any
7  particular  publication  to  your  knowledge?
8  A  He  changes  publication  every  once  in  a
9  while.
10  Q  Was  he  associated  with  any  particular
11  publication  during  the  2012­2013  time  period?
12  A  I  do  not  remember.
13  He  ­­ he  was,  I'm  sure,  with  some
14  publication.
15  Q  Did  he  publish  any  articles  related  to
16  IMR,  ENRC  or  Shaft  Sinkers  to  your  knowledge?
17  A  I  do  not  know.
18  Q  Items  55  and  56  on  page  7  reflect
19  communications  with  a  Kirstin  Ridley.
20  Who  is  that?
21  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Objection.
22  THE  WITNESS:  Page  ­­
23  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Objection.
24  THE  WITNESS:  ­­ 7;  right?
25  MR.  SPERDUTO:  You  may  have  misspoke,


1  or  else  we  have  different  copies.
2  MR.  COGAN:  Page  7,  items  55  and  56.
3  MR.  SPERDUTO:  I'm  sorry.  I'm  with  you
4  now.  Sorry.
5  BY  MR.  COGAN:
6  Q  I'm  sorry.  Mr.  Akhmetshin,  are  you  on
7  page  7,  and  do  you  see  items  55  and  56?
8  A  I  do  see  items  55  and  56, yes.
9  Q  And  you  see  the  reference  to  a  Kirstin
10  Ridley  and  then  to  a  K. Ridley  in  the  following
11  entry?
12  A  I  do  see  it.
13  Q  That's  the  same  person  by  the  way;
14  right?
15  A  I  believe  so,  yes.
16  Q  Okay.  And  who  is  that  person?
17  A  It's  a  journalist.
18  MR.  COGAN:  And,  Mr.  Sperduto,  if  I  ask
19  the  witness  the  same  series  of  questions  about
20  Kirstin  Ridley,  would  you  give  the  same
21  instruction  not  to  answer?
22  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Yes,  sir,  Mr.  Cogan,
23  because  I  believe  that  goes  directly  into  his
24  research  and  facts  and  opinions  held  regarding  the
25  dispute.


1  BY  MR.  COGAN:
2  Q  Page  13, entry  103a.
3  Do  you  know  who  Matthew  Feser  is?
4  A  I  believe  it's  a  ­­ a  lawyer  at
5  Salisbury  &  Ryan.
6  Q  Do  you  know  how  ­­ I'm  just  looking  at
7  the  ­­ the  log,  and  it  indicates  that  the  parties
8  to  this  communication  were  Mr.  Feser  and
9  Mr.  Salisbury.
10  Do  you  have  any  idea  how  you  had  this
11  document?
12  A  I  do  not  remember,  to  be  honest.
13  Q  Page  16, entry  131,  involves  a
14  communication  with  Daniel  Balint­Kurti.
15  Do  you  know  who  that  is?
16  A  He  is  a  researcher  ­­
17  Q  Is  he  a  journalist?
18  A  ­­ and  a  ­­ no,  he's  a  researcher  and
19  activist.
20  Q  What  kind  of  activist  is  he?
21  A  Transparency  activist.
22  THE  COURT  REPORTER:  I'm  sorry?
23  THE  WITNESS:  Transparency.  He's  a
24  transparency,  anti­corruption  activist.
25  MR.  COGAN:  And  just  for  the  record,


1  same  ­­ if  I  ask  him  the  same  series  of  questions,
2  I  assume  I  would  get  the  same  objections  and
3  instructions  not  to  answer  with  respect  to
4  Mr.  Balint­Kurti.
5  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Yes,  sir.
6  BY  MR.  COGAN:
7  Q  Page  15­­­ excuse  me,  page  19, item
8  156,  Nikos  ­­ how  do  you  pronounce  his  last  name?
9  A  Asimakopoulos.
10  Q  Okay.  Do  you  know  this  person?
11  A  Yes,  I  believe  I  do.
12  Q  Who  is  it?
13  A  He's  also  researcher.
14  Q  A  journalist,  too?
15  A  I  don't  believe  he's  a  journalist.
16  Q  When  you  say  a  researcher,  what  does
17  that  mean?
18  A  He's  one  of  those,  you  know,  people  who
19  research  for  living,  you  know,  like  an  analyst.
20  Q  Is  he  employed  somewhere?
21  A  He's  also  ­­
22  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Form;  capacity.
23  Go  ahead.
24  THE  WITNESS:  I  ­­ I  think  he  also  kind
25  of  have  different  assignments  or  worked  with


1  A No.
2  Q No?
3  A No, it was not a practice.
4  Q Okay. How about with respect to any of
5  the work you did in your engagement with
6  Salisbury & Ryan in communications with others?
7  Did you use text message to communicate?
8  MR. SPERDUTO: Could you rephrase that?
9  You lost me.
10  MR. COGAN: Sure.
11  MR. SPERDUTO: I'm sorry.
12  BY MR. COGAN:
13  Q With respect to the work that you did
14  for Salisbury & Ryan in the engagement that we've
15  been discussing, did you ever use text messages to
16  communicate with anyone?
17  A I use text messages search engine.
18  Q Including with respect to the work that
19  you did for Salisbury & Ryan?
20  A There may or may not have been stuff.
21  I just cannot remember specifics.
22  Q Page 25, item 207, there's a reference
23  to an attorney named Edward Lieberman.
24  Who is that?
25  A He is colleague and in many ways my


1  personal  advisor.
2  Q  Okay.  He's  a  ­­ when  you  say  he  is  a
3  colleague,  what  do  you  mean  by  that?
4  A  He  and  I  work  on  a  number  of  consulting
5  projects  together.
6  Q  Did  he  work  on  this  consulting  project
7  with  you?
8  A  No.
9  Q  Did  you  seek  advice  ­­ legal  advice
10  from  him  in  connection  with  any  of  the  work  that
11  you  did  for  Salisbury  &  Ryan?
12  A  No.
13  MR.  SPERDUTO:  That's  a  yes  ­­ that's  a
14  yes  or  no  ­­ okay.
15  BY  MR.  COGAN:
16  Q  It  was  a  "no"?
17  A  "No."
18  Q  Item  207 appears  to  reflect  an  email
19  communication  dated  April  25, 2013,  between  you
20  and  Mr.  Lieberman  regarding  the  subject  matter  of
21  a  communication  with  personal  counsel,  re,  news
22  report.
23  Do  you  see  that?
24  A  Yes,  I  do  see  it.
25  Q  And  by  "personal  counsel,"  is  that  a


1  reference  to  the  fact  that  Mr.  Lieberman  sometimes
2  serves  as  your  personal  counsel?
3  A  On  some  matters,  but  an  advisor  mostly.
4  Q  Well,  what  news  report  is  being
5  referred  to  here?
6  A  I  do  not  remember  specifically.  It
7  must  have  been  some  news  article.
8  Q  Did  it  relate  to  IMR,  ENRC  or  Shaft
9  Sinkers?
10  A  I  cannot  tell  without  looking  at  the
11  email,  to  be  honest.
12  Q  Do  you  recall  ever  seeking  advice  from
13  Mr.  Lieberman  concerning  anything  related  to  IMR,
14  Shaft  Sinkers  or  ENRC?
15  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Objection  to  the  form.
16  THE  WITNESS:  No.
17  BY  MR.  COGAN:
18  Q  What  about  with  respect  to  any  of  the
19  work  that  you  had  been  doing  for  Salisbury  &  Ryan?
20  A  No.
21  Q  If  I  could  direct  your  attention  to  the
22  next  page,  item  220.
23  Do  you  see  the  description  of  a
24  communication  you  had  with  Mr.  Lieberman  on
25  May  2nd,  2013  related  to  ENRC  shareholders?


1  And, so, there are numerous kind of issues with
2  this labor regulations, with this corruption.
3  ENRC also was active politically
4  because they were carrying favorites with the
5  regime, and they created this numerous ­­
6  actually, not numerous. They ­­they did create
7  at one point ­­actually, so then it goes even
8  further in 2005 ­­political party which they kind
9  of sponsored and created and supported for some
10  time in Kazakhstan.
11  So I remember kind of being involved in
12  the issues around that political party.
13  They also were engaged in lobbying
14  campaigns here in the United States and in
15  numerous other ­­maybe not ENRC but principal
16  owners of the ENRC were engaged in kind of ­­they
17  were trying to carry favorites, as far as I could
18  assume. And, so, there's numerous lobbying
19  political campaigns here in United States and
20  abroad as well.
21  Q During the 2012 through current ­­
22  through present ­­from 2012 until present, did
23  any of the work that you did for International
24  Eurasian Institute involve either IMR, ENRC, Shaft
25  Sinkers or ENRC's principals?


