Exhibit 13: Deposition of Marcel Poirier (Dkt. 567-13, S.D. Fla.)
Summary
Exhibit 13 (Document 567-13) in Case 1:21-md-02989-CMA, entered on the FLSD docket June 7, 2023, is a 201-page transcript, marked confidential, of the videotaped deposition of Marcel Poirier, taken by Defendant on April 17, 2023 at the offices of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP before Todd DeSimone of Veritext Legal Solutions. Laurence M. Rosen of The Rosen Law Firm appears for Plaintiffs and Scott Cohen and Shuyu Sun of Cravath for Defendants, with Carlos King as videographer. Scott Cohen opens the examination for the Robinhood defendants, and at the close at 4:05 p.m. Mr. Rosen designates the transcript confidential.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
Cite this document
“Exhibit 13: Deposition of Marcel Poirier (Dkt. 567-13).”
Original at archive.org. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2023-06-07-covid-era-misc-a2b5bf23-1/
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Case 1:21-md-02989-CMA Document 567-13 Entered on FLSD Docket 06/07/2023 Page 1 of
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Exhibit 13
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2 ** C O N F I D E N T I A L **
3 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
4 FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
5 Case No. 1:21-MD-2989-CMA
6 -----------------------------------x
7 IN RE JANUARY 2021 SHORT SQUEEZE
8 TRADING LITIGATION
9 -----------------------------------x
10 April 17, 2023
10:07 a.m.
11
12
13 Videotaped Deposition of MARCEL
14 POIRIER, taken by Defendant, pursuant to
15 Notice, held at the offices of Cravath,
16 Swaine & Moore LLP, 825 Eighth Avenue,
17 before Todd DeSimone, a Registered
18 Professional Reporter and Notary Public of
19 the State of New York.
20
21
22
23
24
25
Veritext Legal Solutions
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2 A P P E A R A N C E S :
3 THE ROSEN LAW FIRM
275 Madison Avenue
4 40th Floor
New York, New York 10016
5 Attorneys for Plaintiffs
BY: LAURENCE M. ROSEN, ESQ.
6 lrosen@rosenlegal.com
7
8
9 CRAVATH, SWAINE & MOORE LLP
825 Eighth Avenue
10 New York, New York 10019
Attorneys for Defendants
11 BY: SCOTT COHEN, ESQ.
scohen@cravath.com
12 SHUYU SUN, ESQ.
ssun@cravath.com
13
14
15
16 ALSO PRESENT:
CARLOS KING, Videographer
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
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1 POIRIER - CONFIDENTIAL
2 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Good morning.
3 We are going on the record at 10:07
4 a.m. on April 17th, 2023.
5 Please note that the
6 microphones are sensitive and may pick
7 up whispering and private
8 conversations. Please mute your phones
9 at this time. Audio and video
10 recording will continue to take place
11 unless all parties agree to go off the
12 record.
13 This is media unit number one
14 of the video-recorded deposition of
15 Mr. Marcel Poirier taken by counsel for
16 defendants in the matter of In Re
17 January 2021 Short Squeeze Trading
18 Litigation filed in the United States
19 District Court, Southern District of
20 New York, case number 1:21-MD-2989-CMA.
21 The location of this deposition is 825
22 Eighth Avenue, New York, New York.
23 My name is Carlos King
24 representing Veritext and I'm the
25 videographer. The court reporter is
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2 Mr. Todd DeSimone also representing
3 Veritext. I'm not authorized to
4 administer an oath, I'm not related to
5 any party in this action, nor am I
6 financially interested in the outcome.
7 If there are any objections to
8 the proceedings, please state them at
9 the time of your appearance. Counsel
10 and all present, including remotely,
11 will now state their appearance and
12 affiliations for the record, beginning
13 with noticing attorney.
14 MR. COHEN: Scott Cohen from
15 Cravath Swaine & Moore representing
16 defendants, and I'm joined by my
17 colleague Shuyu Sun.
18 MR. ROSEN: I'm Larry Rosen.
19 I'm representing Marcel Poirier and the
20 other class members.
21 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Can the
22 court reporter please swear in or
23 affirm the witness.
24 * * *.
25
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2 M A R C E L P O I R I E R,
3 called as a witness, having been first duly
4 sworn, was examined and testified
5 as follows:
6 EXAMINATION BY MR. COHEN:
7 Q. Good morning, Mr. Poirier. My
8 name is Scott Cohen. I'm an attorney from
9 Cravath Swaine & Moore and we represent the
10 Robinhood defendants.
11 Can you please state your full
12 name for the record.
13 A. Marcel Poirier.
14 Q. And you live in Canada?
15 A. Yeah.
16 Q. Did you come here from Canada?
17 A. Yeah.
18 Q. Have you been to the United
19 States before?
20 A. Yeah.
21 Q. Have you been to the United
22 States before for this case?
23 A. Yeah.
24 Q. Well, welcome back. You are
25 fluent in both English and French?
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2 A. Yeah, but mostly French, so
3 there might be some words that I will have
4 a hard time.
5 Q. Okay.
6 A. I'm more of a visual person.
7 So I might have to see your question if
8 that's appropriate. I will try my best.
9 It shouldn't be a problem.
10 Q. Sounds good. If there is
11 anything you don't understand, please let
12 me know and I will try to rephrase it to
13 help you out.
14 Have you ever been deposed
15 before?
16 A. No.
17 Q. So in that case I will go over
18 some preliminary matters, some ground
19 rules.
20 Do you understand that you have
21 been sworn in and the testimony that you
22 are giving today will be under oath?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. Do you have any condition that
25 would prevent you from providing true and
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2 complete testimony today?
3 A. No.
4 Q. The court reporter is taking
5 down everything we say, so it is important
6 that you provide verbal responses to any
7 questions that I ask. For example, you
8 should make sure to say yes and no rather
9 than nodding or shaking your head. Do you
10 understand?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. Also, during the course of the
13 deposition Mr. Rosen may object to the form
14 of a question that is asked. That
15 objection is just for the record and you
16 should still answer the question unless
17 your counsel instructs you not to answer it
18 on the basis of privilege. Do you
19 understand?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. As I said before, if you don't
22 understand something that I've said, just
23 feel free to tell me that and I will try to
24 clarify.
25 A. Yeah.
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2 Q. And if you don't hear the
3 question fully, let me know and I will
4 repeat it. Does that sound okay?
5 A. Yeah.
6 Q. And if you would allow me to
7 finish each question before you begin to
8 answer, I will be sure to let you finish
9 answering before I begin my next question.
10 Does that make sense?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And that's so that the court
13 reporter can get a clear record, so we are
14 not talking over each other.
15 And if you need to take a break
16 at any time, just let me know and I will
17 try to find a good place to stop. I only
18 ask that you wait until there is no
19 question pending currently before asking to
20 take a break.
21 A. Okay.
22 Q. Did you take any steps to
23 prepare for this deposition today?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. What were they?
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2 A. We just chitchatted a little
3 bit.
4 Q. With Mr. Rosen?
5 A. Yeah.
6 Q. Okay. Anybody else?
7 A. No.
8 Q. When did you talk with
9 Mr. Rosen?
10 A. Just ten minutes before.
11 Q. And that's the only time you
12 spoke about this deposition?
13 A. No. Today?
14 Q. At all, anytime leading up to
15 this deposition.
16 A. No, we talked before.
17 Q. How long ago?
18 A. We talked about it yesterday.
19 Q. Was that the first time you
20 spoke about this deposition?
21 A. No.
22 Q. When was the first time you
23 discussed this deposition?
24 A. A few weeks back we had a
25 meeting.
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2 Q. How long was that?
3 A. A few weeks ago.
4 Q. How long did the meeting last?
5 A. Maybe a half hour, an hour.
6 Q. And how many meetings have you
7 had with Mr. Rosen since then?
8 A. Since that meeting? Just one.
9 Q. And that was the one --
10 A. Yesterday.
11 Q. -- yesterday? You spoke for 30
12 minutes you said?
13 A. Not yesterday. That was the
14 first meeting.
15 Q. Okay. Was anybody else present
16 at any of those meetings?
17 A. Yeah.
18 Q. Who?
19 A. The whole class representatives
20 and Michael Cohen -- yesterday was Michael
21 Cohen also with him.
22 Q. Did you speak with the other
23 class representatives?
24 A. No. I just listened to the
25 meeting.
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2 Q. Did they speak about their
3 depositions?
4 A. No.
5 Q. Have you reviewed any documents
6 in preparation for today?
7 A. Yeah.
8 Q. And are those the ones in front
9 of you?
10 A. Yeah.
11 Q. Okay. Are there any markings
12 on them?
13 A. Markings? No.
14 Q. Have you written on them?
15 A. No.
16 Q. Are these documents that you've
17 used to jog your memory about the case?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. And what are those documents?
20 A. The complaint. I reviewed the
21 complaint and the certification.
22 Q. Okay.
23 MR. COHEN: Are all of these
24 produced documents?
25 MR. ROSEN: Yeah. Those are
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2 all stuff that's been produced in
3 discovery, I mean, or filed with the
4 court. But, you know, nothing -- no
5 surprises.
6 MR. COHEN: Okay.
7 Q. Did you review anybody's
8 deposition transcripts?
9 A. No.
10 Q. You said you have never been
11 deposed before, correct?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. Have you ever been a plaintiff
14 in a different lawsuit?
15 A. No.
16 Q. Have you ever sued anybody
17 before?
18 A. No.
19 Q. Have you ever been sued?
20 A. No.
21 Q. Has any company that you've
22 been involved with been sued?
23 A. No.
24 Q. So then I take it you have also
25 never been a class representative?
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2 A. Yes, I have never been.
3 Q. Were you ever interested in
4 joining another lawsuit?
5 A. No.
6 Q. You never -- you never
7 researched the possibility of joining
8 another lawsuit?
9 A. I tried -- I tried to find the
10 right one for me.
11 Q. What do you mean by that?
12 A. That I was qualified for.
13 Q. So you are speaking in the
14 context of the Robinhood case?
15 A. Yeah.
16 Q. So there were other possible
17 Robinhood cases that you looked into
18 joining?
19 A. There could be, yeah, I think
20 there is another Robinhood that got
21 disqualified.
22 Q. Was that a Canadian case?
23 A. No, a California case.
24 Q. What were the claims of that
25 other case?
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2 A. Collusion.
3 Q. Collusion. And why wasn't that
4 a right fit for you?
5 A. I think it got disqualified.
6 Q. So did you try to join it
7 first?
8 A. No. I don't remember, like it
9 was probably already disqualified by the
10 time I found it. This is the only one that
11 is going forward.
12 Q. And why was it important to you
13 to find a case against Robinhood to join?
14 A. I think I didn't do anything
15 wrong that day and something bad happened.
16 Q. In any other way have you
17 participated in a class action lawsuit?
18 A. No.
19 Q. Mr. Poirier, I'm showing you
20 what's been marked Exhibit 123 in this
21 case.
22 (Defendant's Exhibit 123 marked
23 for identification.)
24 Q. Can you identify this document?
25 A. My LinkedIn profile.
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2 Q. Based on what you see, does
3 this fairly represent your educational and
4 work experience?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. Turning to the second page on
7 the back of the sheet, are you currently
8 employed at Gypsum West?
9 A. No.
10 Q. Where are you currently
11 employed?
12 A. Fundy Drywall. This is who I
13 worked for last year. I have been -- I had
14 a pinched nerve, so I have been on medical
15 leave.
16 Q. I'm sorry to hear that. When
17 did you pinch your nerve, last year?
18 A. Yeah.
19 Q. So you are at Fundy Drywall.
20 What position do you hold there?
21 A. As a journeyman.
22 Q. What do you do as a journeyman?
23 A. Drywaller and steel stud
24 framing and T-bar.
25 Q. Do you have any administrative
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2 roles in that job?
3 A. No.
4 Q. And is that a full-time job?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. Is your time at Fundy Drywall
7 the only thing that you have done since you
8 were at Gypsum West?
9 A. No.
10 Q. What did you do before you were
11 at Fundy Drywall?
12 A. Before I was self-employed,
13 Poirier Drywall. That's my company name.
14 Q. That was quite a bit earlier
15 though, correct?
16 A. I had the company since 2006
17 and I still had it until last year, I think
18 I closed it.
19 Q. Okay. Why did you close it?
20 A. They were all mixed up. It was
21 easier to work for -- with a subcontractor
22 number, so I opened a subcontractor number,
23 so I didn't need the company no more.
24 Q. What's your salary at Fundy?
25 A. Well, I got hurt. If I work
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2 the whole year, it would be like
3 Q. And you don't work the whole
4 year because of your pinched nerve?
5 A. Yeah, and now technically I
6 could go back or I could be looking for
7 work, because it still hurts, I have --
8 like it should be like light duty right
9 now, and I don't know if they have that for
10 me at the moment. Drywall is a pretty
11 heavy, physical job.
12 Q. Right.
13 A. So there might be some back and
14 forth there. There could be jobs I could
15 be available for, but I wanted to focus on
16 this first.
17 Q. On this lawsuit?
18 A. Yeah.
19 Q. So before you closed up shop at
20 Poirier Drywall, you were at Gypsum West;
21 is that correct?
22 A. I worked, when I first got to
23 Calgary, there is a guy who wanted to start
24 Gypsum West, and I would have been an
25 estimator for him, but I only lasted two
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2 weeks. He changed his mind and I found
3 another job, so I started working for
4 myself.
5 Q. So when it says on your
6 LinkedIn profile page that you worked at
7 Gypsum West from September 2014 to present,
8 that's purely because you forgot to update
9 this page?
10 A. Yeah. I think LinkedIn is a
11 waste of time because -- I don't know. It
12 never worked for me, LinkedIn never worked
13 for me. So it is supposed to help you to
14 find a job. It never did.
15 Q. Okay. Well, we'll run through
16 the rest of what's on here quickly so we
17 don't overly prolong it. But before you
18 were at Gypsum West, it looks like you were
19 at Ocean Construction, right?
20 A. Is it here? Oh, yeah, yeah.
21 Q. And you were a project
22 coordinator there?
23 A. He is a guy from Saskatchewan
24 and it just looks better on your resumé if
25 I put coordinator.
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2 Q. So you did this to embellish
3 your resumé?
4 A. Yeah, to help me find -- I
5 wanted to be an estimator for a long time,
6 I'm good with numbers, and if you don't
7 have the experience, they don't hire you.
8 But they always have a nephew that is ready
9 to take it.
10 Q. So you put project coordinator
11 on your resumé even though that's not your
12 job so that you could find better work
13 opportunities?
14 A. Yeah, because I graduated as a
15 civil engineer, so coordinating a job site
16 as a project manager shouldn't be that
17 hard.
18 Q. And then before you were at
19 Ocean Construction, you were at Francis
20 Construction?
21 A. Yeah.
22 Q. What did you do for Francis
23 Construction?
24 A. We built a high-rise building
25 for them, the same thing, steel stud and
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2 drywall. We always, as a journeyman, you
3 are always helping the foremen for other
4 trades and timelines, so the coordinating
5 part is not -- is pretty much in the
6 ballpark. It is not lying.
7 Q. Was your role at Francis full
8 time or part time?
9 A. I think, again, it was full
10 time, but it is construction, once the
11 building is done, you're not guaranteed for
12 another job site. So they always say they
13 have four or five years of work coming up,
14 so you finish the first one for them, but
15 after that usually something happens and
16 you have to find another guy.
17 Q. I understand.
18 A. So at the moment it is always
19 full time, but it's not for life. I never
20 found a company that had 25 years of work
21 and said you are going to be here and you
22 are going to retire with us and everything.
23 Q. And all the while you were with
24 Ocean and Francis and Gypsum West, you also
25 had your own company?
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2 A. On and off. I think I reopened
3 the company in 2015. The financial crisis
4 in 2008 kind of made a dent, so I stopped
5 using it, and I moved back out west and I
6 reopened it in 2015.
7 Q. What were you doing during
8 COVID?
9 A. COVID, trading mostly stocks.
10 Q. Because construction was kind
11 of on a halt there at that time?