1  A  Could  you  repeat  that  again,  please?
2  Q  Sure.  Let  me  actually  define  what  I
3  mean  ­­
4  A  Yes.
5  Q  ­­ by  "principals."
6  I  think  you  ­­ you  mentioned  ­­ and  I
7  may  be  paraphrasing,  but  the  owners  of  ENRC.
8  A  Yes.
9  Q  Who  are  you  referring  to  there?
10  A  It's  a  group  which  is  known  as  Trio,
11  Troika,  a  trio.
12  Q  Because  there's  three  of  them?
13  A  Three  of  them,  yes.
14  Q  And  what  are  their  names?
15  A  Two  of  them  are  Uzbek  nationals,  and
16  one  is  former  Kyrgyz  national.  And  it's
17  Ibragimov,  Shodiyev  and  Mashkevich.
18  Q  From  2012  until  present  day,  did  any  of
19  the  work  that  you  did  for  International  Eurasian
20  Institute  relate  to  IMR,  ENRC,  Shaft  Sinkers  or
21  The  Trio?
22  A  Some  of  it  must  have  been,  yes.
23  THE  COURT  REPORTER:  I'm  sorry.  What?
24  THE  WITNESS:  Some  of  the  work  ­­ there
25  might  have  been.  I  don't  remember  specifics.  But


1  A  Yes.
2  Q  What  was  the  strategic  communications
3  strategy  that  you  developed  and  proposed?
4  MR.  SPERDUTO:  He's  not  asking  for  a
5  communication.  He's  asking  for  ­­ let  me  think
6  for  a  minute  here.
7  This  is  the  last  sentence  of
8  paragraph  6,  Jon?
9  MR.  COGAN:  Yes.
10  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Or  next  to  the  last
11  sentence.
12  MR.  COGAN:  Yes.  Sorry.
13  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Well,  I  ­­ I  think
14  that's  26(b)(4)(D),  so  I'm  going  to  direct  him  not
15  to  answer.
16  BY  MR.  COGAN:
17  Q  When  ­­ what  did  you  mean  in  this
18  affidavit  by  strategic  communications  strategy?
19  What  does  that  mean  just  generally?
20  What  is  a  commun­ ­­ what  is  a  strategic
21  communications  strategy?
22  A  I  think  it's  the  way  people  tell  their
23  story,  kind  of  tell  ­­ tell  their  side  of  the
24  story.
25  Q  In  the  press?


1  A In the press, in ­­in different
2  forums, yes.
3  Q Well, besides the press, what other
4  forums would the term "strategic communications
5  strategy" involve, as you use it?
6  A Legislative action as well.
7  Q In the United States or elsewhere?
8  A We're talking ­­you ask in general
9  so ­­
10  Q In general.
11  A In general, everywhere.
12  Q Okay.
13  A That's just the nature of general
14  questions. There are different forums,
15  legislative and media forums.
16  Q In this affidavit you say, In the
17  course of my engagement, I also developed and
18  proposed to ECVK a strategic communications
19  strategy.
20  Are you intending here to draw a
21  distinction between something that you proposed to
22  Salisbury & Ryan versus ECVK or ­­or are you not
23  intending to draw a distinction there?
24  A I was engaged by Salisbury & Ryan as a
25  consulting expert, so that's ­­I would assume


1  that  was  for  Salisbury  &  Ryan's  kind  of
2  consumption  and  ­­
3  Q  Right.
4  So  what  I'm  basically  getting  at  is
5  the  ­­ the  proposal  you  made  was  directed  to
6  Salisbury  &  Ryan;  is  that  right?
7  A  Yes.
8  Q  Why  was  it  rejected?
9  A  I  do  not  know.
10  MR.  SPERDUTO:  The  ­­ okay.
11  THE  WITNESS:  Sorry.
12  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Give  me  a  shot,  okay.
13  THE  WITNESS:  Sorry.
14  BY  MR.  COGAN:
15  Q  Did  you  have  any  communications  with
16  Salisbury  &  Ryan  in  which  they  told  you  why  it  was
17  being  rejected?
18  MR.  SPERDUTO:  That's  a  yes  or  a  no.
19  You  can  ­­
20  THE  WITNESS:  Yes.
21  BY  MR.  COGAN:
22  Q  What  did  they  tell  you?
23  MR.  SPERDUTO:  That's  not  ­­
24  attorney­client  privilege,  26(b)(4)(D).
25  Direct  you  not  to  answer.


1  THE  WITNESS:  ­­ do  not  ­­ to  be
2  honest,  I  do  not  know  to  what  the  author  referred
3  here.
4  BY  MR.  COGAN:
5  Q  Okay.  The  author  writes  that  you
6  burrowed  in  with  Washington  reporters.
7  Do  you  see  that?
8  A  Yes.
9  Q  Do  you  have  close  relationships  with
10  Washington  reporters?
11  A  I  have  some.
12  Q  What  about  with  reporters  in  places
13  other  than  Washington,  D.C.?  Do  you  have  close
14  relations  with  a  number  of  different  reporters?
15  A  I  know  some  reporters.
16  Q  And  strategic  ­­ you  ­­ we  discussed
17  earlier  a  reference  in  your  affidavit  to  a
18  strategic  communications  campaign.
19  A  Uh­huh.
20  Q  Would  it  be  fair  to  characterize  the
21  work  that  you  were  doing  for  Mr.  Kazhegeldin  in
22  your  lobbying  effort  to  be  a  strategic
23  communications  campaign?
24  A  It  could  be  described  as  strategic
25  communications  effort,  yes.


1  Q  Would  you  describe  it  that  way?
2  A  I  would  describe  it,  yes.  It  has
3  all  ­­ as  we  discussed  with  the  strategic
4  communication,  it's  ­­ it's  outreach,  both  media
5  and  legislative  outreach,  which  was  done  in  this
6  case.  Both  of  those  requirements  were  fulfilled.
7  Q  Now,  when  you  burrow  in  with  reporters
8  in  connection  with  the  strategic  communications
9  campaign,  is  your  goal  to  persuade  them  to  write
10  articles?
11  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Form.
12  THE  WITNESS:  This  is  ­­ exactly  goes
13  to  the  point  of  notice  because  I  never  studied
14  English  formally.  And  "burrowing,"  it's  a  ­­ it's
15  a  term  that  kind  of  I  would  understand  it  in  the
16  context,  so  I  would  ­­ in  the  context  of  this
17  sentence,  I  would  understand  what  it  means.
18  But,  literally,  I  don't  know.
19  Burrowing,  that's  what  animals  do;  right?  Just  ­­
20  just  ­­ right?
21  BY  MR.  COGAN:
22  Q  Let  me  ­­
23  A  When  you  go  ­­ when  you  go  ­­ could  you
24  define  the  word,  actually?
25  Q  Sure.  Let  ­­ I'll  ­­ let  me  ask  it  a


1  different way.
2  When you conduct a strategic
3  communications campaign for a client, is it your
4  practice to convince or attempt to persuade
5  reporters to write favorable articles about your
6  clients?
7  MR. SPERDUTO: Form.
8  You can answer.
9  THE WITNESS: I try not to persuade
10  anyone in doing that because I try to present
11  story and present some facts, and I do encourage
12  journalists to look into my client matters.
13  But it's really up to reporter and his
14  editor to do that. And I think that in
15  Washington, D.C., there's this whole practice of
16  kind of ­­it's very common. And I'm sure even it
17  might be ­­I don't know if your firm does
18  lobbying, but a lot of law firms here are enrolled
19  in this work here.
20  And I think that ­­and I've sat
21  through enough pitch meetings where people say,
22  okay, we're so close; we have, like, editorial
23  board and journal and just we'll get you done.
24  And usually at these dictatorships they engage
25  firms like that. But, in my experience, I think


1  that it's ­­it never works like that.
2  So I think that respectable
3  publications, they do try to hear or research both
4  sides of the stories. And sometimes it's helpful
5  to read the stories, but some stories could be
6  obscure and people don't know them.
7  But, in general, I ­­I don't believe I
8  ever tried to persuade people to do that. I
9  inform them, and I kind of gave them an option to
10  research it and provide some assistance in that
11  research. That's probably would be ­­"persuade"
12  would not be an accurate term.
13  BY MR. COGAN:
14  Q Is it your hope when you have these
15  communications with reporters about your clients
16  and the subject matter of your retention by those
17  clients that they will write articles that are
18  favorable to your clients?
19  MR. SPERDUTO: Form.
20  THE WITNESS: It is my intention to get
21  the story out, and favorable ­­yes, I would say
22  yes.
23  BY MR. COGAN:
24  Q And unfavorable to your clients'
25  adversaries ­­


1  Q Any reason to believe it's not an
2  accurate reflection of that email communication?
3  A No, I don't have reasons to believe.
4  Q Did Mr. Balint­Kurti ever meet with
5  Patrick Salisbury?
6  MR. SPERDUTO: Objection: form;
7  capacity.
8  THE WITNESS: I do not know, actually.
9  BY MR. COGAN:
10  Q Do you recall ever attending a meeting
11  where both of them were present?
12  A I never attend such meeting.
13  Q Did Mr. Salisbury or Mr. Balint­Kurti
14  report to you that they had met?
15  A I do not remember them reporting ­­
16  either of them reporting to me.
17  Q Did you have any discussions with
18  Mr. Balint­Kurti about IMR, The Trio, ENRC or
19  Shaft Sinkers?
20  MR. SPERDUTO: That question can be
21  answered yes or no. I just would alert the
22  witness again that to the extent any further
23  answer would implicate the 26(b)(4)(D) privilege,
24  be cognizant of that and steer clear.
25  THE WITNESS: Okay.


1  Yes,  I  have  discussion  with
2  Mr.  Balint­Kurti.
3  BY  MR.  COGAN:
4  Q  Okay.  What  did  you  discuss?
5  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Objection.  Direct  the
6  client  not  to  witness  [sic]  on  the  basis  of
7  26(b)(4)(D).
8  MR.  COGAN:  Could  you  mark  this,
9  please?
10  (Akhmetshin  Deposition  Exhibit  7  was
11  marked  for  identification  and  attached  to  the
12  transcript.)
13  BY  MR.  COGAN:
14  Q  Mr.  Akhmetshin,  I'm  showing  you  a
15  document  Bates  stamped  AKH819  through  ­821.  This
16  is  an  email  that  you  wrote  to  somebody;  correct?
17  A  Correct.
18  Q  And  who  is  this  email  to?
19  A  It's  an  acquaintance  of  mine.
20  THE  COURT  REPORTER:  I'm  sorry?
21  THE  WITNESS:  I'm  sorry.  It's  an
22  acquaintance  of  mine.
23  BY  MR.  SPERDUTO:
24  Q  And  does  this  acquaintance  have  a  name?
25  A  His  name  is  Sergie  Minaev.


1  just  to  inform  Minaev  about  changes  in  this
2  procedure  ­­ listing  procedures  on  the  stock
3  exchange  ­­
4  Q  Did  you  have  ­­
5  A  ­­ upcoming  ­­ I'm  sorry.  About
6  upcoming,  I  think,  or  maybe  ­­ so  something
7  just  ­­ it  has  nothing  to  do  with  Salisbury  &  Ryan
8  matter.
9  Q  Did  you  have  any  discussions  with
10  Mr.  Minaev  about  the  work  that  you  had  done  for
11  Salisbury  &  Ryan?
12  A  I  did  not  ­­ I  generally  do  not  discuss
13  my  work  with  other  people  for  our  clients.
14  Q  So  is  that  a,  "no,"  that  you  didn't
15  have  ­­
16  A  Normally  I  might  have  mentioned  that
17  I've  been  involved  in  a  matter,  but  without  giving
18  specifics.
19  Q  So  you  don't  recall  any  conversations
20  you  had  where  you  had  specific  discussions  with
21  him  about  the  specifics  of  what  you  did  for
22  Salisbury  &  Ryan?
23  A  I  did  not  do  ­­ I  do  not  remember  such
24  conversation  with  Mr.  Minaev.
25  Q  Do  you  know  Scott  Horton?


1  A  I  do  know  Scott  Horton.
2  Q  Who  is  Scott  Horton?
3  A  He's  an  attorney  and  an  author.
4  Q  I'm  sorry.  He's  an  attorney  ­­ oh,  and
5  an  author,  okay.
6  A  An  author.
7  Q  Where  does  he  practice  law?
8  A  New  York  and  in  Europe,  I  guess,  as
9  well.
10  Q  Has  he  ever  engaged  you  as  a  consulting
11  expert  or  otherwise?
12  A  No.
13  Q  Has  he  ever  represented  you?
14  A  No.
15  Q  Have  you  ever  had  any  communications
16  with  Mr.  Horton,  yes  or  no,  about  the  work  that
17  you  were  doing  for  Salisbury  &  Ryan?
18  A  Yes.
19  Q  Okay.  Approximately  how  many?
20  A  One  or  two,  maybe.
21  Q  What  did  you  discuss?
22  A  I  don't  think  I  could  share  without
23  divulging  ­­
24  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Okay.  That's  my  cue.
25  I'm  sorry.  To  the  extent  this  requires  a  response


1  that  invokes  the  privilege  under  Rule  26(b)(4)(D),
2  the  client  ­­ the  witness  is  directed  not  to
3  answer.
4  MR.  COGAN:  Will  you  mark  this,  please?
5  (Akhmetshin  Deposition  Exhibit  8  was
6  marked  for  identification  and  attached  to  the
7  transcript.)
8  BY  MR.  COGAN:
9  Q  Mr.  Akhmetshin,  I'm  showing  you  a
10  document  that's  been  marked  Akhmetshin  Exhibit  8.
11  It  is  a  four­page  document  Bates  stamped  AKH000871
12  through  ­874.
13  Do  you  recognize  this?
14  A  It  looks  familiar,  yes.
15  Q  Okay.  Is  this  an  email  exchange  that
16  you  had  with  Mr.  Horton?
17  A  It  is.
18  Q  And  is  this  a  true  and  correct  copy  of
19  that  email  exchange?
20  A  On  the  first  review,  it  does  appear
21  correct.
22  Q  I'll  direct  your  attention  to  the
23  email  ­­ the  second  to  top  email  in  the  chain  from
24  Scott  Horton  to  you  sent  on  May  28th,  2013,  at,  it
25  looks  like,  3:20  p.m.


1  Do  you  see  that?
2  A  May  20  what  ­­
3  Q  Sorry.  Go  on  the  first  page,  page  71.
4  A  All  right.
5  Q  And  do  you  see  ­­ not  the  top  email
6  that  says,  Got  it,  but  rather  the  email  below
7  that?
8  A  I  do  see  it,  yes.
9  Q  Okay.  So  this  appears  to  be  an  email
10  from  Mr.  Horton  to  you  sent  on  May  28th,  2013.
11  And,  at  least  according  to  the  time  stamp,  it  was
12  sent  at  ­­ I'll  call  that  3:20  p.m.,  okay?
13  A  Okay.
14  Q  The  subject  line  is  Mashkevich.  Is  he
15  one  of  the  members  of  The  Trio?
16  A  He  is  a  member  of  The  Trio,  Mashkevich,
17  yes.
18  Q  In  this  email  Mr.  Horton  provides  you  a
19  list  of  terms.
20  Do  you  see  that?
21  A  Yes.
22  Q  What  was  your  understanding  about  why
23  he  was  providing  these  to  you?
24  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Form;  capacity.
25  If  you  know.


1  THE WITNESS: He described it in his
2  previous email from May 21st stamped at 7:53 a.m.,
3  the next page, bottom.
4  BY MR. COGAN:
5  Q Right.
6  So the email that you're referring to
7  is an email that Scott Horton sends to you with
8  the subject line ENRC, that says, Rinat, I am
9  studying connections between ENRC ­­ENRC and Beny
10  Steinmetz and have recently heard a good bit about
11  dealings between Mash­­­Mashkevich and Steinmetz
12  related to Guinea. Any chance you know about
13  this? Love to catch up.
14  That's the email you're referring to?
15  A Yes.
16  Q Okay. So just going back now to the
17  email that I was asking you about, you see how
18  there's a list of ­­well, it's about eight names,
19  and then a list of five entities in that email?
20  A Uh­huh. Yes.
21  Q Did you have an understanding as to why
22  he was sending you these names?
23  A I think this was a part that's already
24  gotten to the point of my research which I was
25  doing for Salisbury & Ryan.