12 A. Yeah. Well, it wasn't safe. I
13 moved back from Calgary to home, New
14 Brunswick, and I had made a lot of money
15 with Tesla, so I didn't have to go to work
16 right away.
17 Q. What did you do with Tesla?
18 Oh, you invested in stock in Tesla?
19 A. Yeah.
20 Q. What made you invest in Tesla?
21 A. I think that's the future, like
22 it had a lot of potential. Elon Musk is a
23 genius. All that kind of stuff. It is
24 almost like a no-brainer.
25 Q. You are a fan of his too?
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2 A. Yeah, yeah. He is -- he is
3 entertaining.
4 Q. Do you follow him on social
5 media?
6 A. Yeah. It took me a while, like
7 I don't know what year, it was like I like
8 the company, I like the car, and then out
9 of nowhere, I'm like, you know, I'm not a
10 stock expert, but CEOs and their names,
11 like nobody knows who they are, so at some
12 point I'm like oh, yeah, I should Google
13 who is the CEO of Tesla, and Elon Musk
14 popped up, and then you start to learn a
15 little bit more about him.
16 And even like Jeff Bezos, I had
17 no clue who Jeff Bezos was. Amazon was a
18 great company too, and I started like
19 getting more interested in the stock market
20 because it seemed like everything was like
21 so obvious the last ten years, like
22 Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, like the FAANG
23 stocks, like I was using all products, I
24 was using it, and it was just starting, you
25 know.
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2 Q. So Elon Musk is a visionary,
3 right?
4 A. Yeah.
5 Q. Does he ever give investment
6 advice?
7 A. No.
8 Q. Does he ever comment on certain
9 companies?
10 A. I don't remember.
11 Q. If he did, would you listen?
12 MR. ROSEN: Calls for
13 speculation.
14 Q. You can answer.
15 A. No, I can make up my own mind.
16 Q. Before Francis Construction,
17 you were at Acadian Steel Stud Limited?
18 A. I don't see it. Is it on the
19 second page? Okay, yeah, I see it.
20 Q. And you were there for a year,
21 right?
22 A. Acadian Steel Stud. I don't
23 remember, no. There would be like another
24 boss before Acadian. I just know the guy
25 that works for Acadian. I went for an
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2 interview with him and he is from my
3 hometown, but we just talked once. It is a
4 good company.
5 Q. Okay. But this year period,
6 January 2011 through December 2011, do you
7 see that?
8 A. Yeah.
9 Q. That was -- that was actually
10 just one conversation you had with
11 Mr. Acadian?
12 A. They had a job site, so we
13 worked -- I worked for another guy that
14 worked for Acadian. So technically like he
15 didn't hire me.
16 Q. I see. And then before that
17 you were a journeyman with KHS&S
18 Contractors?
19 A. Yeah. There was a project in
20 Edmonton and their company website looks
21 good, so that's why I put it there.
22 Q. And all of these jobs are
23 relatively short periods, correct?
24 A. Yeah.
25 Q. Is there a reason for that?
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2 A. It is construction.
3 Q. That's just a common pattern in
4 construction, career construction workers?
5 A. Yeah.
6 Q. I'm showing you what's been
7 marked Exhibit 124 now.
8 (Defendant's Exhibit 124 marked
9 for identification.)
10 Q. Can you identify this document?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And it doesn't look like this
13 resumé mentions any of the jobs you have
14 listed on LinkedIn, right?
15 A. No, this was before I think,
16 before LinkedIn was popular.
17 Q. So this resumé hasn't been
18 updated since 2011?
19 A. No. Well, you could put
20 Poirier Drywall until 2022, 2020.
21 Q. Is there a reason you put 2011
22 instead of present?
23 A. It would have been smarter to
24 put present, yeah. I never used my resumé.
25 I never applied for a job using this. They
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2 asked me my experience and then they have
3 to believe me. After the first two weeks,
4 if you can do the job, you keep it. In
5 construction resumés are a waste of time.
6 If you can't do the job, you can't do it.
7 Q. Well, other than it saying 2011
8 instead of present, does this resumé fairly
9 and accurately represent your work and
10 educational experience up until the time --
11 A. This seems like my first
12 resumé. Sorry, I should have let you
13 finish.
14 Q. That's okay. Thanks.
15 A. This seems to be my first
16 resumé after college.
17 Q. And just to touch back on
18 Poirier Drywall, you started this business?
19 A. Yeah, me and my twin brother.
20 Q. Okay. What made you want to
21 start it?
22 A. In Alberta, they wanted us to
23 be self-employed. It was easier for them
24 to be a subcontractor. I think it is for
25 in case we get hurt or something like that,
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2 so they can't take the blame.
3 Q. I see. And as the co-founder
4 of this business, you both worked on
5 drywall and ran the company, correct?
6 A. Yeah.
7 Q. What did running the company
8 involve?
9 A. At first I was doing the
10 paychecks, like transferring the money. I
11 tried to find an accountant to do the taxes
12 and stuff, and my twin brother was more --
13 more of a construction worker and I had
14 the -- I had the education. Anything with
15 paperwork, I tried to do it, because I had
16 never drywalled before. He is the one that
17 taught me the trade.
18 Q. Your brother?
19 A. Yeah. So when we first got
20 there, I was just a civil engineer who
21 never worked a day -- well, I had worked
22 with the other places, but never
23 residential construction.
24 Q. So when you were there, you
25 managed payroll and did your bookkeeping?
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2 A. Yeah.
3 Q. And what exactly did that
4 entail?
5 A. Just give the paychecks to my
6 brother, and we had two guys at some point,
7 so we paid them, subcontractor. We would
8 invoice our bosses and we would make sure
9 that there was money in our account to pay
10 the taxes at the end of the year, cell
11 phone bills and gas and stuff.
12 Q. How long did you have those two
13 employees?
14 A. Not too long, maybe like one
15 year, not even. It was booming before the
16 2008 crisis.
17 Q. Were there any risks related to
18 running your business?
19 MR. ROSEN: Objection, vague.
20 Q. Do you understand the question?
21 A. Yeah. It felt like a safe bet,
22 because Alberta was really busy and we were
23 willing to go anywhere, any location where
24 there was work. So it was a smart move
25 until 2008. The plan was -- well, we
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2 figured that there will always be work
3 somewhere; Toronto, Alberta, Vancouver, the
4 big cities. I never guessed that we would
5 have a financial global crisis, and that
6 changed everything.
7 Q. Well, it sounds like you were
8 pretty adventurous, traveling to all of
9 those cities, setting up shop?
10 A. Yeah, it was an adventure for
11 sure, cowboys almost.
12 Q. Cowboys?
13 A. Yeah.
14 Q. In what way?
15 A. I think we were were 22 at the
16 time, 23, and I had one Visa credit card
17 with $1,000 and my brother had another
18 Visa, and just crossing the country and
19 stuff, it cost a lot of money, the first
20 month's rent and all that kind of stuff.
21 So I think a lot of people thought we were
22 not going to make it and we would have to
23 crawl back home and say we need money to
24 come back, but it worked out.
25 Q. No risk/no reward, right?
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2 A. Yeah.
3 Q. On an average year at Poirier
4 Drywall, how much would you earn in
5 profits?
6 A. I think the company made --
7 well, we were four workers the first year
8 and, you know, it was probably close to
9 200,000, but there is no profits, like
10 income.
11 Q. So you are saying the business
12 itself earned $200,000?
13 A. Yeah, and if you paid me, my
14 brother and the two workers, there is not
15 much left. And I don't think it was
16 200,000, it was probably less than 200,000.
17 More than 100 but less than 200.
18 Q. And that was the average over
19 the course of its --
20 A. Well, we stayed there two and a
21 half years I think. It was pretty busy,
22 until 2008.
23 Q. And what did you do in 2008?
24 A. I moved back home, and that was
25 a mistake. I should have stayed in
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2 Calgary.
3 Q. Because of better opportunities
4 there?
5 A. It never stops. It is like New
6 York, it never stops. There is always
7 something. They have a lot of money. It
8 is a province, so they have oil. It is a
9 rich province.
10 Q. Any other jobs not mentioned on
11 your resumé?
12 MR. ROSEN: You mean every
13 construction job he has ever taken or
14 where he has been an employee of
15 somebody else?
16 Q. Any period of time where you
17 worked for a company, you worked for a
18 drywall company or a construction company.
19 A. Well, Poirier Drywall worked
20 for a lot of people.
21 Q. As a subcontractor?
22 A. Yeah.
23 Q. That's not what I'm talking
24 about. Are there -- are there any other
25 periods of employment for other
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2 subcontractors or other contractors that's
3 not represented on this resumé or on the
4 LinkedIn profile we just looked at?
5 A. I might have worked for TDL
6 Drywall in Calgary, and it was payroll for
7 the first two weeks and then I switched it
8 to Poirier Drywall. That's when I reopened
9 the company. I don't see it here.
10 Q. Okay. That's okay. So all
11 of -- all of your work experience is in the
12 context of drywall or construction or
13 lather?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. And what is lather?
16 A. It is the trades, drywall
17 taping and steel stud T-bar.
18 Q. So going back to your LinkedIn
19 page, you have a CET diploma in civil
20 engineering?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. And CET stands for certified
23 engineering technologist, correct?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. Do you remember the courses you
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2 took in order to get that degree?
3 A. Yeah, some of it, yeah. It is
4 a tough course. It was for two years, but
5 now I think it is three years.
6 Q. And what kind of classes were
7 you taking?
8 A. Project management, estimating,
9 statistics, like communication classes.
10 There was a computer class, auto CAD,
11 blueprint reading. That's the first time I
12 used Google was in college.
13 Q. That was from 2003 to 2005,
14 right?
15 A. Yeah.
16 Q. So that makes sense.
17 You got that degree from it
18 says NBCC, is that New Brunswick Community
19 College?
20 A. Yeah.
21 Q. And how did you become
22 interested in a construction career in the
23 first place?
24 A. I was good with numbers and
25 blueprint reading seems it was easy for me
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2 to understand.
3 Q. So it sounds like through your
4 education and work experience you gained at
5 the very least a basic knowledge of
6 accounting and bookkeeping practices?
7 A. Yeah.
8 Q. Is it also fair to say you
9 needed to know how to process complex
10 information?
11 MR. ROSEN: Objection, vague.
12 Q. Do you understand the question?
13 A. No.
14 Q. Do you have any other
15 educational credentials or licenses?
16 A. No.
17 Q. So you don't have any licenses
18 or background in investing or finance?
19 A. Well, I drove for Uber for one
20 year on my spare time.
21 Q. When was that?
22 A. So I got my Uber license in
23 Calgary, 2018 maybe. I wanted to know a
24 little bit more how the company works and
25 stuff, since I liked the stock market a
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2 little bit, so I wanted to know if it was a
3 good deal.
4 Q. So you did that for about a
5 year?
6 A. Yeah. Well, I don't know, I
7 tried it out. I had the license maybe for
8 a couple of years. It cost me like a
9 thousand bucks, and, yeah, I just used it
10 after work or the weekends and stuff, and
11 it wasn't for me. But with electric cars,
12 you could maybe make a living out of it.
13 Maybe you could quit your job. But you
14 can't quit and work for Uber right now in
15 Calgary.
16 Q. So what do you mean you can
17 make a living from electrical cars?
18 A. Well, I would wait for somebody
19 at the airport and I would drive, you know,
20 20 or 40 minutes, and once you drop them
21 off, there is nobody there waiting for
22 another drive to go back to the airport, so
23 I wasted like a lot of gas, and at the end
24 of the day maybe made a hundred bucks. So
25 at the end of the month it helps so much
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2 with the payments, like $400 extra money,
3 but the wear and tear on the truck, it is
4 not enough, and you have to pay for gas.
5 Q. I was going to ask, I didn't
6 realize you would have to pay for gas as an
7 Uber driver.
8 A. Yeah. It is good for them,
9 they take 20 percent or 30 percent on that
10 charge, like an Airbnb and stuff.
11 Q. All right. I want to show you
12 what's been previously marked as Exhibit 2
13 in this case. This is a letter you counsel
14 previously provided in this action on
15 February 27th, 2023 that lists social media
16 handles that you've used. Do you recall
17 ever seeing this before?
18 A. This document?
19 Q. Yes.
20 A. No, it's the first time.
21 Q. Did anybody ask you about your
22 social media handles and accounts?
23 A. Yeah, I gave -- I gave it all
24 to the law firm.
25 Q. And do you remember about when
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2 that was?
3 A. In January, February.
4 Q. So if you turn to page 3, you
5 will see a box with your name.
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. So let's just run through these
8 accounts quickly. You have a Facebook
9 account, correct?
10 A. Yeah.
11 Q. And your user name is
12
13 A. I think so, yeah.
14 Q. Do you ever use Facebook to
15 research the stock market?
16 A. No.
17 Q. Do you ever use it to gain
18 insight on investment strategies?
19 A. No. Maybe lately I added a few
20 companies, Androids in Canada and stuff,
21 but I don't log in on Facebook that much.
22 So there is a couple of companies that I
23 want to -- I just added for fun.
24 Q. Do you ever post anything
25 related to investing on Facebook?
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2 A. No.
3 Q. Do you ever delete posts on
4 Facebook?
5 A. Yeah, probably.
6 Q. Why would you delete something?
7 A. Privacy. I like my privacy.
8 Sometimes it's funny the first day and then
9 the next day it looks stupid.
10 Q. I understand. But you've never
11 deleted anything related to investing?
12 A. No.
13 Q. The next one on the list is
14 Instagram. Do you have an Instagram
15 account?
16 A. Yeah.
17 Q. And your handle is
18 ?
19 A. Yeah.
20 Q. Is this the only Instagram
21 account you have?
22 A. Yeah.
23 Q. And have you ever posted or
24 commented on that account?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. And this is a private account,
3 correct?
4 A. Yeah.
5 Q. Nobody publicly can see it
6 unless you've brought them in to see it?
7 A. Yeah, I hope so. But there is
8 a back door though. You can if you want
9 to.
10 Q. How do you do that?
11 A. If you hashtag something, I
12 think it is a back door. I'm not 100
13 percent sure.
14 Q. Why do you keep it private?
15 A. Well, like Facebook and stuff,
16 I thought there was a lot of jealousy and
17 negativity. I don't know, I felt like it
18 was giving me bad luck, so I hated it, and
19 I hate LinkedIn too.
20 Q. Do you ever use Instagram to
21 research the stock market?
22 A. Lately I added, it's getting
23 better, that was the first one, it was not
24 the first one there, but now it is
25 getting -- CNBC has an Instagram account
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2 now and other stuff, so I have been adding,
3 I have been looking for dividend stocks,
4 and that's what I added lately.
5 Q. By dividend stocks, you mean
6 companies that you can invest in and they
7 will pay a dividend at regular periods?
8 A. Yeah, and they have cool
9 graphs, like Warren Buffett's type of
10 stocks, and the best ones in the last five
11 years, the top ones, the top 20 ones and
12 stuff like that, and I'm a more visual
13 person, so one photo, you don't need to --
14 you don't need to read ten pages to
15 understand, they have graphs.
16 Q. So that's why Instagram is
17 good, it has photos and graphs that you can
18 see?
19 A. Yeah, because I'm -- I'm a
20 really visual person, and searching on the
21 internet and finding takes a lot of time.
22 Yeah, if there is -- if there is numbers
23 attached to a photo, I like to see it.
24 Q. And that's -- that's the type
25 of research that you do?
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2 A. It is simpler, yeah.
3 Q. Okay. So you said over the
4 last few years Instagram has gotten better
5 at providing this type of investment
6 information?
7 MR. ROSEN: Objection. Are you
8 reiterating his testimony? Are you
9 saying that's what he said? Or are you
10 asking him if that's what he said?
11 Because it is confusing.
12 Q. Am I correct that you said
13 before that over the last few years --
14 A. I think so, it is getting more
15 popular, but that's what I'm -- I'm the one
16 that is searching. You would need the
17 people that are posting it to see if it is
18 going out higher, more followers I guess.
19 Q. Right.
20 A. But just like before it was
21 just like amateurs, now it seems it is more
22 professional type of, it is getting free
23 advertisement I guess.
24 Q. So that's the last five years
25 would you say?
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2 A. I don't think so. I think it
3 has only been two years.
4 Q. Two years, 2021?
5 A. Yeah. I think -- well, the
6 first one was CNBC.
7 Q. When was that?
8 A. I think during COVID.
9 Q. During COVID?
10 A. I think so, yeah.
11 Q. So 2020 to 2021?
12 A. Yeah.
13 Q. Have you ever deleted any --
14 A. No, the dividend ones is like
15 after 2021. It is like last year, in 2022.
16 Q. And CNBC only does dividend?
17 A. No, they post -- they post like
18 their topic of the week and stuff.
19 Q. Were they doing that before
20 they were doing dividends?
21 A. Dividends are separate
22 accounts. It is different type of people.
23 Yeah, it is nothing to do with CNBC.
24 Q. So is it fair to say that CNBC
25 and news sites like it were starting to
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2 utilize Instagram for investment
3 information to put up investment
4 information during COVID?
5 A. Yeah, I think so. I think it
6 started during COVID.
7 Q. Have you ever deleted posts off
8 of Instagram?
9 A. I probably deleted, but every
10 time you update it, I think it comes back.
11 So you can't really delete anything in
12 social media I think. It always comes back
13 every time you update your phone.
14 Q. I didn't know that.
15 A. If you delete it on your phone
16 and you go on your laptop, I don't think
17 you delete it on your laptop, because you
18 didn't update the same software -- the same
19 update.
20 Q. So it's not synchronized?
21 A. I don't think so.
22 Q. Do you ever delete investment
23 related information off of Instagram?
24 A. No. No, I just save it. I
25 just try to save it. Maybe one day I'll
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2 have time to look at it.
3 Q. You save it as it pops up on
4 your news feed?
5 A. Yeah.
6 Q. Do you have a TikTok account?
7 A. Yeah.
8 Q. And that's the account listed
9 here?
10 A. Yeah.
11 Q.
12 A. Yeah,
13 Q. Is that the only TikTok account
14 you use?
15 A. Yeah.
16 Q. Have you ever posted or
17 commented on TikTok?
18 A. No. That's not for me. I just
19 wanted to see what was going on.
20 Q. It is a very young site?
21 A. A lot of dancing and stuff.
22 I'm not a dancer.
23 Q. Do you ever use TikTok to
24 research the stock market?
25 A. No. I didn't -- I don't think
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2 I have ever seen one before. I might not
3 be following the right people.
4 Q. Let's go to YouTube. Do you
5 have a YouTube account?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. And is this handle
8 your handle?
9 A. I think so, yeah.
10 Q. Is this the only YouTube
11 account you use?
12 A. I think so, yeah.
13 Q. And have you ever posted or
14 commented from this account?
15 A. No.
16 Q. Do you ever use YouTube to
17 research the stock market?
18 A. Yeah. I listen to opinions of
19 other people, and that's the same thing, it
20 is getting more popular now. Everybody
21 thinks they are an expert, so it's
22 entertaining.
23 Q. So you watch videos of people
24 who post about investing?
25 A. Yeah. I try to learn the more
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2 that I can, and YouTube is a big part of
3 it. I think it is great.
4 Q. Do you find the videos
5 trustworthy?
6 A. Well, maybe back then. Now
7 I'm -- now I don't think you can believe
8 anything. Anything you read on the
9 internet, you can't believe it. You can
10 only believe the numbers.
11 Q. What do you mean by "back
12 then"?
13 A. Well, like I believe
14 everything -- I'm not a liar, so when
15 somebody says something, I'm like oh, he's
16 honest.
17 Q. But is there a time period back
18 then when you believed what people said?
19 A. Well, before Robinhood.
20 Q. So leading up to when Robinhood
21 imposed its restrictions?
22 A. Yeah.
23 Q. You were generally trusting of
24 the sources there?
25 A. Yeah.
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2 Q. Do you ever delete posts or
3 comments off of YouTube?
4 A. I don't remember deleting --
5 yeah, not posts, no. I don't post very
6 much. I don't remember deleting anything.
7 Q. Or comments?
8 A. Yeah. I don't -- yeah. Can
9 you delete a comment on YouTube? I'm not
10 sure.
11 Q. You are talking to a bad
12 millennial. I'm not very good at these
13 things.
14 And you have a Twitter account,
15 right?
16 A. Yeah.
17 Q. And is this handle on the
18 exhibit the correct account,
19 ?
20 A. Yeah.
21 Q. What's
22 A.
23 .
24 Q. Oh, the
25 A.
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2 Q. And so , that's
3 the maritime province?
4 A.
5
6 Q. And what is
7 A.
8 Q.
9 A.
10
11
12
13
14
15 Q.
16 A.
17 NBA is a business also. It
18 might be in the future. But it has nothing
19 to do with, you know...
20 Q. Is this the only Twitter
21 account you have?
22 A. Yeah.
23 Q. Have you ever tweeted?
24 A. I tweeted, yeah.
25 Q. Do you tweet pretty often?
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2 A. Retweet or like, yeah, tweet,
3 yeah.
4 Q. And you retweet and like and
5 tweet about investments?
6 A. About everything.
7 Q. Stock market?
8 A. I joke around a lot about
9 whatever is going on. I try to stay
10 positive, if I see something negative.
11 Q. And you do that to keep other
12 people upbeat as well?
13 A. No, no. It is my personal
14 entertainment. It is almost like a diary.
15 I go back sometimes and see if I miss
16 anything. There is some good information,
17 but mostly I'm joking around a lot. But
18 there could be some useful information. It
19 is always nice to check back once in a
20 while.
21 Q. Do you ever use the Twitter
22 account to research investment strategies?
23 A. I just follow some people,
24 smart people, and I guess it is research.
25 I don't know if it is research, Elon Musk
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2 and everybody, Cathie Wood is a smart
3 person too.
4 Q. Cathie Wood?
5 A. Yeah.
6 Q. Who is that?
7 A. She is Ark Investment, Ark
8 Investment for Tesla. And Jeff Bezos I
9 think too, but he doesn't tweet a lot.
10 Warren Buffett.
11 Q. So if these people tweet,
12 well-known figures, that's something that
13 will show up on your --
14 A. Yeah, I'm hoping that I want to
15 see what is going on, if I miss anything.
16 Q. Do you ever delete posts or
17 comments off of your Twitter account?
18 A. Yeah, yeah, because sometimes
19 the next day it is not -- it is not as
20 funny. You know, in my spare time, so if
21 I'm drinking, it is entertaining, so I'm
22 just wasting time. It is like YouTube, now
23 I almost don't even watch TV, it is like
24 YouTube and check my Twitter account and
25 Instagram.
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2 Q. When you delete things off of
3 Twitter, do you ever delete
4 investment-related stories or posts?
5 A. Yeah, maybe if it is -- if I
6 think it has nothing to do with me or is
7 nothing useful, I might have deleted it. I
8 try to keep it clean.
9 Q. What does that mean?
10 A. I try to keep it so it's not
11 like all over the place. I try to --
12 what's more important, I guess, what is
13 going on that year. But I think after two
14 years, everything is deleted. They can
15 only save the last two years.
16 Q. So you tried to keep it
17 organized such that the most relevant, up
18 to date information is what you're seeing?
19 A. Yeah.
20 Q. All right. Let's go to Reddit.
21 Is this your handle,
22 A. Yeah.
23 Q. Is this the only Reddit account
24 that you have?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. And you also have a user name,
3 ?
4 A. I don't remember. Is that a
5 user name?
6 Q. Is that something that you have
7 seen before?
8 A. I don't understand Reddit that
9 much.
10 Q. You don't understand Reddit?
11 A. No. I don't like it actually.
12 Q. Does mean anything to
13 you?
14 A. Yes, yes. There was a lawsuit
15 between , a big
16 patent deal, that I was interested in.
17 Q. You followed the litigation?
18 A. Yeah. Well, I tried. You
19 can't find out anything actually. I
20 couldn't find that much about the lawsuit,
21 but I knew like the patents, I felt like
22 the patents were worth a lot of money and
23 Facebook has a lot of cash in their
24 account, so I thought for sure there was
25 going to be a big deal, a massive deal
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2 actually.
3 Q. Did that turn out to be the
4 case?
5 A. No. It is still not even
6 complete. They said it was a nondisclosed
7 agreement.
8 Q. A nondisclosure agreement?
9 A. Yeah. I don't know why they
10 did that.
11 Q. Is that in connection with the
12 settlement or --
13 A. Yeah, they reached a settlement
14 so they didn't have to go to court, and I
15 was thinking Facebook made a big deal, so,
16 you know, just to save what they had, and I
17 come to find out it was a nondisclosed
18 agreement, and John Chen is selling the
19 patents to someone else and it is still not
20 done and not complete.
21 Q. Mr. Poirier, I'm going to show
22 you what has been marked Exhibit 125.
23 (Defendant's Exhibit 125 marked
24 for identification.)
25 Q. This is your Reddit account,
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2 right?
3 A. Yeah.
4 Q. And in the upper right-hand
5 corner you see where it says
6 A. Upper right corner, oh, yeah.
7 Q. And so that's your -- that's in
8 big bold letters, right?
9 A. Yeah.
10 Q. That's your user name?
11 A. Yeah.
12 Q. And then below that in smaller
13 letters is ?
14 A. Yeah, I think that is the user
15 name they gave me.
16 Q. Oh, you didn't pick
17 dismal_statements?
18 A. No. I think I just took the
19 first one.
20 Q. Do you see below that it says
21 Cake Day?
22 A. Cake Day, yeah.
23 Q. And that means -- a cake day is
24 when the account was created, right?
25 A. I'm not sure.
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2 MR. ROSEN: What are you
3 pointing to?
4 MR. COHEN: The upper right,
5 there is a picture of a --
6 MR. ROSEN: Oh, Cake Day.
7 Q. And so you opened your account
8 on January 15th, right, 2021?
9 A. I don't remember. I thought I
10 opened the Reddit account after Robinhood,
11 because I had no clue what was going on.
12 So this is like a surprise to me.
13 Q. Would it surprise you to know
14 that you posted on January 15th, 2021?
15 A. Yeah.
16 Q. Why did you create your account
17 then?
18 A. Because of GameStop fiasco.
19 They were saying Reddit, the Reddit crowd,
20 and all that kind of stuff. I had no clue.
21 I had no clue. So I tried to see what was
22 going on.
23 Q. But if you posted in January
24 15th, 2021, that would be before what you
25 call a fiasco, correct?
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2 A. Yeah, that would be before. I
3 don't think I posted something.
4 MR. ROSEN: Could we take a
5 break? We have been going --
6 MR. COHEN: Can I -- we can
7 take a break.
8 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: The time is
9 11:14 a.m. and this marks the end of
10 media unit number one.
11 (Recess taken.)
12 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: The time is
13 11:28 a.m. This begins media unit
14 number two.
15 BY MR. COHEN:
16 Q. How was your break?
17 A. Good.
18 Q. So we left off talking about
19 your Reddit account, and you were surprised
20 to learn that you had opened your account
21 on January 15th, 2021, correct?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. Do you ever use Reddit to
24 research investments or stocks?
25 A. No.
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2 Q. Do you ever use Reddit to look
3 at what's going on in the investment world?
4 A. I tried. I tried it.
5 Q. When was that?
6 A. After the Robinhood thing.
7 Q. So you opened up your Reddit
8 account -- strike that.
9 Did you open up your Reddit
10 account in order to see what was going on
11 in the investment world?
12 A. They were saying Reddit Army,
13 Reddit Army on TV, a Reddit Army, so I
14 wanted to see what they were talking about.
15 Q. And what were they talking
16 about?
17 A. I have no clue.
18 Q. What's the Reddit Army?
19 A. I didn't find anything.
20 Q. Was it related to investing?
21 A. No. It seems -- it seems just
22 entertaining. Everybody is making fun of
23 everybody.
24 Q. Have you ever posted or
25 commented on Reddit?
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2 A. Yes.
3 Q. Have you ever viewed
4 discussions on a subreddit called
5 WallStreetBets?
6 A. I don't remember.
7 Q. Do you know what WallStreetBets
8 is?
9 A. I think so.
10 Q. What is it?
11 A. I don't know. I think it is a
12 user name.
13 Q. Do you know what kind of
14 content is posted under WallStreetBets?
15 A. No.
16 Q. Have you ever been on
17 WallStreetBets?
18 A. I don't remember.
19 Q. Could you look at the bottom of
20 the page in front of you. I'm sorry, could
21 you go to the second page, please, and go
22 to the bottom of that. Do you see a post
23 comment on WallStreetBets?
24 A. No. Is it the last one?
25 Q. The last one.
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2 A. Oh, okay, yeah.
3 Q. You see that this was a post on
4 WallStreetBets, correct?
5 A. Okay, yeah.
6 Q. And you see that you commented
7 Friday the 22nd January "??"?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. So you were engaging on
10 WallStreetBets subreddit?
11 A. I don't remember.
12 Q. But looking at this, can you
13 tell me now that you were engaging on
14 WallStreetBets subreddit?
15 A. What was the question?
16 "BlackBerry a phone company?"
17 Q. It looks like the title of the
18 post was "BlackBerry a phone company?" Do
19 you see that?
20 A. Yeah, that's the title, okay.
21 Q. And that was posted in
22 WallStreetBets. Do you see that?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. And on that post you made a
25 comment. Do you see that?
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2 A. Yes.
3 Q. Okay. And the comment
4 references Friday the 22nd of January,
5 right?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. Do you know what that's
8 regarding?
9 A. No.
10 Q. If you go to the third box down
11 from the top of this page. I know it is
12 small writing, I'm sorry. Do you see
13 another comment that you made here?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. And can you read that, please?
16 A. The third one? Can you point
17 at it?
18 Q. It is -- well, I will read.
19 "They paid 19 billion."
20 Do you see that?
21 A. Yeah.
22 Q. Can you read that comment that
23 you made?
24 A. "They paid 19 billion for
25 WhatsApp, no patents, now they need to
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2 protect it."
3 Q. And that's in the
4 WallStreetBets subreddit too, right?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. And I don't think I was clear
7 before, this is your statement, right?
8 MR. ROSEN: Are you asking if
9 he made that post?
10 Q. Did you make this comment?
11 A. Yes, it seems like it. I don't
12 remember.
13 Q. So it would seem that you do
14 engage with the WallStreetBets subreddit?
15 MR. ROSEN: Are you saying now
16 or he did in the past?
17 Q. That you did at this time two
18 years ago it says.
19 A. After the Robinhood.
20 Q. We are going to mark Exhibit
21 126.
22 (Defendant's Exhibit 126 marked
23 for identification.)
24 Q. If you turn to the second page,
25 please. Now, what we did here is hover our
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2 mouse over where it says "2 years" and it
3 reveals the date that you posted this
4 comment. Do you see that?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. And what is that date?
7 A. Friday, January 15, 2021.
8 Q. And so that is before Robinhood
9 imposed its restrictions, correct?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. And so does this refresh your
12 recollection regarding your posts on
13 Reddit?
14 A. No.
15 Q. Does this help you to identify
16 what Friday the 22nd January means?
17 A. No. I was probably joking
18 around.
19 Q. But there is no doubt, is
20 there, that this is referring to Friday the
21 22nd January 2021, correct?
22 A. I don't remember what that
23 means.
24 Q. Even if you don't remember what
25 it means, you would agree that it is
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2 discussing seven days from the time you
3 posted this, right?
4 MR. ROSEN: Objection.
5 Q. You can answer.
6 A. It says "BlackBerry a phone
7 company?" It doesn't make any sense. I
8 have no -- I don't remember what it means.
9 Q. Do you recall deleting any
10 posts or comments on Reddit?
11 A. No.
12 Q. Have you deleted any
13 investment-related posts or comments on
14 Reddit?
15 A. No.
16 Q. You don't remember?
17 A. I don't remember deleting.
18 Q. But it's possible that you did?
19 A. I guess so. It's possible. I
20 don't -- yeah. I think it is a hard
21 platform to work on.