1  Q  I  don't  understand.  Could  you  please
2  explain  that  a  little  bit  more?
3  A  You  know,  this  email  has  ­­ it
4  refers  ­­ you  know,  just  as  a  part  of  my  research
5  I  was  doing  for  Salisbury  &  Ryan.
6  Q  Okay.
7  A  Sorry.
8  Q  And  did  you  ­­
9  THE  WITNESS:  Is  it  ­­
10  BY  MR.  COGAN:
11  Q  Sorry.  Go  ahead.
12  THE  WITNESS:  Do  you  think  it's  all
13  right  to  discuss  it?
14  MR.  SPERDUTO:  I  was  under  the
15  misimpression,  apparently,  that  this  was  Scott
16  Horton's  research  for  an  article  about  Beny
17  Steinmetz  and  ENRC.  If  it's  Mr.  Horton's
18  research,  I  think  you  can  discuss  it.  If  it
19  involves  your  research  or  what  you're  doing  on
20  behalf  of  Salisbury  &  Ryan,  then  you  cannot
21  discuss  it.
22  THE  WITNESS:  This  ­­
23  MR.  SPERDUTO:  And  I  can't  tell  what
24  the  hell  this  is  about,  so  you're  going  to  have  to
25  make  that  judgment  on  your  own.


1  BY  MR.  COGAN:
2  Q  So  here  let  ­­ let  me  withdraw  the
3  question  and  ask  it  again  just  so  there's  clarity
4  about  what  I'm  asking  you.
5  Why  was  he  sending  you  a  list  of  search
6  terms,  if  you  know?
7  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Excuse  me.  Objection  to
8  the  form,  "search  terms."
9  THE  WITNESS:  I  don't  think  this  has
10  search  terms.
11  BY  MR.  COGAN:
12  Q  Why  was  he  sending  you  a  list  of  terms,
13  if  you  know?
14  A  This  has  something  to  do  with  the
15  research  I  was  doing  on  behalf  of
16  Salisbury  &  Ryan.
17  Q  What  does  this  have  to  do  with  the
18  research  you  were  doing?
19  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Well,  that's  ­­ that's  a
20  26(b)(4)  objection.
21  MR.  COGAN:  And  instruction  not  to
22  answer?
23  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Yes,  based  on  his  prior
24  answer.  He  said  it  had  to  do  with  his  research.
25  BY  MR.  COGAN:


1  Q  The  next  ­­ the  email  at  the  ­­ at  the
2  top  of  the  chain,  the  ­­ do  you  see  that  you
3  acknowledge  receipt  seven  minutes  later?
4  A  Correct.
5  Q  Okay.
6  (Akhmetshin  Deposition  Exhibit  9  was
7  marked  for  identification  and  attached  to  the
8  transcript.)
9  BY  MR.  COGAN:
10  Q  Okay.  Mr.  Akhmetshin,  I'm  showing  you
11  a  document  that's  been  marked  Akhmetshin
12  Exhibit  9,  a  one­page  email  Bates  marked
13  AKH000877.
14  Do  you  see  that  the  bottom  email  in  the
15  chain  is  sent  about  two  and  a  half  hours  after  ­­
16  appears,  at  least,  as  though  it  ­­
17  A  Uh­huh.
18  Q  ­­ was  sent  about  two  and  a  half  hours
19  after  you  acknowledged  receipt  of  Mr.  Horton's  ­­
20  A  Uh­huh.
21  Q  ­­ list  of  terms  ­­
22  A  Uh­huh.
23  Q  ­­ from  the  prior  exhibit.
24  A  Uh­huh.
25  Q  Yes?


1  A  Yes.
2  Q  Okay.  And  what  did  you  send  Mr.  Horton
3  along  with  this  email?
4  A  I  don't  believe  I  send  anything  to
5  Mr.  Horton  along  with  this  email.  If  you  read  the
6  email  very  carefully,  it  says,  The  first  document
7  is  very  interesting  and  matches  the  information  we
8  had  previously  collected.
9  Q  Let  me  ­­ let  me  just  stop  you  for  one
10  moment.  I'm  looking  at  the  bottom  email  ­­
11  A  Uh­huh.
12  Q  ­­ from  you  to  Scott  Horton  sent
13  Tuesday,  May  28th,  at  5:50  p.m.
14  A  Uh­huh.
15  Q  Do  you  see  that?
16  A  Yes.
17  Q  And  I'll  represent  to  you  that  nothing
18  in  ­­ nothing  was  attached  to  this  email  in  the
19  production  that  we  received  from  you  ­­
20  A  There's  nothing  ­­
21  Q  ­­ through  your  counsel.
22  So  what  I'm  trying  to  understand  is
23  what  was  this  email?  Did  you  really  ­­ did  you
24  have  something  attached  to  it?  Were  you  sending
25  him  something?


1  A  I  don't  remember  there  was
2  something  that  might  of  ­­ you  know,  sometimes
3  stuff  just  goes  off.  I  ­­ I'm  not  sure  whether
4  there  was  anything  attached  to  this,  because  if
5  there's  attachment,  it  would  indicate  there  was  an
6  attachment.
7  Q  Okay.  Could  you  turn  back  to  the
8  privilege  log  for  a  moment,  please?  Sir,  the
9  privilege  log.
10  A  I'm  sorry.
11  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Four,  Exhibit  4.
12  BY  MR.  COGAN:
13  Q  Sorry.  Exhibit  4.  Sorry.
14  A  Yep.
15  Q  I'll  direct  your  attention  on  the
16  privilege  log  to  page  29, entry  247.
17  Does  this  entry  reflect  ­­ refresh  your
18  recollection  that  you,  in  fact,  sent  Mr.  Horton  an
19  email  and  attachments  on  that  day?
20  A  I  do  not  remember  specific  exchange  of
21  emails.  I  remember  general  discussion,  which  I
22  was  doing  research  because  Mr.  Horton  was  also
23  doing  some  research,  and  this  has  something  to  do
24  with  me  gathering  information  for  the
25  Salisbury  &  Ryan  litigation.


1  Q Right. And if you look now back to
2  Exhibit 9 ­­
3  A Uh­huh.
4  Q ­­Mr. Horton writes ­­in response to
5  your email from 5:50 p.m. on the 28th, he writes
6  on the 29th at 3:19 p.m., The first item is very
7  interesting.
8  Do you see that?
9  A Uh­huh.
10  Q What item is he referring to here?
11  A I do not remember.
12  Q Is it a fair assumption that he's
13  referring to what you had just sent him in the
14  previous email?
15  A I cannot tell. We had a discussion.
16  I've known him for a long time, so we had a
17  discussion about ­­I was gathering research for
18  Salisbury & Ryan on behalf of Salisbury & Ryan
19  about these matters related to their litigation.
20  Q Mr. Horton writes, The first item is
21  very interesting and matches the information we
22  had previously collected.
23  Do you see that?
24  A Uh­huh.
25  Q What information that had been


1  previously collected was Mr. Horton referring to
2  to your knowledge?
3  MR. SPERDUTO: Objection to the form.
4  THE WITNESS: To be honest, I do not
5  remember exactly what he had in mind. We had
6  conversations about my research, and I was
7  contacting him about this research.
8  BY MR. COGAN:
9  Q Even if you don't remember exactly what
10  this was referring to, do you have a general
11  understanding about what Mr. Horton was referring
12  to in this email?
13  MR. SPERDUTO: Objection: capacity.
14  THE WITNESS: I do not know.
15  BY MR. COGAN:
16  Q Do you recall sending research to
17  Mr. Horton?
18  A Not Salisbury & Ryan's research.
19  Q Do you ­­okay. Do you recall sending
20  other research to Mr. Horton?
21  A I don't remember.
22  Q At no time ­­to the best of your
23  recollection, at no time did you send Mr. Horton
24  the research that you had been doing for
25  Salisbury & Ryan?