22 Q. Okay. Do you have a StockTwits
23 account?
24 A. Yeah.
25 Q. And what is StockTwits?
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2 A. It is a chatting -- chatting
3 platform that you give your opinion about a
4 company.
5 Q. In the investment context?
6 A. Anything I guess.
7 Q. Like stocks?
8 A. News related, mostly stocks.
9 Q. And your handle on that is
10 ?
11 A. Yeah.
12 Q. Where does that name come from?
13 A.
14 Q. Oh, like ?
15 A. Yeah.
16 Q. And also connected to that
17 handle is . What does
18 that refer to?
19 A. I don't remember.
20 Q. Did you choose your user name?
21 A. Yeah, I think so, yes.
22 Q. And you don't remember what
23 Jordan means?
24 A. I try to be creative.
25 Q. Okay. Is this the only account
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2 you have on StockTwits?
3 A. I think so.
4 Q. And have you ever posted on
5 this account?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. What types of things do you
8 post?
9 A. Jokes about the stock market.
10 Q. Do other people see the jokes?
11 A. I think so.
12 Q. Do you get comments on them?
13 A. Not too often.
14 Q. Or likes?
15 A. It feels like half of
16 StockTwits are robots.
17 Q. Do you comment or like on
18 anybody else's StockTwits posts?
19 A. Yes, yes, probably.
20 Q. What types of posts?
21 A. Stocks related, if it was a
22 good joke.
23 Q. Do you use StockTwits to
24 research what's going on in the stock
25 market?
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2 A. No. I got burned way back, so
3 I just read them.
4 Q. What do you mean, you got
5 burned?
6 A. It wasn't true, one comment
7 wasn't true, and I believed it.
8 Q. Oh, so you invested on the
9 basis of someone's false comment?
10 A. Yeah.
11 Q. And you lost money from it?
12 A. Probably, yeah.
13 Q. What was the context of that?
14 A. I don't remember.
15 Q. Was that leading up to the
16 Robinhood situation?
17 A. No, no, I don't think so.
18 Q. Was it before or after that?
19 A. After. Like the -- yeah,
20 after. I made up my mind that everything
21 you read is not true anymore.
22 Q. And you made up your mind about
23 that after Robinhood?
24 A. Yeah.
25 Q. But also after this post?
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2 A. After this post, yeah,
3 probably.
4 Q. I'm showing you what's been
5 marked Exhibit 127.
6 (Defendant's Exhibit 127 marked
7 for identification.)
8 Q. Do you recognize the
9 information here?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. And this is your StockTwits
12 account, correct?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. Now, this, on your profile page
15 would you call this?
16 A. Yes, I think so.
17 Q. This has a watch list, correct?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. And it shows 59 different
20 stocks on that watch list, right?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. And you monitored these stocks
23 from your StockTwits account?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. And do you recall if you were
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2 monitoring this list in January 2021?
3 A. No, I don't remember.
4 Q. You don't remember, okay.
5 Have you ever deleted posts or
6 comments off of StockTwits?
7 A. I don't remember.
8 Q. Do you use any other social
9 media platforms at all?
10 A. No. That's all the -- that's
11 the list. You have everything.
12 Q. No Discord?
13 A. No.
14 Q. No Twitch?
15 A. No.
16 Q. And did you have all of those
17 accounts that we just went through in
18 January 2021?
19 A. I'm surprised about the Reddit
20 one. I don't remember, I thought I wanted
21 to know more about Reddit after Robinhood,
22 so I'm surprised about that.
23 Q. But other than that, you do
24 remember having in January 2021?
25 A. Having social media?
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2 MR. ROSEN: All of those social
3 media listed in that exhibit he showed
4 you.
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. Thank you. I have to say,
7 you're a lot less talkative after the break
8 than before.
9 A. Well, it must be the Coca-Cola.
10 Q. It is wearing off?
11 A. The sugar, yeah.
12 Q. Let's talk about how you invest
13 in the stock market. First of all, do you
14 invest in the stock market?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. And when did you first start
17 investing?
18 A. 2012.
19 Q. Why did you start investing
20 then?
21 A. Because of 2008 financial
22 crisis.
23 Q. Could you explain that?
24 A. I wanted to know why something
25 in the stock market could affect my life in
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2 construction.
3 Q. So because of the turmoil that
4 resulted from the 2008 financial crisis,
5 you wanted to gain more information about
6 the stock market?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. And did you?
9 A. Yeah, I learned a lot over the
10 years.
11 Q. How did you start investing?
12 A. With Questrade.
13 Q. That's the first broker you
14 used?
15 A. Yeah, yes.
16 Q. Do you use any others now?
17 A. No, only Questrade.
18 Q. It has always only been just
19 Questrade?
20 A. Yeah. I might have opened a
21 couple of accounts, but I decided to go
22 with Questrade was the best.
23 Q. So you are saying before you
24 started Questrade, you may have opened a
25 few accounts?
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2 A. I looked at it. I didn't like
3 the look.
4 Q. Okay. And you're still a
5 Questrade customer?
6 A. Yeah.
7 Q. You opened your Questrade
8 account in March 2012 you said, right?
9 A. Yeah.
10 Q. Why did you choose Questrade as
11 opposed to the other ones that you were
12 looking into?
13 A. They just have more details,
14 charts.
15 Q. And those were helpful?
16 A. Yes. It is faster too I think.
17 Q. Do you check your Questrade
18 account frequently?
19 A. Not anymore.
20 Q. But you used to?
21 A. Yeah, yes.
22 Q. Just from the time you opened
23 it in 2012?
24 A. Yeah.
25 Q. Until when?
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2 A. Until Robinhood.
3 Q. And now how frequently do you
4 use it?
5 A. Not too often.
6 Q. Like weekly?
7 A. Monthly.
8 Q. So you just let your
9 investments sit now?
10 MR. ROSEN: Objection, vague.
11 Q. Do you understand the question?
12 A. I don't need to look at it
13 every day.
14 Q. Only every month?
15 A. Yeah.
16 Q. And that's the frequency with
17 which you may trade stocks too?
18 A. Right now, yeah.
19 Q. But prior to February 2021, you
20 were on it daily?
21 A. Yeah.
22 Q. Did you trade every time you
23 opened up your Questrade account back then?
24 A. No. I would just look at the
25 numbers.
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2 Q. Did you trade premarket ever?
3 A. No, I'm not allowed to.
4 Q. Why not?
5 A. I don't have that -- Questrade
6 doesn't allow it.
7 Q. Oh, I see. Do you trade post
8 market?
9 A. No, I can't.
10 Q. You can't trade post market?
11 A. Only trading hours.
12 MR. ROSEN: Is there a
13 difference between premarket and post
14 market?
15 MR. COHEN: Yeah. Before 9 is
16 premarket, after 9 -- after 4:30 is --
17 MR. ROSEN: That's all right.
18 Well, I was just assuming it is before
19 the market, it is after the market from
20 the day before, so it is the same sort
21 of window.
22 MR. COHEN: I see what you are
23 saying. I believe they are discrete
24 periods. It doesn't extend all the way
25 to the previous day.
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2 MR. ROSEN: All right, anyway,
3 sorry.
4 MR. COHEN: Whoever reads this
5 record will have a fun time with this.
6 Q. So you only trade during --
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. -- market hours, which is 9 to
9 4:30 eastern time?
10 A. I think it is 10:30 -- 10:30 to
11 5 eastern time, Atlantic time.
12 MR. ROSEN: Yeah, he is in a
13 different time zone.
14 MR. COHEN: Okay, thank you.
15 Q. You have two accounts on
16 Questrade, right?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. One is called RRSP?
19 A. Uh-huh.
20 Q. And the other one is -- did you
21 say yes?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. And the other one is TFSA?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. And what's the difference
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2 between those two?
3 A. Tax, it is in the word, TFSA is
4 a tax-free account, so it is tax-free, and
5 RRSP, you can deduct what you put in, and
6 you need to pay taxes when you cash out.
7 Q. Is RRSP a retirement account?
8 A. It is supposed to be, yeah.
9 Q. What do you mean, it is
10 supposed to be?
11 A. Well, I think the tax-free is
12 better for retirement, if it is tax-free.
13 Q. How does trading work on
14 Questrade?
15 A. What do you mean?
16 Q. Explain the process by which
17 you would trade in securities when you open
18 up your Questrade account.
19 MR. ROSEN: Objection, vague.
20 Q. You can answer.
21 A. I can buy and sell.
22 Q. You can personally buy and
23 sell?
24 A. Companies that are in the stock
25 market.
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2 Q. So you make the trades
3 yourself?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. Does anybody review these
6 trades before --
7 A. No.
8 Q. -- they are executed?
9 Why do you have these two
10 different accounts?
11 A. I think I had a pension plan
12 with someone and I transferred -- I could
13 only transfer it to the RRSP without
14 getting penalized.
15 Q. Because that's the designated
16 retirement account?
17 A. Yeah. And the tax-free, there
18 is a limit, you can only put 6,000, 5,000 a
19 year, and it adds up. So it is nice to
20 have, you know, depending how much money
21 you make during the year, there could be --
22 you could play around with the numbers.
23 Q. How do you choose which account
24 to invest with?
25 A. I like tax-free a lot better,
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2 as long as I don't go over the limit.
3 Q. What's the limit?
4 A. Right now the total limit I
5 think is like 80,000.
6 Q. And 80,000 is the amount per
7 trade?
8 A. No. If you never put money in
9 that account, it is like 5,000, 6,000,
10 every year, it started in I don't know what
11 year, 2008 maybe, or '9. If you never had
12 a tax-free savings account, you are allowed
13 to -- it is now at like 80,000, the next
14 year it will be 85, it adds up. You are
15 allowed to put every year.
16 Q. But your balance can go over,
17 correct?
18 A. You can make -- you can't put
19 more money, but if you make money, it is
20 tax free.
21 Q. So if in the stock market you
22 make a million dollars --
23 A. It is tax-free.
24 Q. It is tax-free?
25 A. Yeah.
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2 Q. But you just can't add outside
3 money to it?
4 A. No.
5 Q. Do you have different
6 investment strategies depending on which of
7 these two accounts you use?
8 A. Well, before I wanted to be
9 more safe, I tried to be more safe and more
10 aggressive so I don't lose everything.
11 Q. So more safe with the
12 retirement account?
13 A. Yeah.
14 Q. And more aggressive with the
15 TFSA?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. And aggressive means you will
18 go in on high-risk/high-reward stocks more?
19 MR. ROSEN: Objection, vague.
20 Q. Do you understand the question?
21 A. Yes. I just -- more frequently
22 on one, and on one I don't try to touch it.
23 Q. So you are more conservative on
24 the retirement one?
25 A. Yeah, I don't even want it
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2 to -- but I fucked up after, like after
3 Robinhood, I got -- I lost everything.
4 Q. Why did you say that you messed
5 up?
6 A. I didn't stick to the plan, to
7 not touch the RRSP.
8 Q. Did you mess up in the way that
9 you invested?
10 A. I got emotionally damaged.
11 Q. What do you mean?
12 A. From the Robinhood thing. I
13 was confused. It felt like a rollercoaster
14 ride.
15 Q. Leading up to it also?
16 A. No. I was okay. I felt good
17 with my investments.
18 Q. Why?
19 A. It was going higher.
20 Q. Do you ever use Questrade's
21 prebuilt portfolios?
22 A. No.
23 Q. Do you read things from
24 Questrade's learning center?
25 A. No.
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2 Q. Now that you are more -- are a
3 more experienced investor, have you
4 considered using a different account now?
5 A. No.
6 Q. Do you invest on behalf of
7 anybody else?
8 A. No.
9 Q. Does anybody else invest on
10 your behalf?
11 A. No.
12 Q. Do you have a financial advisor
13 of any kind?
14 A. No.
15 Q. Besides the people you see on
16 social media?
17 MR. ROSEN: Objection,
18 mischaracterizes his prior testimony.
19 A. I don't even know who is a
20 financial advisor on social media.
21 Q. Have you ever hired an
22 investment manager?
23 A. No.
24 Q. You have just always traded on
25 your own?
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2 A. Yes.
3 Q. About how much time in early
4 2021 did you devote to investing?
5 A. Early '21 until now?
6 Q. No, until let's say --
7 MR. ROSEN: You mean on a daily
8 basis, a weekly basis, what?
9 Q. On a daily basis from let's
10 even say the December 2020 through March
11 2021, about how frequently on a daily basis
12 would you be on your Questrade account?
13 A. I try to make like a work
14 schedule, it was like five days a week.
15 Q. Because you were out of work
16 during this period of time?
17 A. Yes, and -- yes. I could
18 financially afford to look at it.
19 Q. Do you more frequently trade in
20 U.S. stocks than Canadian stocks?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. How much more frequently?
23 A. Like except for BlackBerry,
24 everything is American.
25 Q. Do you also trade U.S. options?
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2 A. Yes.
3 Q. Is BlackBerry only on the U.S.
4 stock exchange?
5 A. No. I prefer to buy on the
6 U.S. The numbers are more -- is all U.S.,
7 American.
8 Q. So when you invest in
9 BlackBerry, it is usually -- strike that.
10 When you invest in BlackBerry,
11 is it always in the American stock
12 exchange?
13 A. Not always, but most of the
14 time, yeah.
15 Q. And what type of options
16 trading do you engage in?
17 A. All of them, puts and calls,
18 mostly calls. I don't like betting against
19 a company.
20 Q. So mostly calls because that's
21 like predicting that the value of the stock
22 will go up?
23 A. Yeah. I try to find the
24 potential of the business for a long-term
25 investment.
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2 Q. Why do you choose to invest in
3 options versus stocks when you do?
4 A. I didn't -- I don't have a lot
5 of money to invest, so if you're right in
6 options, it pays good, it pays better for
7 the minimum amount. But for Warren
8 Buffett, it is better to buy the stocks, he
9 doesn't need to play with options.
10 Q. So you are saying between
11 December 2020 and March 2021 you preferred
12 call option trading because it was less
13 risky?
14 MR. ROSEN: Objection,
15 mischaracterizes his testimony.
16 Q. Between December 2020 and March
17 2021, you preferred to trade in options,
18 call options, because you didn't have
19 enough money generally to risk on
20 purchasing stock?
21 MR. ROSEN: Objection.
22 A. No.
23 Q. Sorry, could you explain again
24 why calls are better for you, why calls
25 were better for you at that time?
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2 A. You are talking about two
3 different times.
4 Q. Could you explain?
5 A. When I first started with
6 options, it was for that reason.
7 Q. And when was that?
8 A. When I first started.
9 Q. Questrade?
10 A. Yeah, 2012.
11 Q. So in 2020, December 2020
12 through March 2021, did you more often
13 invest in options or in stocks themselves?
14 A. Options.
15 Q. And why was that?
16 A. It just kind of happened that I
17 have been staring at options for like ten
18 years, so I could see the potential of
19 those options paying off, and they are
20 long-term options, 2022, 2023, so a little
21 bit of risk, but not that much.
22 Q. And stocks were more risky?
23 A. Stocks are safer. You can keep
24 them forever. Options has an expiry date.
25 Q. Do you pay a commission on your
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2 Questrade trades?
3 A. Every time I trade they take a
4 commission.
5 Q. Do you consider those
6 commission fees when you do make trades?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. Are they -- would you
9 characterize the commission fees as high?
10 A. It feels like it is higher now.
11 Something happened after Robinhood,
12 something changed.
13 Q. What's your main objective when
14 you invest?
15 A. To not lose money.
16 Q. Was that your main objective
17 when you first started to invest?
18 A. No. I just wanted to be right
19 once.
20 Q. Right once?
21 A. Yeah.
22 Q. What do you mean?
23 A. When a stock breaks out,
24 options pay pretty good, and I just wanted
25 to be right once.
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2 Q. Like to hit the big stock?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. But over time that became less
5 of your objective while investing?