1  A  To  the  best  of  my  recollection,  I  have
2  not  shared  my  research.
3  Q  And,  to  the  best  of  your  recollection,
4  is  it  also  correct  that  you  did  not  speak  to
5  Mr.  Horton  in  furtherance  of  the  research  you  were
6  doing  for  Salisbury  &  Ryan?
7  A  That  would  be  the  discussion  of  my
8  forms  and  methods  of  obtaining  research.
9  Q  But  that's  ­­ what  I'm  asking  you  is,
10  did  you  obtain  research  from  Mr.  Horton  in
11  connection  with  the  work  that  you  were  doing  for
12  Salisbury  &  Ryan?
13  MR.  SPERDUTO:  That  gets  to  26(b)(4)(D)
14  and  direct  him  not  to  answer.
15  MR.  COGAN:  The  ­­ the  question  of
16  simply  did  he  obtain  it  ­­
17  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Yeah.
18  MR.  COGAN:  ­­ without  divorce  from
19  what  ­­
20  MR.  SPERDUTO:  That  reveals  the  source.
21  We're  not  going  to  reveal  sources  for  his  research
22  and  things  like  that  from  ­­ depending  on  the
23  answer.
24  THE  WITNESS:  I've  been  engaged  with
25  him  forever.  I've  known  Mr.  Horton  for  years,  and


1  I often help him with ­­kind of compare notes.
2  He's also a human rights lawyer, and he is doing
3  work against corruption.
4  MR. SPERDUTO: Rinat, can you do me a
5  favor and wait for a question next time?
6  THE WITNESS: Okay.
7  MR. COGAN: Can you mark this, please?
8  (Akhmetshin Deposition Exhibit 10 was
9  marked for identification and attached to the
10  transcript.)
11  BY MR. COGAN:
12  Q Sir, I'm showing you Akhmetshin
13  Exhibit 10, which is AKH000879 through 880.
14  Do you see that in several of these
15  emails the word "privileged" appears?
16  A Yes, I notice that.
17  Q Okay. And is it correct that these
18  emails actually contained text that had been
19  redacted from this email that was produced to us?
20  MR. SPERDUTO: I'm not sure he knows
21  how to answer that since he didn't do the
22  redaction. The redaction would have done by ­­
23  been done by folks in my office, and that's what
24  it appears like to me as well.
25  MR. COGAN: Okay.


1  BY  MR.  COGAN:
2  Q  In  your  preparation  for  this
3  deposition,  did  you  review  an  unredacted  version
4  of  this  email?
5  A  I  don't  remember  reviewing  this  email.
6  Q  Yes  or  no,  do  you  recall  what  was  being
7  discussed  in  this  email?
8  A  I  don't  remember.
9  MR.  SPERDUTO:  I'm  sorry.  This  was  10,
10  correct,  Jonathan?
11  MR.  COGAN:  Yes.
12  BY  MR.  COGAN:
13  Q  Are  you  familiar  with  the  law  firm
14  Herbert  Smith?
15  A  I  heard  the  name.
16  Q  Okay.  Do  you  have  any  knowledge  as  to
17  whether  that  ­­ well,  what  do  you  know  about  them?
18  A  It's  a  law  firm  in  London,  I  think.
19  Q  Okay.  Do  you  have  any  knowledge  as  to
20  what  role,  if  any,  Herbert  Smith  played  in
21  representing  any  of  the  entities  that  we've  been
22  discussed  today?
23  A  I  think  they  would  have  been  involved
24  with  some  entities.
25  Q  Do  you  remember  on  which  side  they  were


1  involved?
2  A I think on the side of The Trio.
3  Q Okay.
4  THE COURT REPORTER: On the side?
5  THE WITNESS: On the side of The Trio.
6  BY MR. COGAN:
7  Q Okay. And, to be clear, when you say
8  "The Trio," I take it what you mean is that it's
9  your understanding that Herbert Smith was involved
10  in one of the companies ­­representing one of the
11  companies associated with The Trio?
12  A It was my understanding, yes.
13  Q And was that your understanding back in
14  2012 and 2013 when you were working on this
15  matter?
16  A I don't remember, but I think that was
17  probably knew to me before.
18  MR. SPERDUTO: I'm sorry. Probably
19  what?
20  THE WITNESS: I might have known it
21  before then.
22  MR. SPERDUTO: Before 2012.
23  MR. COGAN: Will you mark this, please?
24  (Akhmetshin Deposition Exhibit 11 was
25  marked for identification and attached to the


1  transcript.)
2  BY  MR.  COGAN:
3  Q  Okay.  I'm  showing  you  a  document
4  that's  been  marked  Akhmetshin  Exhibit  11, Bates
5  stamped  AKH000832  through  ­833.
6  Do  you  see  that?
7  A  Yes.
8  Q  This  is  an  email  exchange  that  you  had
9  with  a  Simon  Goodley;  is  that  correct?
10  A  Correct.
11  Q  Who  is  Simon  Goodley?
12  A  He's  a  reporter  in  Guardian  newspaper.
13  THE  COURT  REPORTER:  He's  an  importer
14  what?
15  THE  WITNESS:  He's  an  reporter  for  the
16  newspaper  called  Guardian.
17  BY  MR.  COGAN:
18  Q  Okay.  Mr.  Goodley  writes  to  you  on
19  May  3rd,  2013,  Hi  Rinat.  Do  you  have  any  Herbert
20  Smith  emails?  Somebody  is  telling  me  I  should
21  have  a  look.
22  Do  you  see  that?
23  A  I  do  see  it.
24  Q  What's  your  understanding  as  to  why
25  Mr.  Goodley  was  asking  you  if  you  had  Herbert


1  Smith emails?
2  MR. SPERDUTO: Form; capacity.
3  THE WITNESS: I know that Mr. ­­
4  I could answer; right?
5  MR. SPERDUTO: Yeah.
6  THE WITNESS: I know that Simon Goodley
7  was covering ENRC and The Troika in ­­in their
8  dealings in London, and I know that he has written
9  extensively about them. And he was just reaching
10  out for information.
11  BY MR. COGAN:
12  Q What ever would have given Mr. Goodley
13  the impression that you might have emails of
14  Herbert Smith?
15  MR. SPERDUTO: Form.
16  THE WITNESS: I ­­I really don't know.
17  He ­­you know, people often ask me for
18  information, and there's thing called London
19  information bazaar, almost, like, you know,
20  exchange bazaar, where people ­­people kind of
21  exchange information.
22  So it might be ­­you know, people
23  reach out to a lot of different people.
24  BY MR. COGAN:
25  Q Okay. The London information bazaar,


1  is  that  a  formal  ­­
2  A  It's  in­ ­­
3  Q  ­­ title?
4  A  ­­ ­formal.
5  Q  And  do  you  participate  in  the  London
6  information  bazaar?
7  A  From  time  to  time.
8  Q  And  ­­ the  ­­ at  the  time  you  received
9  this  email,  you  understood  that  Herbert  Smith
10  represented  a  company  associated  with  the
11  adversary  of  your  client;  is  that  right?
12  A  Yes.  Probably,  yes.
13  Q  Okay.  And  did  you  have  any  Herbert
14  Smith  emails  during  that  time  period?
15  A  Not  to  my  recollection.
16  Q  Did  you  have  during  that  time  period
17  any  internal  documents  belonging  to  IMR?
18  A  I  have  no  recollection  of  that.
19  Q  Did  you  have  any  documents  belonging  to
20  ENRC?
21  A  I  don't  have  recollection  of  that.
22  Q  How  about  Shaft  Sinkers?
23  A  I  don't  have  recollection  of  that.
24  Q  You  respond,  Let  me  research  and  get
25  back.


1  Do  you  see  that?
2  A  Correct.
3  Q  What  were  you  going  to  research?
4  A  See  whether  ­­
5  MR.  SPERDUTO:  I  don't  know  ­­ just
6  a  ­­ this  ­­ is  this  unrelated  to  the  research
7  you're  doing  for  Salisbury  &  Ryan?
8  THE  WITNESS:  It  may  or  may  not  be
9  related  to  research  because  I've  been  ­­
10  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Well,  to  the  extent  it's
11  not  ­­
12  THE  WITNESS:  I  would  say  ­­
13  MR.  SPERDUTO:  ­­ related,  you  can
14  answer.  To  the  extent  it  is  related  to  your
15  research,  you  are  directed  not  to  answer  under
16  26(b)(4).  I  can't  tell  what  this  research  is.
17  THE  WITNESS:  I  would  say,  you  know,
18  just  I  was  still  engaged,  and  I  think  that  there
19  was  this  was  part  of  reaching  out  to  some  people
20  in  this  information  exchange  bazaar,  so  I  said  I
21  might  research  it.
22  BY  MR.  COGAN:
23  Q  So  did  you  reach  out  to  people  in  the
24  information  exchange  bazaar  to  see  if  they  could
25  obtain  copies  of  Herbert  Smith  emails?