6 A. Yeah.
7 Q. When did that happen?
8 A. 2020.
9 Q. 2020, and that was during
10 COVID?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. Was it because of COVID?
13 A. No.
14 Q. What happened that made you
15 change your investment strategy?
16 A. The plan worked out.
17 Q. You hit it big?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. On what stock?
20 A. Tesla.
21 Q. And what did you invest in
22 Tesla?
23 A. Call options.
24 Q. And could you walk me through
25 how you chose the Tesla stock and your
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2 approach to investing with the call option?
3 A. Well, since 2015 I think Tesla
4 was the best company in the world. It felt
5 like the next Microsoft. I didn't know a
6 lot about the stock market, but I could
7 read the charts like a blueprint and I
8 could see that they gave a lot of -- there
9 is a lot of demand when there is a big
10 potential involved, and that could break
11 out the stock. Tesla was like valued as a
12 Ford company, they didn't sell one car yet,
13 so it always -- it was always overvalued,
14 and I just didn't want to miss the next
15 step, the next leg up, so I was buying
16 long-term call options, I lost everything,
17 I lost everything, I lost everything, and
18 then I finally got it right.
19 Q. What happened in 2020 that
20 caused Tesla's stock to rise such that you
21 would make a lot of money on a call option?
22 A. The chart breaked out. There
23 is a ceiling and it broke the ceiling, and
24 when it breaks out, it goes high fast.
25 There is nothing stopping it.
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2 Q. What does that mean?
3 A. I'm not a technical expert, but
4 if you learn a little bit about chart
5 reading, it hits resistance but if it
6 breaks out, there is no resistance. So
7 then there is like fear, far more fear of
8 missing out coming in, all that kind of
9 stuff.
10 Q. So then everybody --
11 A. Shorts are covering. People
12 are betting against it. It needs to cover.
13 If you compare it to other chart readings,
14 there could be a 50 percent breakout, 20
15 percent minimum breakout. So if you have
16 in-the-money calls, it pays out pretty
17 good. So like I did my homework, I knew --
18 I knew it could happen, and I became a
19 millionaire.
20 Q. Well, congratulations.
21 A. But I lost everything after.
22 Q. So when you find a company like
23 Tesla, what makes you think that it is
24 going to be the one that breaks out?
25 MR. ROSEN: Objection, calls
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2 for speculation, and vague.
3 Q. You can answer.
4 A. They are selling more cars,
5 like the numbers are -- the potential, we
6 are starting to see the results. It is no
7 longer speculation.
8 Q. But you have to buy before
9 everybody else finds out?
10 A. Yeah. I used to joke around
11 that you need to buy the Tesla stock before
12 you see all Tesla cars parked at the coffee
13 shop in the morning. That will be too
14 late.
15 Q. So you have to be a good
16 guesser?
17 A. A visionary.
18 Q. A visionary, what does that
19 mean?
20 A. Predicting the future.
21 Q. What about how do you make a
22 decision about selling a stock?
23 MR. ROSEN: Objection, vague.
24 A. I don't have, it is like
25 freestyle, I don't have a plan. If it
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2 feels right to sell, sell.
3 Q. Feels right based on intuition?
4 A. Yeah. And you learn from your
5 mistakes, so I'm still learning.
6 Q. How long do you usually hold a
7 particular stock?
8 A. There is no -- it is freestyle.
9 Q. Are there any particular news
10 segments or videos that you watch when
11 deciding whether to buy or sell?
12 A. No.
13 Q. You mentioned CNBC before?
14 A. Yeah, on Instagram, but it is
15 just news like on Instagram.
16 Q. People like Jim Cramer?
17 A. Yeah, sometimes, yeah.
18 Q. You watch him?
19 A. Yes, I used to.
20 Q. Not any more?
21 A. No, because I lost everything.
22 I don't have to watch it.
23 Q. Do you subscribe to any
24 newsletter about investing?
25 A. Yeah, but now they are
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2 charging, it is not even free any more, so
3 I want to delete it. I tried to delete all
4 of it.
5 Q. What is that one called?
6 A. Oh, I don't know. There are so
7 many. I don't even remember subscribing,
8 but I have some e-mails.
9 Q. So you keep getting charged for
10 a subscription that you have, but you don't
11 recall what --
12 A. I think I deleted a couple of,
13 in the past year, they tried to charge
14 more.
15 Q. And you used to read these?
16 A. Sometimes they have one that
17 you want to read, so you have no choice but
18 to subscribe and then you forget to cancel
19 the subscription, and then it is like junk
20 mail.
21 Q. Do you listen to any podcasts
22 about the market or investing?
23 A. Not too often.
24 Q. But sometimes?
25 A. Sometimes, yeah.
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2 Q. Like which ones?
3 A. On YouTube I follow Compound,
4 Compound Investment I think.
5 Q. And what do they do?
6 A. He works for CNBC. They talk
7 about the market.
8 Q. And I know before you said that
9 you barely watch TV anymore.
10 A. Yeah.
11 Q. But do you currently watch any
12 television shows about the market or
13 investing?
14 A. Now it is like Netflix and
15 YouTube. I watched Eat the Rich.
16 Q. The Netflix documentary?
17 A. Yeah. That's a good show.
18 Q. In December 2020 through March
19 2021, did you watch TV shows about
20 investing?
21 A. I don't remember. I learned
22 everything by myself, by my mistakes.
23 Nobody -- I make up my own mind.
24 Q. When you say your mistakes,
25 what type of mistakes?
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2 A. A lot of them, a lot of them.
3 Like buy the rumor, sell the news. I lost
4 money one time on that one.
5 Q. What does that mean, buy the
6 rumor, sell the news?
7 A. It is like when a -- like
8 Disney Plus, they were going to show what
9 Disney Plus was in April, but we're in
10 January, it is not -- buy the rumor, sell
11 the news -- so it is kind of a rumor,
12 because you don't know what is Disney Plus,
13 and once you get the news, usually the
14 stock drops. So there is like a fear of
15 missing out on the potential of Disney
16 Plus, and it is just a stock market thing.
17 Q. So that was --
18 A. The stock market is like a
19 game. There is a lot of different -- it
20 can happen, once it happens, then you know
21 it's a buy the rumor, sell the news, but
22 you never know. Then it could go higher
23 and you made a mistake. You just can't
24 predict the market, but sometimes there is
25 certain things that happens frequently.
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2 Q. So you hear a rumor and you
3 want to get in before the news contradicts
4 the rumor?
5 MR. ROSEN: Are you asking if
6 that's what he -- the way he invests,
7 or you are asking him about the concept
8 of buy the rumor, sell the news?
9 MR. COHEN: Well, I should
10 follow up on this.
11 Q. Buy the rumor, sell the news
12 is --
13 A. Just one example.
14 Q. Of what?
15 A. Like the question that you
16 asked.
17 Q. The types of mistakes that you
18 made?
19 A. Yeah.
20 Q. When you were investing?
21 A. That's one example of the
22 mistakes I made.
23 Q. So when you were investing,
24 leading up to Robinhood imposing
25 restrictions, one of the mistakes you made
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2 was buy the rumor, sell the news?
3 A. No, not that one.
4 Q. What was the mistakes you made
5 around that time?
6 MR. ROSEN: Objection. Did he
7 say he made a mistake about that time?
8 MR. COHEN: I think several
9 times.
10 A. No, I didn't make a mistake,
11 and I didn't say I made a mistake.
12 Q. You discussed a company called
13 BlackBerry, right?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. What kind of company is that?
16 A. It was a phone company with a
17 bunch of patents of cybersecurity and
18 stuff, and now they are trying to be more
19 in the car software type of company. It is
20 almost like a smart car, a smart cell
21 phone, a smart TV, the car is not smart
22 yet, but they are trying to get there.
23 They have the product already to be in that
24 business.
25 Q. Do you own any BlackBerry
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2 products?
3 A. Right now, no.
4 Q. Have you ever?
5 A. Yes, I think I bought something
6 that was going to protect my phone from
7 hacking.
8 Q. When was that?
9 A. During COVID.
10 Q. And you liked that product?
11 A. Yeah, it seems, now I think
12 they cancelled it, but now it seems my
13 phone is more vulnerable, and during that
14 time -- now it seems like it worked
15 perfectly, but you just don't know, like if
16 you don't get hacked, you don't really know
17 if it's working or not. But now it seems,
18 yeah, just like weird stuff happening.
19 Q. Weird stuff happening with
20 BlackBerry?
21 MR. ROSEN: Objection. That's
22 not what he said.
23 A. With my cell phone.
24 Q. With your cell phone. But
25 you're a big fan of BlackBerry?
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2 A. I was.
3 Q. You were, up until when?
4 A. Still, if I had, yeah, there
5 was some frustration, but yes, I still like
6 it, yeah. Deep, deep down I still like it.
7 Q. Emotionally?
8 A. Not emotionally, but everybody
9 should like BlackBerry if it is true, their
10 potential is big, but it is going to take
11 longer than I first thought.
12 Q. Would you say it's one of your
13 favorite companies?
14 A. Yeah, top five probably, top
15 two.
16 Q. What would you say are the
17 other ones?
18 A. I think Tesla and BlackBerry
19 from here to 2030 will be the top two.
20 Q. I'm showing you, Mr. Poirier,
21 what has been marked Exhibit 128.
22 (Defendant's Exhibit 128 marked
23 for identification.)
24 Q. Do you recognize this?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. What is it?
3 A. My Twitter page.
4 Q. The three lines above where it
5 says "Canada" and "joined February 2012,"
6 do you see that?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. Is this a profile?
9 A. That one is a profile.
10 Q. And this is something that
11 reflects your personality, correct?
12 MR. ROSEN: Objection, vague.
13 A. Yeah. Once you read my
14 profile, you shouldn't take me seriously.
15 Q. Well, I --
16 A. There is a cat as a profile
17 picture, so...
18 Q. These three lines are permanent
19 unless you change it, right?
20 A. Yeah, I can modify it.
21 Q. How often do you modify it?
22 A. Not too often. It is for me to
23 remember. I like it -- I like it the way
24 it is.
25 Q. How long have you had it this
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2 way?
3 A. A couple of years probably.
4 Q. And so when somebody goes on to
5 your Twitter page and they look at this, it
6 lets them know what you're about?
7 A. No, I don't even have
8 followers. It is for me. It is like a
9 tool that I have to remember so I don't
10 forget.
11 Q. So you don't forget what?
12 A. Tesla and BlackBerry is my top
13 two picks.
14 Q. So I was going to ask you to
15 read your profile here. If you could read
16 those lines.
17 A. This says "Just for shit and
18 giggles. Auto-pilot in stocks (#Tesla=420
19 billion's). The BlackBerry, the intech in
20 tech. $BB equals 100" with an emoji. "In
21 case you missed it, to the moon Puffy."
22 Q. And what does "to the moon
23 Puffy" mean?
24 A. It is the cat over there.
25 Q. And is that related to
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2 anything?
3 A. It is for me to not forget
4 about Tesla and forget about BlackBerry.
5 Q. "To the moon Puffy" is related
6 to not forgetting about BlackBerry and
7 Tesla?
8 A. Yeah.
9 Q. And what does "to the moon"
10 mean?
11 A. The stock would go higher.
12 Q. And you've had this for a few
13 years you said?
14 A. This one I think after
15 Robinhood.
16 Q. So you continued to believe --
17 A. Like if I would have listened,
18 auto-pilot and stocks, I would still be a
19 millionaire today.
20 Q. What does auto-pilot and stocks
21 mean?
22 A. I should just buy the stock and
23 leave it there and not touch it, but I
24 don't -- sometimes I don't listen to
25 myself. So every time I go on Twitter, it
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2 breaks my heart.
3 Q. Because you ended up touching
4 your stocks in a way that lost you money?
5 A. No, I think I got, whatever
6 Robinhood did, manipulated to lose money.
7 Q. Do you follow news about
8 BlackBerry?
9 A. Yeah.
10 Q. And did you follow news about
11 BlackBerry in December 2020 through
12 February 2021?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. Did you look at their press
15 releases?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. Their earnings announcements?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. Did you look into their
20 financials at all?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. Did you ever look at the SEC
23 filings for BlackBerry?
24 A. I don't remember.
25 Q. In January 2021 -- strike that.
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2 In late January 2021 do you
3 recall any company announcements from
4 BlackBerry?
5 A. From BlackBerry? I don't
6 remember.
7 Q. Or --
8 A. About BlackBerry? I think
9 there was a lot of information about the
10 lawsuit with Facebook, maybe not a lot, but
11 there was -- 15th of January was the
12 deadline for the settlement.
13 Q. Okay. And after that, in
14 between January 15th and January 28th?
15 A. Completely silent I think.
16 Q. And you would -- you would have
17 been aware had there been an announcement
18 of something about BlackBerry because you
19 followed the company very closely, correct?
20 A. There are good odds, yeah, I
21 would have found it.
22 Q. I'm showing you Exhibit 129.
23 (Defendant's Exhibit 129 marked
24 for identification.)
25 Q. Do you know what this is?
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2 A. No.
3 Q. Could you read the title?
4 A. "BlackBerry comments on trading
5 activity at request of the Industry
6 Regulatory Organization of Canada."
7 Q. And this was a press release by
8 BlackBerry, correct?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. And it was dated -- it was
11 issued January 25th, 2021?
12 A. Uh-huh.
13 Q. Could you read the first
14 paragraph, please?
15 MR. ROSEN: Objection. He is
16 not going to read the press release.
17 If you have a question about it, it's
18 not his job to come here and read for
19 you. So if you have a question, ask
20 him a question. He is not a narrator,
21 he is not a reader, he is not a
22 newscaster, he is a witness. Ask him
23 the question.
24 MR. COHEN: It is three lines.
25 MR. ROSEN: No. Just ask him a
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2 question.
3 Q. Do you see in the paragraph
4 beginning "The company is not aware," it
5 says "The company is not aware of any
6 material undisclosed corporate developments
7 and has no material change in its business
8 or affairs that has not been publicly
9 disclosed that would account for the recent
10 increase in the market price or trading
11 volume of its common shares"?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. So this confirms what you were
14 saying before, that there was no material
15 undisclosed developments or change in
16 BlackBerry's business?
17 MR. ROSEN: Objection, calls
18 for speculation, mischaracterizes the
19 document, mischaracterizes his prior
20 testimony.
21 A. Can you say that again?
22 Q. Does this confirm what you were
23 saying before?
24 A. No.
25 Q. What is different about it?
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2 A. Everything.
3 Q. Had you heard about a possible
4 short squeeze in BlackBerry in late January
5 2021?
6 A. No.
7 Q. You never heard anything about
8 it?
9 A. Not that I remember.
10 Q. Do you know what a short
11 squeeze is?
12 A. I heard about it, but I don't
13 know how to identify it.
14 Q. Did you ever seek to
15 participate in a short squeeze for
16 BlackBerry?
17 A. No.
18 Q. Are you aware of any attempted
19 short squeezes in AMC around that time?
20 A. No.
21 Q. Are you aware of any short
22 squeezes in any of the -- do you know what
23 a meme stock is?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. What is a meme stock?
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2 A. It seems like they group a
3 bunch of stocks that a lot of people
4 comment with a picture on it.
5 Q. In January 2021, were you aware
6 of any attempts to short squeeze a meme
7 stock?
8 A. No.
9 Q. Do you recall any news or media
10 attention regarding short squeeze of meme
11 stocks in January 2021?
12 A. No, I don't remember.
13 Q. Do you recall hearing or seeing
14 anything on social media about retail
15 investors squeezing hedge funds?
16 A. No. I was clueless the whole
17 time.
18 Q. In late January 2021 did you
19 notice that these meme stocks prices, the
20 stock prices, had dramatically increased
21 from what they were just a few months ago?
22 A. GameStop got my attention.
23 Q. What got your attention about
24 GameStop?
25 A. It seems something was going --
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2 something was wrong about it.
3 Q. Like what?
4 A. I had no clue.
5 Q. Do you remember seeing that
6 GameStop's stock price was out of
7 proportion with what stock professionals
8 believed?
9 A. At that time, yeah, but I had
10 no clue what was going on.
11 Q. And what did you think, if
12 anything at all, about what was going on
13 with GameStop?
14 A. I'm not an expert. I had no
15 clue. I was afraid the whole time that it
16 might affect BlackBerry because fear in the
17 stock market is not good.
18 Q. Did you perceive other people
19 being afraid?
20 MR. ROSEN: Objection, vague.
21 A. No.
22 Q. So what do you mean, fear in
23 the stock market?
24 A. Well, I had no clue what was
25 going on, so a lack of confidence is almost
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2 fear. So I didn't know if Jim Cramer knew
3 what was going on. He didn't say like -- I
4 didn't see anybody saying oh, okay, there
5 is a reason. So I was afraid, whenever
6 GameStop, whatever was going to happen, it
7 could create fear.
8 Q. You testified before that
9 around this time you went to -- you went to
10 Reddit to figure out what was going on. Do
11 you recall that?
12 A. Yeah, yeah. I wanted to, yeah,
13 to know more about it. I didn't find
14 anything.
15 Q. You wanted to know more about
16 the meme stocks?
17 A. Yeah.
18 Q. And what was going on with
19 GameStop?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. And why its price was out of
22 touch with what other stock professionals
23 were saying it should be?
24 A. Yes. Well, yeah.
25 Q. So you went to Reddit and you
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2 signed up for an account?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. Did you believe that BlackBerry
5 was a meme stock?
6 MR. ROSEN: Objection.
7 A. No.
8 MR. COHEN: I don't know if you
9 were --
10 MR. ROSEN: I was, I mean, I
11 didn't list the reasons for the
12 objection. I can if you want. But he
13 answered the question, so you got an
14 answer.
15 Q. So you have purchased shares of
16 BlackBerry, correct?
17 A. Uh-huh.
18 Q. And you were investing in
19 BlackBerry in early 2021?
20 A. Say that again.
21 Q. Were you investing in
22 BlackBerry in early 2021?
23 A. I was, yes.
24 Q. Was that the first time you
25 purchased BlackBerry stock?
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2 A. No.
3 Q. When did you start purchasing
4 BlackBerry stock?
5 A. 2020.
6 Q. In 2020, okay. And were you
7 purchasing the stock, BlackBerry stock, or
8 were you purchasing options in BlackBerry?
9 A. Both of them I think.
10 Q. Was it primarily call options
11 in BlackBerry?
12 A. As time went on, yeah.
13 Q. I'm showing you what has been
14 marked Exhibit 130.
15 (Defendant's Exhibit 130 marked
16 for identification.)
17 THE WITNESS: I would like to
18 go back to the washroom.
19 MR. ROSEN: Can we take a break
20 before you start any questioning? He
21 wants to use the bathroom. I could use
22 a bathroom break too.
23 MR. COHEN: That is fine. And
24 you know what, if that time is correct,
25 I think it is lunchtime.
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2 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: The time is
3 12:42 p.m. and this marks the end of
4 media unit number two.
5 (Luncheon recess: 12:42 p.m.)
6
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2 A F T E R N O O N S E S S I O N
3 1:35 p.m.
4 M A R C E L P O I R I E R, resumed.
5 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: The time is
6 1:35 p.m. and this begins media unit
7 number three.
8 CONTINUED EXAMINATION
9 BY MR. COHEN:
10 Q. Mr. Poirier, before we took a
11 break for lunch, I put Exhibit 130 in front
12 of you, right?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. Do you recognize this document?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. Is this the certification you
17 signed authorizing The Rosen Law Firm to
18 file this action on your behalf?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. And I will direct you to
21 paragraph 4. Do you see where this says
22 that "All of the transactions plaintiff has
23 made in the affected stocks during the
24 class period set forth in the consolidated
25 complaint"?
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2 A. Yes.
3 Q. And at the bottom of the page
4 is your signature, correct?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. Looking at the next page, if
7 you take a look at this chart, is that the
8 complete list of all the transactions that
9 you made in the affected stock during the
10 class period?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. Here is Exhibit 131.
13 (Defendant's Exhibit 131 marked
14 for identification.)
15 Q. Mr. Poirier, this exhibit
16 contains the trading data that you produced
17 in connection with this matter?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. And this is related to your
20 TFSA Questrade account, correct?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. And, for the record, this is
23 beginning Bates P00002213. So I will ask
24 you to turn to the page where it ends with
25 223 at the bottom. This page shows the
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2 stock you owned by the end of December
3 2020, right?
4 A. This shows -- can you repeat
5 that?
6 Q. Do you see at the top of this
7 page it says Stocks Owned?
8 A. Stocks Owned, yeah.
9 Q. And so this page shows the
10 stocks that you owned at the end of
11 December 2020?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. Do you see the row starting on
14 the left with BB?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. That's BlackBerry, right?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. And you see the column titled
19 Qty?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. That's quantity, right?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. And that means the number of
24 shares purchased, right?
25 A. Yes.
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2 MR. ROSEN: Actually, that's
3 shares owned.
4 Q. That's number of shares owned,
5 correct?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. And then two columns to the
8 right it says Cost/Share. Do you see that?
9 A. Cost/Share, okay, yeah, I see
10 it.
11 Q. And this means that the price
12 of each share, this is the cost of each
13 share when you purchased those shares?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. And this is in U.S. dollars?
16 A. Yes, it probably is, yes.
17 Q. So by the end of 2020, you held
18 4,000 shares of BlackBerry bought at a
19 price of $7.16 per share, correct?
20 A. Yes.
21 MR. ROSEN: Scott, before you
22 continue, it says somewhere here
23 securities held in CAD, in Canadian, so
24 in that chart, I'm not sure if that is
25 Canadian or U.S. dollars, because it
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2 says -- the first row in that chart, it
3 says securities held in CAD. Oh, then
4 it is below in U.S. dollars, okay, I
5 see, all right. I just wanted to make
6 sure.
7 MR. COHEN: No, thank you.
8 MR. ROSEN: So those three --
9 the last three stocks are U.S. dollars
10 then, okay. Sorry about that.
11 Q. Do you know if you purchased
12 all 4,000 of these shares at the same time?
13 A. No, I don't remember. I don't
14 remember.
15 Q. Okay. Could you turn to the
16 page ending 229.
17 A. Okay.
18 Q. If you see eight rows from the
19 bottom, the transaction date of 12-18-2020,
20 and it is a purchase of BlackBerry stock.
21 Do you see that row?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. And the quantity is 4,000
24 shares?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. So do you agree that you
3 purchased all 4,000 shares that you held,
4 of BlackBerry that you held in December
5 2020 on December 18th?
6 A. Say that again.
7 Q. Would you agree that all 4,000
8 shares of BlackBerry stock that you held at
9 the end of December 2020 you purchased on
10 December 18th, 2020?
11 A. Yes, it looks like it.
12 Q. So do you recall why you
13 purchased the BlackBerry shares at this
14 time?
15 A. It looked like a good
16 investment.
17 Q. And did you often purchase
18 4,000 shares at one time of any stock?
19 A. Often, no.
20 Q. I'm going to show you what's
21 been marked Exhibit 132.
22 (Defendant's Exhibit 132 marked
23 for identification.)
24 Q. I'm sorry for all the documents
25 piling up in front of you. Now, this is a
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2 very similar statement to the one we just
3 went through, correct?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. But this is your January 2021
6 TFSA account statement, right?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. And it includes all your trades
9 settled in January 2021 for that account,
10 right?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And, for the record, the
13 beginning Bates number of this document is
14 P00002234.
15 MR. ROSEN: Scott, let me ask
16 you a question. You said for the
17 current month, but this is dated
18 January 29th, 2021, so it looks like
19 there is two days, the 30th and the
20 31st of January that may or may not be
21 included in here. I'm just wondering.
22 So I just point that out. I haven't
23 looked at this carefully, so I don't
24 know. I don't know if it includes the
25 last two days of January. I guess we
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2 will find out if we look at it.
3 MR. COHEN: It might just be
4 about settlement, time to settlement.
5 Q. So let's go to the page ending
6 247. Are you there?
7 A. Yeah.
8 MR. COHEN: Oh, and I believe
9 that January 30th and 31st were weekend
10 days.
11 MR. ROSEN: I was wondering
12 about that. Okay.
13 Q. So at the bottom row, do you
14 see that you purchased 8,000 shares of
15 BlackBerry on January 14th, 2021?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. And so this is double the share
18 purchase for BlackBerry stock that you made
19 in December of 2020, correct?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. Is this the biggest stock
22 purchase in terms of value that you made in
23 2021?
24 A. I don't remember.
25 Q. You don't often purchase this
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2 much stock, correct?
3 A. No. Well, it depends what you
4 mean by often.
5 Q. I will move on.
6 So you placed this order -- or
7 you purchased this on January 14th, 2021,
8 right?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. Why did you decide to purchase
11 another 8,000 shares of BlackBerry on this
12 date?
13 A. I liked the stock. I don't
14 remember exactly why.
15 Q. Did you think that the stock
16 price was going to rise?
17 A. I don't remember.
18 Q. Were you hoping that this was
19 going to be the next Tesla?
20 A. Yeah, yes. Well, not the next
21 Tesla, but a good -- a good company.
22 Q. Were you hoping that this would
23 break the chart?
24 MR. ROSEN: Objection, vague.
25 Q. Do you understand what I mean?
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2 A. Break the chart? No.
3 Q. Isn't that the term you used
4 when describing Tesla's stock rising?
5 A. When, yeah, it can break out.
6 Q. Break out?
7 A. Yeah.
8 Q. Did you expect BlackBerry would
9 break out?
10 A. No, because a break-out would
11 be a new all-time high, and this wasn't a
12 new all-time high, this was more like a
13 52-week high maybe.
14 Q. But you expected the stock
15 price to continue to rise?
16 A. Yeah, I was hoping.
17 Q. What were you hoping based on?
18 MR. ROSEN: You mean what were
19 his hopes based on?
20 MR. COHEN: Yeah.
21 A. I was hoping not to fall again.
22 Q. Not to fall again?
23 A. Not the stock to fall again,
24 yeah.
25 Q. Based on what did you believe
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2 or hope that BlackBerry stock would
3 continue to rise when you made the stock
4 purchase?
5 A. I don't remember.
6 Q. Do you recall when we looked at
7 your Reddit comments earlier in the
8 deposition?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. And do you recall that you
11 commented on a -- on the WallStreetBets
12 subreddit regarding BlackBerry?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. And do you remember that that
15 was on January 15th, 2021?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. And so that comment was made
18 within a day of you purchasing 8,000 shares
19 of BlackBerry stock on January 14th, 2021,
20 correct?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. Does that refresh your
23 recollection at all about why you made the
24 8,000 share stock purchase?
25 A. No, I can't say 100 percent
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2 sure why.
3 Q. Do you recall now that you were
4 influenced by what you read on Reddit in
5 purchasing this stock?
6 MR. ROSEN: Is that a question?
7 MR. COHEN: Yes.
8 A. No, Reddit, no.
9 Q. Do you recall reading anything
10 else about BlackBerry stock on any social
11 media around the time that you purchased
12 8,000 shares of BlackBerry on January 14th,
13 2021?
14 A. No.
15 Q. Let's go to the page ending 250
16 in this same document. Are you there?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. If you look five rows down, do
19 you see that on January 25th, 2021 you
20 purchased another 8,000 shares in
21 BlackBerry?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. Why did you decide to purchase
24 those shares on January 25th?
25 A. I don't remember. I liked the
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2 stock.
3 Q. That's all you remember, that
4 you liked the stock?
5 A. I liked the company and I liked
6 the stock. I liked the same thing.
7 Q. So within just a few days of
8 each other you purchased 16,000 shares of
9 BlackBerry because you liked the stock?
10 A. That would be one reason, yeah,
11 and I like -- stocks are safer than call
12 options, that could be a reason.
13 Q. But why did you invest in
14 BlackBerry in particular?
15 A. They have a lot of potential as
16 a company, as a software company.
17 Q. Based on what?
18 A. On QNX research. QNX is a part
19 of their business.
20 Q. And did you just learn about
21 QNX at this time or had you known about it
22 before?
23 A. No, I had been keeping an eye
24 on BlackBerry for a long time.
25 Q. So what was it that, from the
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2 middle to the end of January, that caused
3 you to become interested in purchasing
4 BlackBerry stock?
5 A. The patent deal with Facebook,
6 I liked that potential too. I liked the
7 QNX potential. I liked a lot of things
8 about BlackBerry.
9 Q. Did you notice that anybody
10 else was investing in BlackBerry around
11 this time?
12 MR. ROSEN: Objection, vague,
13 calls for speculation.
14 Q. You can answer. I asked if you
15 noticed --
16 A. No, I haven't noticed.
17 Q. Do you recall any social media
18 around this time encouraging people to
19 invest in meme stocks?
20 A. Say that again.
21 Q. Do you recall seeing social
22 media around this time, mid January to late
23 January 2021, encouraging people to invest
24 in meme stocks?
25 A. No. No, I don't remember.
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2 Q. At this time were you aware
3 that there was a short squeeze going on in
4 meme stocks?
5 A. No. I still don't know how.
6 Q. I'm showing you Exhibit 133.
7 (Defendant's Exhibit 133 marked
8 for identification.)
9 Q. Can you tell me what this
10 document is?
11 A. It seems somebody replied to
12 someone else on Twitter.
13 Q. Okay. And this was a Twitter
14 post that you liked, correct?
15 A. Is it?
16 Q. Do you see at the top --
17 A. I see my name on top. I don't
18 see the like.
19 Q. Was this a -- do you see
20 beneath your name it says 3,087 likes?
21 A. Yeah.
22 Q. And would you agree that your
23 name above that indicates that you were one
24 of the people who liked this post?
25 A. It doesn't indicate -- it
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2 doesn't look like -- I'm not 100 percent
3 sure.
4 Q. I'm being told by my social
5 media expert here that 3,087 likes is
6 actually the number of likes that you made.
7 A. Really? In 15 years?
8 Q. I suppose so. So do you have
9 any reason to doubt that this is a post
10 that you liked?
11 A. Any reason to doubt? The heart
12 would be dark, that would be proof of me
13 liking it I think.
14 Q. Isn't it true that only a user
15 could see the heart dark?
16 A. I don't know.
17 Q. In other words, someone, a
18 third party viewing this like from their
19 computer could not see the heart filled in,
20 correct?
21 A. I think we should see the same
22 thing everywhere.
23 Q. Do you see this post is dated
24 January 15th, 2021?
25 A. Yeah.
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2 Q. And do you know who Real Aloy
3 is?
4 A. No.
5 Q. Do you his post says "Biggest
6 short squeeze, BlackBerry on fire"?
7 A. Yes, I see it.
8 Q. And then the last line says
9 "Don't let the shorts cover for cheap."
10 Do you see that?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. So on January 15th, 2021 is
13 when you -- is a day after you purchased
14 8,000 shares of BlackBerry stock, correct?
15 A. A day after, yes.
16 Q. And January 15th, 2021 is the
17 date that you created your Reddit account,
18 correct?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. And January 15th, 2021 is the
21 date that you commented on a WallStreetBets
22 post about BlackBerry, correct?
23 A. Yes. You have the proof of
24 that, right?
25 Q. What we just said, it's all in
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2 the documents we looked at.
3 A. You have the proof of me at the
4 stated time in that document, is that what
5 you are talking about?
6 Q. Yeah, it is -- you are talking
7 about your Reddit post?
8 A. The last question you asked me.
9 MR. ROSEN: His Twitter post,
10 or Twitter retweet, or like, I'm sorry,
11 it is a Twitter like. He is just
12 asking -- so are you saying you just --
13 you don't remember -- you don't
14 remember retweeting this or liking
15 this, is that the point?
16 THE WITNESS: I don't remember,
17 yeah.
18 MR. ROSEN: All right, that's
19 fine.
20 THE WITNESS: And I don't
21 remember the Reddit thing too, exactly
22 what date. Oh, this one. You had
23 the --
24 Q. So it is January 15th, correct?
25 A. Okay, yeah. Yeah, I don't
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2 remember that one too.