1  A  I  do  not  remember  that.
2  Q  Did  you  do  anything  else  to  research
3  whether  you  could  obtain  Herbert  Smith  emails?
4  A  I  don't  remember  that.
5  Q  Did  you  check  your  own  files  to  see  if
6  you  had  in  your  possession  Herbert  Smith  emails?
7  A  I  didn't  need  to  check  it.  I  didn't
8  have  it.
9  Q  At  any  point  ­­ can  you  tell  me  all  the
10  people  who  you  know  who  participate  in  the
11  information  exchange  bazaar?
12  A  There's  probably  hundreds,  if  not
13  thousands  people.
14  Q  How  many  people  do  you  know?  Hundreds?
15  A  Not  hundreds,  no.
16  Q  Okay.
17  A  A  handful.
18  Q  Who  do  you  know  that  participates  in
19  the  information  exchange  bazaar?
20  A  I  know  Mr.  Kazhegeldin.  He  is  a  big
21  part  of  Kazakhstan­related  matters  in  ­­ in
22  London.
23  Q  Who  else?
24  A  A  few  reporters,  I  would  say.
25  Q  Which  reporters?


1  Q  If  you  turn  to  the  next  page,  page  3  ­­
2  A  Uh­huh.
3  Q  ­­ paragraph  10, Mr.  Phanartzis  ­­
4  Phanartzis'  affidavit  states,  The  next  morning,  on
5  January  30, 2014  at  approximately  11:15  a.m.,  we
6  observed  Mr.  Akhmetshin  entering  the  Cafe  Royal
7  Coffee  Shop  on  Regent  Street.
8  Do  you  see  that?
9  A  I  do  see  this.
10  Q  Have  you  ever  been  to  the  Cafe  Royal
11  Coffee  Shop?
12  A  I  believe  I  did  visit  that  location.
13  Q  Were  you  there  on  January  30th,  2014?
14  A  Most  likely,  yes.
15  Q  Paragraph  12, At  approximately
16  11:25  a.m.,  Mr.  Akhmetshin  was  joined  by  an
17  unidentified  businessman  who  appeared  to  be  in  his
18  40s.
19  Do  you  see  that?
20  A  Yes,  I  do  see  it.
21  Q  And  it  says  the  businessman  was
22  carrying  a  laptop.
23  A  Uh­huh.
24  Q  Do  you  have  an  understanding  as  to  who
25  this  businessman  was?


1  A  It  was  a  client  in  a  research  project  I
2  was  doing.
3  Q  Who  was  the  client?
4  A  This  Israeli  businessman,  Mr.  Halpert.
5  Q  Could  you  ­­ could  you  spell  that  name?
6  A  Halpert,  H­A­L­P­E­R­T.  Halpert.
7  Q  What's  his  first  name?
8  A  Barukh.
9  Q  Can  you  spell  that?
10  A  B­A­R­U­K­H,  I  think,  or  H.
11  Q  Okay.  Paragraph  13  says,  After
12  exchanging  pleasantries,  Mr.  Akhmetshin  handed  the
13  businessman  an  external  hard  drive  and  stated  that
14  it  contained  internal  documents  and  emails  from
15  IMR.
16  Did  you  ever  provide  Mr.  Halpert  with
17  an  external  hard  drive  of  documents?
18  A  I  believe  I  have  given  Mr.  Halpert  an
19  external  drive.
20  Q  Did  those  documents  contain  ­­
21  withdrawn.
22  Did  that  hard  drive  contain  documents
23  and  emails  from  IMR?
24  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Objection  to  the  form.
25  THE  WITNESS:  I  don't  believe  it  was


1  with  IMR.  I  think  Mr.  Halpert's  interest  was  with
2  Kazakhstan  assets,  so  it  was  probably  something
3  about  The  Trio.
4  BY  MR.  COGAN:
5  Q  What  was  Mr.  Halpert's  interest  with
6  The  Trio?
7  THE  WITNESS:  Can  I  just  discuss  these
8  matters?  In  the  Halpert  case  ­­ he  has  a  ­­ was  a
9  client  at  that  time,  Halpert.
10  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Would  you  ­­
11  THE  WITNESS:  It  was  ­­
12  MR.  SPERDUTO:  ­­ like  to  ­­
13  THE  WITNESS:  ­­ a  research  project
14  and  ­­
15  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Would  you  like  to
16  discuss  this  off  the  record  or  ­­
17  MR.  COGAN:  We  can  go  off  the  record.
18  Let  me  withdraw  the  question  and  just  ask  a  couple
19  of  foundational  questions.  Okay?
20  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Yeah.
21  BY  MR.  COGAN:
22  Q  Was  Mr.  Halpert  engaged  in  litigation
23  at  the  time  he  engaged  you?
24  A  He  mentioned  that  they  are  considering
25  legal  actions.


1  Q  Is  he  a  lawyer?
2  A  Yes,  I  think  he's  a  lawyer.  He  is  a
3  lawyer,  yes.
4  Q  Where  is  he  admitted?  Do  you  know?
5  A  I  know  that  he  went  to  law  school  in
6  England,  and  I  think  somewhere  in  Israel.  I  do
7  not  know  for  a  fact.
8  Q  You  said,  "He  mentioned  that  they  are
9  considering  legal  actions."  Who's  "they"?
10  A  His  company  or  his  clients.
11  Q  Who  is  his  company?
12  A  He  has  an  entity  in  Israel  which  is
13  involved  in  work  in  former  Soviet  ­­ not  just
14  former  Soviet  Union,  but  in  ­­ around  the  world.
15  Q  And  did  you  have  an  understanding  as  to
16  what  this  litigation  involved?
17  A  It  had  to  do  with  assets  exchange  or
18  acquisition.
19  Q  There  was  a  potential  litigation
20  involving  either  an  asset  exchange  or  an
21  acquisition;  is  that  what  you  testified  to?
22  A  It's  potential  litigation  on  the
23  ownership  of  assets.
24  Q  Did  any  litigation  ever  get  filed  to
25  your  knowledge?


1  A I am not sure.
2  Q Is Mr. Halpert still a client of yours?
3  A No.
4  Q No?
5  A I ­­he recently appeared, so it's just
6  on ­­I haven't heard from him in a long time, but
7  he recently was in Washington, and I met with him.
8  Q Did you ever sign an engagement letter
9  with either Mr. Halpert or anybody associated with
10  him?
11  A We had a verbal agreement.
12  Q Did you ever sign an engagement letter
13  with anybody associated with Mr. Halpert?
14  A I don't remember. I might have. I do
15  not remember exactly.
16  Q Did you ever get paid any money by
17  either Mr. Halpert or anyone associated with him?
18  A Yes, I have been paid.
19  Q Was that payment in connection with
20  this contemplated litigation that you were
21  describing earlier?
22  A Just payment with this expert research.
23  Q Was the expert research that you were
24  doing in connection with the contemplated
25  litigation?


1  A  Correct.
2  Q  How  is  that  payment  made?  Like,
3  electronically;  was  it  a  wire;  a  check;  cash?
4  A  I  think  it  was  a  wire.
5  Q  Where  had  you  obtained  the  documents  on
6  the  hard  drive  that  you  gave  to  Mr.  Halpert?
7  A  On  London  information  exchange  bazaar.
8  Q  From  whom?
9  A  From  one  of  the  participants  in  that
10  bazaar.
11  Q  Who  ­­ which  participant  on  the  bazaar
12  did  you  obtain  those  documents  from?
13  A  Mr.  Kazhegeldin.
14  Q  Where  did  Mr.  Kazhegeldin  obtain  the
15  documents?
16  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Objection:  form;
17  capacity.
18  THE  WITNESS:  I  honestly  don't  know.
19  BY  MR.  COGAN:
20  Q  Did  you  ask  him?
21  A  No.
22  Q  Did  he  tell  you?
23  A  No.
24  Q  Can  you  tell  me  about  the  circumstances
25  under  which  Mr.  Kazhegeldin  gave  these  documents


1  to  you?  In  other  words,  did  you  ask  him  for
2  documents;  did  he  just  voluntarily  give  them  to
3  you;  or  how  did  that  happen?
4  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Objection  to  form;  calls
5  for  a  narrative.
6  THE  WITNESS:  Should  I  ­­
7  BY  MR.  COGAN:
8  Q  You  can  answer.
9  THE  WITNESS:  ­­ answer?
10  BY  MR.  COGAN:
11  Q  Yes.
12  A  As  a  part  of  my  work  for  Mr.  Halpert,  I
13  introduced  him  to  Mr.  Kazhegeldin,  so  we  had  ­­ we
14  had  the  one  meeting,  very  long  meeting.  And  ­­ so
15  it  came  as  a  result  of  the  meeting.
16  Q  What  documents  were  contained  on  the
17  external  hard  drive?
18  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Objection  to  the  form;
19  capacity.
20  THE  WITNESS:  Some  data,  I'd  say.
21  THE  COURT  REPORTER:  Some  what?
22  THE  WITNESS:  There  ­­ there's  some
23  data,  I  think;  they're  documents,  files.
24  BY  MR.  COGAN:
25  Q  Emails?


1  A  It  might  have  been  emails  as  well.
2  Q  Did  you  review  these  documents  before
3  you  handed  them  off  to  Mr.  Halpert?
4  A  Not  really.
5  Q  You  don't  look  at  them?
6  A  Some  general  ­­ I  had  some  general
7  understanding  what  it  was,  but  Mr.  Kazhegeldin
8  told  me.
9  Q  What  was  your  general  understanding  of
10  what  it  was?
11  A  It  was  some  background  information
12  about  these  issues  which  Mr.  Halpert  was
13  interested  in.
14  Q  Which  were  what?
15  A  The  standing  of  ­­ Trio's  standing  in
16  the  Kazakhstan.
17  THE  COURT  REPORTER:  The  what?
18  THE  WITNESS:  Trio's  ­­ Trio's,  this
19  group  of  people,  standing  in  Kazakhstan.
20  BY  MR.  COGAN:
21  Q  What  did  you  tell  Mr.  Halpert  at  the
22  coffee  shop  about  the  documents  that  you  were
23  giving  him?
24  MR.  SPERDUTO:  To  the  extent  that  he's
25  a  lawyer  and  you  were  having  that  discussion  in  a


1  legal  context  and  the  communication  was  for
2  purposes  of  rendering  legal  advice,  you're
3  directed  not  to  answer.  Otherwise,  you  can
4  answer.
5  THE  WITNESS:  No,  it's  ­­ I  think
6  that  ­­ Halpert  was  very  clear  about  sensitivity
7  of  this  issue,  so  it's  my  work  for  him.
8  MR.  COGAN:  You're  instructing  him  not
9  to  answer,  Counsel?
10  MR.  SPERDUTO:  I'm  not  ­­ is  there  a
11  pending  question  or  ­­ I  guess  I  am  for  now.
12  Yeah,  let  me  ­­ let  me  instruct  him  not  to  answer
13  now  based  on  his  last  response.
14  And  if  you  want  me  to  ­­ if  you  want  to
15  take  a  break  ­­ short  break  and  we  can  clarify
16  this  a  little  bit  privately,  then  we  can  be  more
17  prompt  in  our  objections.
18  MR.  COGAN:  Okay.  Go  ahead.  Take  a
19  break,  please.
20  THE  VIDEOGRAPHER:  Going  off  the  record
21  at  2:57  p.m.
22  (Recess  ­­ 2:57  p.m.)
23  (After  recess  ­­ 3:03  p.m.)
24  THE  VIDEOGRAPHER:  We're  back  on  the
25  record  at  3:03  p.m.


1  MR.  COGAN:  Does  your  instruction
2  stand?
3  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Can  you  just  read  back
4  the  last  question  so  I  can  be  ­­ put  it  in
5  specific  context?
6  MR.  COGAN:  I'll  just  ask  it  again.
7  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Yes,  please.  Thank  you.
8  BY  MR.  COGAN:
9  Q  What  did  you  tell  Mr.  Halpert  about  the
10  documents  that  were  contained  on  the  hard  drive
11  that  you  gave  him?
12  A  I  told  him  ­­
13  MR.  SPERDUTO:  I  think  that's  a
14  different  question.
15  MR.  COGAN:  It  is  different.  Yeah.
16  MR.  SPERDUTO:  So  ­­ and  I'll  object  to
17  the  form  to  that,  and  I  think  based  on  my  current
18  understanding  of  these  circumstances  and
19  relationships,  I'm  going  to  let  him  answer  that
20  question,  but  I'm  going  to  designate  this  part  of
21  the  transcript  as  confidential.
22  Go  ahead.  If  anything.
23  (THE  FOLLOWING  PORTION  WAS  DESIGNATED
24  AS  CONFIDENTIAL  ­ATTORNEYS'  EYES  ONLY  AND  IS
25  BOUND  SEPARATELY.)


1  Q  If  you  turn  to  page  4,  paragraph  8  ­­
2  A  I  do  see  it.
3  Q  You  see  that  you  write  here,  I  am  not  a
4  computer  specialist,  and  I  am  not  capable  of
5  hacking.
6  Do  you  see  that?
7  A  I  do  see  it,  yes.
8  Q  Do  you  know  anyone  who  is  capable  of
9  hacking?
10  A  I  don't.
11  Q  None  of  your  contacts,  to  your
12  knowledge,  have  the  ability  to  hack  a  computer
13  system?
14  A  I  do  not  know  a  single  person  who  could
15  do  that.
16  Q  Paragraph  15  on  the  last  page,  page  6,
17  you  state,  All  of  the  due  diligence  and  related
18  information  that  I  presented  to  Salisbury  &  Ryan
19  was  publicly  available  or  made  available  to  me
20  through  my  personal  contacts  in  Central  Asia  and
21  Russia.
22  Do  you  see  that?
23  A  I  do  see.
24  Q  Who  are  the  personal  contacts  that
25  you're  referring  to  here?


1  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Well,  to  the  extent  that
2  that  invokes  his  research  and  what  he  did  on
3  behalf  of  Salisbury  &  Ryan,  he's  directed  not  to
4  answer  under  26(b)(4)(D).
5  BY  MR.  COGAN:
6  Q  You're  obviously  aware  of  the  fact  that
7  IMR  has  asserted  in  this  proceeding  that  it
8  believes  that  you  organized  the  hacking  of  its
9  computer  systems?
10  You're  aware  of  the  fact  that  it's
11  asserted  that?
12  A  Yeah.  Alleged  that,  yes.
13  Q  And  you  deny  that;  right?
14  A  I  deny  that,  yes.
15  Q  Do  you  have  any  knowledge  at  all
16  concerning  the  hacking  of  IMR's  computer  systems?
17  A  I'm  aware  of  news  articles  which
18  addressed  those  IMR  or  ­­ I  don't  remember  IMR  or
19  Trio  statements,  and  they  said  that  why  would
20  anyone  bother  hacking  them  because  they  are
21  leaking  data.
22  And  there's  a  lot  of  things  I  read  in
23  the  news  reports  that  there  are  a  lot  of  internal
24  documents  and  internal  data  which  was  released  by
25  the  IMR  employees  and  ENRC  employees  or  Trio's


1  employees  which  is  floating  out  there.
2  Q  Other  than  what  you've  read  in
3  newspaper  accounts,  do  you  have  any  knowledge
4  regarding  the  hacking  of  IMR's  or  ENRC's  or  Shaft
5  Sinkers'  computer  systems?
6  A  I'm  not  aware  of  anything.
7  Q  Did  you  have  communications  with  Mark
8  Hollingsworth  ­­ withdrawn.
9  Do  you  know  who  Mark  Hollingsworth  is?
10  A  I  know  Mark  Hollingsworth,  yes.
11  Q  Who  is  he?
12  A  He's  a  journalist,  and  I  think  he  also
13  works  for  K2, intelligence  firm.
14  Q  The  K2  intelligence  firm,  is  that  the
15  firm  you  referred  to  earlier  that  you  thought
16  might  have  been  hacking  your  computers?
17  A  I  have  ­­ I  am  aware  that  they've  been
18  researching  my  persona  and  my  contacts.
19  Q  Well,  there's  a  difference  between
20  researching  your  persona  and  your  contacts  and
21  then  hacking  your  computer  systems.
22  I'm  just  wondering  ­­ you  testified
23  earlier  that  you  suspected  that  K2  may  have  been
24  hacking  your  emails  or  your  telephones.
25  Do  I  have  that  not  right  ­­