3 Q. I'm handing you Exhibit 134.
4 (Defendant's Exhibit 134 marked
5 for identification.)
6 Q. You see your Twitter handle at
7 the top of this page?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. And you see a post by Jim
10 Cramer in the middle?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And Jim Cramer is someone you
13 mentioned as a person you used to follow,
14 correct?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. And this post is dated January
17 19th, 2021, correct?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. And Jim Cramer says "Just
20 checking in to see how the short squeezes
21 are going. All good?"
22 Did I read that correctly?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. Do you know what he is talking
25 about?
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2 A. No. I have an idea what he is
3 talking about, but I'm not an expert.
4 Q. And do you see the post below
5 that from Real Aloy?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. And that shows BlackBerry at
8 the bottom, correct?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. And it says plus 25.07 percent,
11 right?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. And that's referring to the
14 increase in stock price of BlackBerry
15 stock, correct?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. I'm showing you Exhibit 135.
18 (Defendant's Exhibit 135 marked
19 for identification.)
20 Q. And this is another instance of
21 your Twitter handle at the top, correct?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. And another Real Aloy post,
24 correct?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. And the text in his post says,
3 or in Real Aloy's post says "what a
4 breakout for @BlackBerry BB stock...and up
5 another $1 after hours."
6 Do you see that?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. And do you see this chart?
9 A. Some of it.
10 Q. You said that you visually --
11 you learn best visually when it comes to
12 investment information, correct?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. And can you tell me what this
15 chart is indicating with regard to
16 BlackBerry stock?
17 A. It is going higher, but it
18 doesn't say to me much. You need the full
19 picture.
20 Q. The line going up to the top is
21 nearing a vertical line, correct?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. That would indicate that the
24 stock price is dramatically increasing,
25 correct?
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2 A. Dramatic is a big word.
3 Q. Would you disagree with that?
4 A. It looked normal. It looked
5 okay. It looks okay. This picture looks
6 dramatic, but the real picture looks okay.
7 Q. Do you doubt that this is the
8 picture that was posted by Real Aloy on
9 Twitter?
10 A. If I doubt it? No, I don't --
11 no, I don't doubt it.
12 Q. And this was dated January
13 23rd, 2021, correct?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. Let's go back to the previous
16 exhibit with your 2021 TFSA account,
17 January 2021. I think it is Exhibit 132.
18 MR. ROSEN: It is the January
19 statement?
20 MR. COHEN: Yes.
21 A. What page?
22 Q. Ending 250, please.
23 So before we look at this page,
24 we just went through a lot of the social
25 media posts in the public view in late
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2 January 2021, correct?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. And they were all showing
5 BlackBerry's stock price going higher and
6 higher, correct?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. And this is at the same time
9 that you were purchasing BlackBerry stock,
10 correct?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And those social media posts
13 referenced a squeeze, correct?
14 A. Yeah, yes.
15 Q. If you look at the 11th row on
16 this page, I'm sorry to make you count, but
17 it will be the third row that has a
18 transaction date of January 26th.
19 A. Yeah.
20 MR. ROSEN: The buy or sell?
21 MR. COHEN: The sell.
22 Q. Do you see that row?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. So you sold 1,000 shares of
25 BlackBerry at a price of $18.458 on that
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2 day, correct?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. And that was January 26th?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. Do you recall when in the day
7 you sold those shares?
8 A. No.
9 Q. And that was within a day of
10 you purchasing 8,000 shares, correct?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. Why did you decide to sell
13 those 1,000 shares within a day of you
14 purchasing 8,000 shares of BlackBerry
15 stock?
16 A. I don't remember.
17 Q. Do you recall learning anything
18 new about BlackBerry in between January
19 25th and 26th, 2021?
20 A. No.
21 Q. Did you think that there was --
22 do you recall thinking that there was price
23 volatility in BlackBerry stock at that
24 time?
25 MR. ROSEN: Objection, calls
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2 for speculation.
3 Q. You can answer if you recall
4 thinking that.
5 A. I don't remember.
6 Q. Is it possible that you wanted
7 to sell some of the stock to make a quick
8 profit?
9 MR. ROSEN: Objection.
10 "Possible" is not a correct form of a
11 question.
12 Q. You can answer.
13 A. There is a lot of
14 possibilities.
15 Q. Did you sell the 1,000 shares
16 on January 26th in order to make a quick
17 profit?
18 A. Not to make a quick profit, no,
19 but I did sell. I probably sold for some
20 reason, but I don't remember why.
21 Q. Do you often buy, I'm sorry, do
22 you often sell stocks within a day of
23 buying the stock?
24 A. Not often, no.
25 Q. So that's out of the ordinary?
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2 A. Yeah, you would say it never
3 happened before and probably will never
4 happen again.
5 Q. Why don't you think it will
6 ever happen again?
7 A. At that time or now?
8 Q. Now.
9 A. The short interests, they will
10 change the rules about that.
11 Q. If you look down at the trades
12 you made on January 27th, you didn't buy or
13 sell BlackBerry stock, correct?
14 A. No.
15 Q. And why is that?
16 A. I don't remember.
17 Q. But at this point on January
18 26th and 27th, 2021, besides the 1,000
19 shares you sold, you are holding the rest
20 of the BlackBerry shares that you
21 purchased, correct?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. Was there any particular reason
24 that you recall holding on to these shares?
25 A. I didn't see any danger at the
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2 time.
3 Q. Did you have a goal in mind in
4 holding on to these shares?
5 A. No, I was, like I said, like a
6 freestyle, I just go day by day.
7 Q. I'm showing you what has been
8 marked Exhibit 136.
9 (Defendant's Exhibit 136 marked
10 for identification.)
11 Q. Mr. Poirier, is this a screen
12 capture of your YouTube account?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. And on the right-hand side it
15 shows the videos that you had saved,
16 correct?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. And this particular list of
19 videos is titled Motivation?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. Can you tell me what that
22 means?
23 A. Motivational videos about
24 hockey. It started with hockey and just
25 life itself, and then I just started adding
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2 other videos to it.
3 Q. Videos that motivate you?
4 A. No, just now the title doesn't
5 make any sense, I should change it to
6 entertainment.
7 Q. But, in any case, these are
8 videos that you saved, correct?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. When do you usually add videos
11 to this play list?
12 A. When? There is no when. It is
13 like my Twitter and stuff, it is like a
14 diary. I want to learn -- learn more than
15 I came, because I'm not an expert.
16 Q. I'm going to show you a video
17 on the screen behind you, and it is the
18 video -- actually, let me have you read on
19 your paper, do you see the video that is
20 highlighted on your YouTube account?
21 A. Yes, yes.
22 Q. Can you read that?
23 A. The title?
24 Q. Yes.
25 A. "Reddit rebellion is sparking
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2 three market scenarios, and one's really
3 bullish: Fundstrat's Tom Lee."
4 MR. COHEN: Okay. And my
5 understanding, Mr. Rosen, is that we are
6 going to e-mail these videos to Veritext
7 and copy you and that it will all be part
8 of the package of this exhibit.
9 MR. ROSEN: So this is an
10 exhibit?
11 MR. COHEN: This video is an
12 exhibit.
13 MR. ROSEN: The only question I
14 have is that says "GameStop's epic
15 move" and this says "Regime change on
16 Wall Street," are they the same video
17 or two different videos?
18 MR. COHEN: It is the same
19 video. A way that you can confirm, the
20 URL is at the top. Or we can play the
21 URL if you prefer.
22 MR. ROSEN: I don't have any
23 position one way or the other. I'm
24 just asking if it is the same thing
25 that you are showing him. But if you
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2 say so, I will take your word for it.
3 MR. COHEN: And we are going to
4 play the beginning until 14 seconds.
5 (Video played.)
6 Q. Do you remember Elon Musk
7 tweeting out "Gamestonk"?
8 A. No.
9 Q. Sitting here today, are you
10 familiar with that tweet?
11 A. Yeah. I think it was on the
12 Netflix documentary.
13 Q. And what did that tweet mean?
14 A. I had no clue. I have nothing
15 to do with GameStop.
16 Q. But as a consumer of social
17 media at that time, you didn't see this at
18 all you're saying?
19 A. I don't remember seeing it that
20 day.
21 Q. Do you remember seeing it at
22 all around that time?
23 A. No. I was confused the whole
24 time.
25 Q. What were you confused about?
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2 A. This (indicating).
3 Q. The meme stocks?
4 A. Yeah. A short squeeze is
5 supposed to last two days, three days, if
6 you ask an expert. I'm not an expert.
7 Q. And this lasted longer?
8 A. So somebody -- somebody was
9 manipulating it. It wasn't a short
10 squeeze, it was something else.
11 Q. And that's what confused you at
12 that time?
13 A. Yes.
14 MR. ROSEN: You are talking
15 about GameStop?
16 THE WITNESS: Yes, all of it.
17 I was confused the whole time.
18 Q. Because of how long the short
19 squeeze was?
20 A. Yeah. Like it doesn't -- it
21 doesn't seem normal. There probably could
22 be another word for this.
23 MR. COHEN: Let's play from
24 1:46 to 1:55.
25 (Video played.)
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2 MR. COHEN: Oh, and pause it,
3 please. Mr. Rosen, just to --
4 MR. ROSEN: I recognize it.
5 MR. COHEN: So, for the record,
6 this is the image that we see on the
7 hard copy document and this confirms
8 that the video is in fact related to
9 the hard copy document. Do you agree,
10 Mr. Rosen?
11 MR. ROSEN: It looks the same.
12 MR. COHEN: Okay, thank you.
13 (Video played.)
14 Q. So when you saved this video,
15 what did you think this segment was talking
16 about?
17 A. It was talking about GameStop
18 at that time, but I found these videos in
19 2022.
20 Q. Did you hear it say "beyond
21 BlackBerry"?
22 A. Yeah, she said "beyond
23 BlackBerry." That was the part that, when
24 I said the fear earlier today, she is
25 confirming it.
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2 Q. So could you explain what you
3 just said?
4 A. Well, like it can affect the
5 broader market.
6 Q. So earlier, correct me if I'm
7 wrong, earlier you testified that around
8 this time you had a fear that something was
9 amiss in the market?
10 A. I had a fear it would affect my
11 BlackBerry position.
12 Q. And that fear is confirmed
13 by --
14 A. Well, she is asking the same
15 question, could it affect the broader
16 market, and everybody acted professional,
17 but if somebody -- it could have, it could
18 have went either way.
19 Q. Okay. And can I ask you to
20 look at the hard copy document really
21 quickly. This video was posted on January
22 26th, 2021, correct?
23 A. Yeah. You see that's an
24 interview on that day, yeah.
25 MR. COHEN: Let's go to 7
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2 minutes and 53 seconds.
3 (Video played.)
4 Q. So when she said "the little
5 guy can actually win," did you hear that?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. Is that consistent with your
8 understanding of the meme stock short
9 squeeze?
10 MR. ROSEN: Objection, calls
11 for speculation.
12 A. No, I was confused the whole
13 time.
14 Q. Do you know at all what she was
15 talking about?
16 A. I didn't watch this video at
17 that time.
18 Q. I'm showing you what's marked
19 Exhibit 137.
20 (Defendant's Exhibit 137 marked
21 for identification.)
22 Q. Mr. Poirier, this document also
23 shows your YouTube page, correct?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. And it also shows videos listed
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2 in your Motivation saved video list?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. And could you read the title of
5 this video?
6 A. "Payne sounds off on Wall
7 Street over GameStop: All of this whining
8 is making me sick."
9 Q. And this video was posted
10 January 27th, 2021?
11 A. Yeah.
12 Q. And do you recall why you saved
13 this video?
14 A. Yeah, I was confused the whole
15 time. I didn't even know people were
16 talking about it. I didn't know -- I don't
17 have Fox channel. I wish I knew. I would
18 have -- I could have maybe understand more.
19 Q. Okay. Let's watch a short clip
20 of this.
21 Do we agree that this video
22 matches what's on the document?
23 A. Yes.
24 MR. COHEN: Let's play at 55
25 seconds.
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2 (Video played.)
3 Q. So he is talking about shorting
4 Wall Street firms, correct?
5 A. Yes.
6 MR. ROSEN: Shorting Wall
7 Street firms?
8 MR. COHEN: Hedge funds.
9 Squeezing, I'm sorry.
10 Q. He is talking about squeezing
11 the hedge funds and Wall Street firms that
12 shorted the stock, correct?
13 A. Can you replay it?
14 Q. Yeah.
15 (Video played.)
16 Q. So he is talking about Wall
17 Street firms that were shorting GameStop,
18 correct?
19 A. He said beyond 140 percent.
20 Q. That's how much they were
21 shorting the stock?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. And he said that he encouraged
24 his subscribers to buy the stock still,
25 correct?
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2 A. I guess so.
3 Q. And is it your understanding
4 that that is the mechanism by which a short
5 squeeze is done?
6 MR. ROSEN: Objection, calls
7 for speculation.
8 A. I'm guessing that Melvin
9 Capital is covering his shorts and that's
10 what is creating the short squeeze. Retail
11 investors, the little guy, these are all
12 big guys that's creating this. Somebody
13 big made a lot of money and somebody big
14 lost a lot of money. The little guy has no
15 control.
16 Q. Is it your opinion that retail
17 investors, the little guy, as you say,
18 should band together?
19 MR. ROSEN: Objection, calls
20 for speculation. He is not here to
21 give you opinion, he is here to testify
22 about facts in his knowledge.
23 A. I didn't know. I didn't even
24 know about Reddit.
25 Q. One last video. I'm showing
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2 you, Mr. Poirier, an exhibit marked 138.
3 (Defendant's Exhibit 138 marked
4 for identification.)
5 Q. This is, once again, a screen
6 capture of your YouTube page, correct?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. And on the side it shows the
9 videos that you saved in your Motivation
10 video folder, correct?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And the video that is
13 highlighted on this page is the one that
14 appears on a larger pane in the video play
15 position?
16 A. Say that again.
17 Q. Could you tell me what video is
18 being featured here?
19 A. It is an interview on CNBC.
20 Q. And what's the title?
21 A. "Chamath," whatever his last
22 last name is, "on GameStop Stock, AMC
23 Stock... Reddit, WallStreetBets is Retail
24 Revenge."
25 Q. And this was posted on January
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2 27th, 2021?
3 A. Yes.
4 MR. COHEN: Let's play this
5 from 7:20. Oh, and just for the
6 record, could you confirm, Mr. Rosen,
7 that this is the same video?
8 MR. ROSEN: I can't. It looks
9 to have the same picture on it. But I
10 will take your word for it. I don't
11 know.
12 (Video played.)
13 Q. So you heard him talk about
14 momentum trading of retail investors,
15 correct?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. And he was talking about stocks
18 such as AMC and GameStop, correct?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. And those are meme stocks?
21 A. They gave that title after I
22 think.
23 Q. You were aware of something
24 amiss in the market in January 2021,
25 correct?
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2 MR. ROSEN: Objection, vague,
3 confusing.
4 Q. You believed there to be
5 something amiss in the market in January
6 '21?
7 MR. ROSEN: Objection,
8 mischaracterizes his testimony.
9 A. Amiss? It was the first time I
10 seen something like that.
11 Q. In January 2021?
12 A. Yeah, and it seems like it was
13 the first time they saw something like that
14 too.
15 Q. So there was -- you were
16 uncertain about what was happening in the
17 market?
18 A. Clueless the whole time.
19 Q. Okay. Let's fast forward a day
20 to January 28th, 2021. And I'm sorry, you
21 can resume your position.
22 You are aware that Robinhood
23 implemented certain restrictions on
24 purchasing on its platform on January 28th,
25 2021?
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2 A. Yes.
3 Q. Can you describe those
4 restrictions for me?
5 A. They took out the buy button
6 and it was sell only and they limited --
7 they limited the amount you could buy.
8 Q. Did they do this for all
9 stocks?
10 A. No, for 50 stocks in total.
11 Q. And do you recall any increase
12 in restrictions as the day went on?
13 A. No.
14 Q. Do you know how long Robinhood
15 kept those restrictions in place?