1  A  I  ­­
2  Q  ­­ is  that  wrong?
3  A  ­­ was  suspecting  that  someone  is
4  trying  to  hack  my  documents.  If  I  would  know  that
5  it's  K2, I  obviously  would  take  some  legal
6  measures  against  it.  But  I  was  ­­ had  suspicion
7  that  my  data  might  have  been  or  I  was  under
8  observation.
9  Q  Is  Mr.  Hollingsworth  a  friend  of  yours?
10  A  No.
11  Q  Okay.  Do  you  have  a  working
12  relationship  with  him?
13  A  I  met  him  in  the  capacity  ­­ his
14  capacity  as  a  journalist.
15  Q  Okay.  Have  you  ever  asked  him  whether,
16  to  his  knowledge,  K2  was  involved  in  hacking  your
17  emails  or  telephones?
18  A  I  don't  remember  that  conversation.
19  Q  Did  you  ever  have  any  communications
20  with  Mr.  Hollingsworth  related  to  the  work  that
21  you  had  been  engaged  to  do  by  Salisbury  &  Ryan?
22  A  He  approached  me  with  offer  to  work  as
23  a  consulting  expert  on  matters  related  to
24  Kazakhstan.
25  Q  Other  than  his  approach  to  you,  did  you


1  have any communications with him related to either
2  IMR or The Trio or ENRC or Shaft Sinkers?
3  MR. SPERDUTO: With respect to his
4  efforts for Salisbury & Ryan or otherwise?
5  BY MR. COGAN:
6  Q Let's start with respect to your
7  efforts for Salisbury & Ryan.
8  MR. SPERDUTO: And that gets a
9  26(b)(4)(D) direction.
10  Don't answer that one. But you can
11  answer it otherwise.
12  THE WITNESS: Yes.
13  MR. COGAN: All right. Let's do it
14  this way.
15  Will you mark this, please?
16  (Akhmetshin Deposition Exhibit 13 was
17  marked for identification and attached to the
18  transcript.)
19  BY MR. COGAN:
20  Q I'm showing you a document that's been
21  marked Exhibit 13, Bates stamped AKH000016.
22  A Uh­huh.
23  Q Do you recognize this to be an email
24  exchange that you had with Mr. Hollingsworth?
25  A It does look like his email to me.


1  said, and we'll ­­we'll start over.
2  A Okay.
3  Q Did you have ­­other than the email
4  that we're looking at right now, did you have
5  other communications with Mr. Hollingsworth about
6  the lawsuit between EuroChem and IMR?
7  A I might have. I don't remember
8  exactly.
9  Q Okay. Did you provide him with
10  information related to EuroChem or IMR?
11  A He was writing an article. I might
12  have helped him with the article.
13  Q Why?
14  A Mr. Hollingsworth is a very prominent
15  member of London information exchange bazaar.
16  Q So what ­­what does that have to do
17  with why you're helping him?
18  A As a favor ­­he was asking for a
19  favor, and it was possible for me to help him with
20  that favor.
21  Q Did you have any communications with
22  Mr. Hollingsworth in connection with the work that
23  you were doing for Salisbury & Ryan?
24  MR. SPERDUTO: Objection.
25  Not to answer. Rule 26.


1  MR. COGAN: Without even getting into
2  the substance?
3  MR. SPERDUTO: Yeah, because the
4  identity of sources and the research he did and
5  that effort is all protected. As I understand his
6  testimony at this point, his contacts with
7  Mr. Hollingsworth were part of this information
8  exchange he's talked about unrelated to the
9  Salisbury & Ryan representation.
10  MR. COGAN: Will you mark this, please?
11  (Akhmetshin Deposition Exhibit 14 was
12  marked for identification and attached to the
13  transcript.)
14  BY MR. COGAN:
15  Q Mr. Akhmetshin, I'm showing you a
16  document that's been marked Exhibit 14, Bates
17  stamped AKH000028.
18  Do you recall that you sent
19  Mr. Hollingsworth both the official Dutch version
20  and the English translation of the lawsuit that
21  was filed in Amsterdam by ECVK against IMR?
22  A Yes, it appears that way.
23  Q You write, The name of the U.S. lawyer
24  who handles it is Patrick Salisbury.
25  And then you put Mr. Salisbury email.


1  my  pick­up  arrangement  is  on.  I  just  texted
2  before  the  ­­
3  MR.  COGAN:  Off  the  record,  please.
4  THE  VIDEOGRAPHER:  Going  off  the  record
5  at  3:58  p.m.
6  (Recess  ­­ 3:58  p.m.)
7  (After  recess  ­­ 4:12  p.m.)
8  THE  VIDEOGRAPHER:  We  are  back  on  the
9  record  at  4:12  p.m.
10  BY  MR.  COGAN:
11  Q  Mr.  Akhmetshin,  did  you  have
12  communications  with  Simon  Goodley  regarding
13  The  Trio,  IMR,  ENRC  or  Shaft  Sinkers?
14  A  Yes.
15  Q  What  did  you  discuss  with  him?
16  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Is  this  in  connection
17  with  the  Salisbury  &  Ryan  engagement?
18  THE  WITNESS:  Yes,  that's  only  ­­
19  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Pardon  me?
20  THE  WITNESS:  That's  the  only  kind  of
21  context  I  have  ­­
22  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Under  those
23  circumstances,  he's  directed  not  to  answer.  Rule
24  26.
25  (Akhmetshin  Deposition  Exhibit  17  was


1  refers to.
2  He just want to make sure that the
3  documents which he received from me are authentic,
4  and they want to make sure that they are available
5  otherwise so ­­so someone could obtain then
6  independently, but ­­
7  Q You write in response, We'll check with
8  the U.S. lawyer and will get back, Simon.
9  Who is the U.S. lawyer you're referring
10  to there?
11  A Mr. Salisbury, I think.
12  Q Does this email refresh your
13  recollection that you were providing Mr. Goodley
14  with information in connection with the work that
15  you were doing for Mr. Salisbury?
16  A I was providing Mr. Goodley with
17  publicly available documents. They were filings
18  in the Netherlands court.
19  Q Does this email refresh your
20  recollection that you were providing Mr. Goodley
21  with documents in connection with the work that
22  you were doing for Mr. Salisbury?
23  MR. SPERDUTO: Asked and answered.
24  Move on. You just said that, and he answered
25  that.


1  MR.  COGAN:  No,  I  asked  that  question,
2  and  he  answered  a  different  question.
3  MR.  SPERDUTO:  No,  you're  disappointed
4  in  his  answer,  and  you're  trying  again.  You  don't
5  get  two  dips.  Move  on.
6  BY  MR.  COGAN:
7  Q  Okay.  You  can  answer  the  question.
8  MR.  SPERDUTO:  No,  you  can't.
9  MR.  COGAN:  So  you're  instructing  the
10  witness  not  to  answer  ­­
11  MR.  SPERDUTO:  You  can  ­­
12  MR.  COGAN:  ­­ that  question?
13  MR.  SPERDUTO:  ­­ read  back  his  answer.
14  He  already  answered  that.  Exactly  the  same  words.
15  MR.  COGAN:  Are  you  instructing  him  not
16  to  answer  my  question?
17  MR.  SPERDUTO:  I'm  instructing  him  not
18  to  answer  it  again.  He  answered  that  in  exactly
19  the  same  words.
20  MR.  COGAN:  What's  the  basis  for  your
21  instruction?
22  MR.  SPERDUTO:  Asked  and  answered.  He
23  answered  it.
24  MR.  COGAN:  You  and  I  both  know  that's
25  not  an  appropriate  instruction.


1  MR. SPERDUTO: You're trying to get a
2  different answer. That's all. You and I both
3  know that.
4  I didn't hear ­­can you tell me what
5  the difference is in that question and the
6  question immediately before that?
7  MR. COGAN: It's identi­­­
8  MR. SPERDUTO: It's almost ­­
9  MR. COGAN: It was an identical
10  question because I didn't get a response to the
11  question I asked. I'll ask it ­­
12  MR. SPERDUTO: You did get a response.
13  You didn't like the response.
14  MR. COGAN: I'll ask the question again
15  and you can either instruct or not.
16  BY MR. COGAN:
17  Q Does this document refresh your
18  recollection as to whether you were providing
19  Mr. Goodley with information in connection with
20  the work that you were doing for Mr. Salisbury?
21  MR. SPERDUTO: Asked and answered a
22  third time.
23  BY MR. COGAN:
24  Q You can answer.
25  A I did not write these documents saying

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