16 A. Until the 4th of February.
17 Q. And Robinhood -- these
18 restrictions only applied to Robinhood's
19 customers, correct?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. Do you know if any other
22 brokers put similar restrictions on buying
23 during this time?
24 A. I guess so, yeah.
25 Q. You guess so?
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2 A. In the Congress report it says
3 whoever was in more trouble put more
4 restrictions, and the rest did their own
5 thing.
6 Q. When did you first hear about
7 Robinhood's restrictions?
8 A. I was confused, probably that
9 day, yeah, for GameStop, but I didn't know
10 BlackBerry was on the list.
11 Q. Did you see social media posts
12 about Robinhood's restrictions on January
13 28th?
14 A. I don't remember.
15 Q. Did you see information in the
16 news about the restrictions on January
17 28th?
18 A. I don't remember.
19 Q. Where that day do you think you
20 heard of the restrictions that Robinhood
21 imposed on traders on January 28th?
22 A. I don't remember.
23 MR. ROSEN: Can we take a break
24 before you get started on the next one?
25 MR. COHEN: Yeah.
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2 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: The time is
3 2:40 p.m. and this marks the end of
4 media unit number three.
5 (Recess taken.)
6 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: The time is
7 2:49 p.m. and this begins media unit
8 number four.
9 BY MR. COHEN:
10 Q. I'm showing you what's been
11 marked Exhibit 139.
12 (Defendant's Exhibit 139 marked
13 for identification.)
14 Q. This is a retweet that you made
15 on January 28th, 2021, correct?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. Could you read the text of the
18 post, please.
19 A. The first one?
20 Q. Of the one you retweeted.
21 A. "Robinhood will not allow
22 opening positions in GameStop, AMC, Bed
23 Bath & Beyond, Nokia, Koss and NAKD."
24 Q. And BlackBerry was in that
25 list?
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2 A. Yes.
3 Q. So on January 28th, as you were
4 saying, you did become aware of Robinhood's
5 restrictions, correct?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. What does "not allow opening
8 position" mean?
9 A. To buy I think.
10 Q. So Robinhood didn't allow
11 purchase of these stocks listed in the
12 tweet?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. Including BlackBerry?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. But you were still personally
17 able to buy BlackBerry stock?
18 A. Yes. I didn't believe what I
19 was seeing.
20 Q. What didn't you believe?
21 A. I had no clue if this was true.
22 Q. But you retweeted it?
23 A. Yeah, so I can read it again,
24 so I don't forget what was going on.
25 Q. Okay. So you wanted to remind
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2 yourself about these restrictions?
3 A. I have a very short-term
4 memory, I had a couple of concussions
5 playing hockey and, yeah.
6 Q. I'm sorry to hear that.
7 A. Yeah.
8 Q. I'm showing you what has been
9 marked Exhibit 140.
10 (Defendant's Exhibit 140 marked
11 for identification.)
12 Q. This is another January 28th,
13 2021 post that you retweeted, correct?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. And it says "I told you
16 Robinhood is a front for Wall Street.
17 They've enriched themselves and Citadel at
18 your expense. They lie about free trades.
19 Now banning GameStop/AMC trading. This
20 will certainly hurt many people."
21 Did I read that correctly?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. And you retweeted this,
24 correct?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. What does banning GameStop/AMC
3 trading mean?
4 A. You can't buy.
5 Q. Earlier we discussed -- you can
6 put the exhibit away -- earlier we
7 discussed that you purchased 4,000 shares
8 of BlackBerry on December 18th, 2020,
9 right?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. And then you purchased 8,000
12 shares of BlackBerry on January 14th, 2021,
13 right?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. And then you purchased another
16 8,000 shares of BlackBerry on January 25th,
17 2021?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. Then we saw that you sold 1,000
20 shares on January 26th, correct?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. Let's look at your February
23 2021 TFSA account. This is Exhibit 141.
24 (Defendant's Exhibit 141 marked
25 for identification.)
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2 Q. Can you confirm that this is
3 your February 2021 Questrade TFSA account?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. And it says at the top that
6 this reflects all the trades you settled
7 between February 1st, 2021 and February
8 26th, 2021, correct?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. Let's go to the page ending
11 with 269, and, for the record, the
12 beginning Bates of this document is
13 P00002255.
14 So in the first row of this
15 page you see that you bought 8,000 shares
16 of BlackBerry stock on January 28th, 2021,
17 correct?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. Do you recall when in the day
20 you purchased those shares?
21 A. No.
22 Q. And this was the day you became
23 aware of Robinhood's restrictions, correct?
24 A. Speculation of them
25 restricting. I wasn't confirmed that they
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2 did it.
3 Q. But you saw news that they were
4 doing that, correct?
5 MR. ROSEN: News or a tweet?
6 Q. You saw --
7 A. A rumor.
8 Q. On social media you saw posts
9 that --
10 A. There was a rumor that
11 Robinhood, and I bought some.
12 Q. Why did you decide to buy
13 again?
14 A. I wanted to -- I wanted to --
15 well, I liked the stock, I liked the
16 company, and I don't remember why exactly.
17 Q. And do you remember why you
18 again purchased 8,000 shares?
19 A. No, I can't -- I can't
20 remember.
21 Q. But you liked the stock,
22 correct?
23 A. Yeah.
24 Q. And you thought it would still
25 continue to rise, correct?
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2 A. Yeah.
3 Q. And at this time you purchased
4 the stock even though you had seen rumors
5 of Robinhood's trading restrictions, right?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. Did you believe that there was
8 a short squeeze ongoing at this time?
9 MR. ROSEN: Which stock are we
10 talking about?
11 MR. COHEN: I'm sorry?
12 MR. ROSEN: You are not
13 specifying which stock.
14 Q. Did you believe that there was
15 a short squeeze going on for GameStop at
16 this time?
17 A. I have no clue what was going
18 on with GameStop.
19 Q. Did you think that there was a
20 short squeeze going on for any meme stock
21 at this time?
22 A. No, I don't know if -- there
23 was something going on. I didn't know it
24 was a short squeeze.
25 Q. Okay. But you decided on
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2 January 28th, 2021 that you were going to
3 buy BlackBerry stock regardless of the
4 other information that you had seen that
5 day?
6 A. Yeah.
7 Q. Did you have any reason to
8 believe that BlackBerry stock, the price of
9 BlackBerry stock would continue to increase
10 after you purchased?
11 A. Anything can happen, yeah.
12 Q. Did you believe that the
13 stock -- the BlackBerry stock price would
14 increase based on reasons other than the
15 company's fundamental value?
16 A. Say that again.
17 Q. Did you believe that, when you
18 purchased these shares, these 8,000 shares,
19 that BlackBerry's stock price would
20 continue to rise for reasons other than the
21 company's value?
22 A. I don't remember.
23 Q. But at that time you can't --
24 you can't recall that you had seen any
25 information about BlackBerry's company in
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2 any way?
3 MR. ROSEN: Objection, vague.
4 Q. Do you recall seeing any news
5 about BlackBerry?
6 MR. ROSEN: On what day?
7 Q. On January 28th, 2021, do you
8 remember seeing any news about BlackBerry?
9 A. No.
10 Q. I'm showing you what has been
11 marked Exhibit 142.
12 (Defendant's Exhibit 142 marked
13 for identification.)
14 Q. This is another post you
15 retweeted, correct?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. And this is Real Aloy?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. And the date of Real Aloy's
20 post is January 28th, 2021, correct?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. 6:06 a.m.?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. The post that you retweeted
25 says "GME tops $500, that is how bad a
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2 trade the reckless and risky hedge funds
3 indulged in...DON'T SELL." And "DON'T
4 SELL" is all in capitals, correct?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. And below that it says "BB,
7 AMC, NOK, EXPR," right?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. And BB is referring to
10 BlackBerry?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. This post calls hedge funds
13 reckless and risky. Do you see that?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. Do you agree with that?
16 A. At that time?
17 Q. Yes.
18 A. I had no clue.
19 Q. Do you agree with that now?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. Why?
22 A. Melvin Capital had 50 percent
23 short interest in GameStop, the whole
24 float, 50 percent of the float.
25 Q. And why was that risky?
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2 MR. ROSEN: Sorry, you can
3 answer the question. Repeat the
4 question and let him answer it.
5 Q. You said Melvin Capital had 50
6 percent short interest in GameStop, the
7 whole float, 50 percent of the float. And
8 I asked why was that risky?
9 A. Well, I'm not a hedge fund guy,
10 but look at the price. It is not looking
11 good.
12 Q. When you retweeted this tweet,
13 were you encouraged to hold on to your
14 BlackBerry stock?
15 MR. ROSEN: Are you asking him
16 if this tweet encouraged him to hold on
17 to his BlackBerry stock?
18 MR. COHEN: That's what I'm
19 asking.
20 A. No, I don't -- I make my own
21 opinion.
22 Q. And why did you retweet this?
23 A. So I don't forget about it. At
24 that time I don't even know what a hedge
25 fund is. I'm still not 100 percent sure
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2 what a hedge fund is. A small bank that's
3 allowed to trade?
4 Q. I'm showing you what has been
5 marked as Exhibit 143.
6 (Defendant's Exhibit 143 marked
7 for identification.)
8 Q. Can you look down at the bottom
9 tweet. Do you see that you retweeted Elon
10 Musk's tweet from January 28th, 2021?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And that tweet says "Buy and
13 hold companies that make goods and produce
14 services you love"?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. And this is Elon Musk, the man
17 at the beginning of this deposition you
18 referred to as a genius, correct?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. Do you think other people held
21 that same opinion of him?
22 MR. ROSEN: Objection, calls
23 for speculation.
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. And he is telling people to
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2 hold on to stock rather than sell it?
3 A. That makes goods and produces
4 services you love, yeah.
5 Q. BlackBerry makes goods and
6 produces services you love, correct?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. I'm showing you what's been
9 marked Exhibit 144.
10 (Defendant's Exhibit 144 marked
11 for identification.)
12 Q. This is from your Twitter feed,
13 correct?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. Or is this Reddit? I'm sorry.
16 A. Twitter.
17 Q. It is Twitter. And at the
18 bottom of this page is a tweet from the
19 Chairman. Do you see that?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. And this is in the
22 WallStreetBets subreddit, correct?
23 A. I'm not sure. Yeah, it seems
24 that -- is it the same guy? These are two
25 different guys.
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2 Q. Do you see that it's -- the
3 handle is @WallStreetBetsChairman, or
4 @WSBChairman?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. And the tweet says "Good night
7 everyone. See you at the moon tomorrow."
8 Do you see that?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. Do you know who WSB Chairman
11 is?
12 A. No.
13 Q. Do you know what "see you at
14 the moon" means?
15 A. No.
16 Q. On your Twitter profile, it
17 says "to the moon," doesn't it?
18 A. Yes, Puffy to the moon.
19 Q. And your Twitter profile talks
20 about BlackBerry, correct?
21 A. To the moon is not regarding
22 BlackBerry, it is regarding Tesla.
23 Q. The "to the moon," earlier when
24 you were describing what "to the moon"
25 means in your Twitter profile, do you
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2 remember that?
3 A. Did I say it was a joke? It is
4 supposed to be a joke.
5 Q. What was the joke?
6 A. It is a cat with a space moon
7 helmet on it.
8 Q. I'm going to read you --
9 earlier today did I ask you "And what does
10 'to the moon' mean?" And did you answer
11 "The stock will go higher"?
12 MR. ROSEN: You are asking if
13 he remembers what he said five hours
14 earlier?
15 A. I don't remember what I said.
16 Q. Okay. Does "to the moon" mean
17 that the stock will go higher?
18 A. Tesla stock will go higher, I
19 believe in that, and one, it says for shit
20 and giggles.
21 Q. When WSB Chairman said "See you
22 at the moon tomorrow" with a rocket, he was
23 saying that the stocks would go higher,
24 correct?
25 MR. ROSEN: Objection. The
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2 stocks, what stocks?
3 A. It could be SpaceX, another
4 Elon Musk company.
5 Q. I'm showing you what's been
6 marked Exhibit 145.
7 (Defendant's Exhibit 145 marked
8 for identification.)
9 Q. At the top of this page it
10 shows your Twitter handle, correct?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. This is your Twitter page,
13 correct?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. And the first tweet on the page
16 is a January 28th, 2021 post saying "Let's
17 go," with a lot of O's, "BB!"
18 Do you see that?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. And BB is referring to
21 BlackBerry, correct?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. And the figure in the middle is
24 a man behind a WallStreetBets sign,
25 correct?
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2 A. Yes.
3 Q. And he is holding up with his
4 left hand on the right side of the page the
5 word "BlackBerry," correct?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. And above "BlackBerry" is a
8 picture of a moon and an astronaut,
9 correct?
10 A. It looks like the BlackBerry
11 logo and an astronaut and a golf ball.
12 Q. So this post is saying that
13 BlackBerry will go to the moon, correct?
14 MR. ROSEN: Objection. The
15 document speaks for itself.
16 A. It doesn't say that.
17 MR. COHEN: I agree.
18 MR. ROSEN: You are agreeing
19 with his answer or my objection?
20 MR. COHEN: I agree that the
21 document speaks for itself.
22 MR. COHEN: Your speaking
23 objections are getting a little
24 tiresome.
25 MR. ROSEN: Well, I mean, in
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2 all fairness, Scott, you are creating a
3 narrative around a document and saying
4 isn't it true, and you are just
5 creating this narrative around a
6 document. I mean, it is like a
7 cartoon. You are asking him to
8 interpret the cartoon the way you want
9 to, and I don't think that's -- I think
10 it mischaracterizes the cartoon and,
11 you know, but, anyway, keep going.
12 MR. COHEN: Well, you're not on
13 deposition.
14 Q. Let's go back to Exhibit 141,
15 please, which is your February Questrade
16 TFSA statement.
17 MR. ROSEN: Which exhibit
18 number?
19 MR. COHEN: 141.
20 MR. ROSEN: So it has got 2255
21 in the bottom, right, Exhibit 141?
22 MR. COHEN: I believe that is
23 the beginning Bates, yes.
24 Q. All right. I will ask you to
25 go to the page ending 269.
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2 A. Got it.
3 Q. So it looks like you sold 5,000
4 shares of BlackBerry stock on January 28th,
5 2021, right?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. Do you remember when in the day
8 you sold that?
9 A. No.
10 Q. But it was after you purchased
11 the 8,000 shares, correct?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. In the same day?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. Did you have any new
16 information about BlackBerry that would
17 lead you to sell at this time?
18 A. No. From the company,
19 BlackBerry?
20 Q. Or about the company.
21 A. No. I think it is me being
22 disciplined. You need to put some -- you
23 need to sell at some point, and me being
24 disciplined is -- I should be more
25 disciplined, like Warren Buffett, 35
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2 percent cash and stuff. So I probably
3 tried to be more disciplined at least
4 starting that day with all the information
5 that was going on.
6 Q. Let's go down three rows. On
7 January 29th, 2021 you sold another 3,000
8 shares of BlackBerry, correct?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. Do you recall why you sold at
11 that time?
12 A. No, but probably panicking.
13 Q. Because of the --
14 A. I'm clueless, I'm not sure
15 what's going on, and the stock just dropped
16 50 percent, 44 percent, 45 percent.
17 Q. And did you believe that had
18 anything to do with Robinhood's
19 restrictions?
20 A. No, because I didn't know if
21 BlackBerry was on the list, because I
22 bought 8,000 that morning, and the rumor is
23 there's a restriction going on, and there
24 is another rumor saying there is a patent
25 getting done. So there is a lot of
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2 confusion.
3 Q. So you were confused, correct?
4 A. Of the information that was on
5 Twitter, yes.
6 Q. And if you go four more rows
7 down, you sold 5,000 shares of BlackBerry
8 on February 1st, 2021. Do you see that?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. Do you know why you sold those
11 shares?
12 A. I don't remember why, no.
13 Q. Do you recall having any new
14 information about BlackBerry?
15 A. No. It is panicking and
16 discipline and confused the whole time, and
17 that seemed like the smart thing to do.
18 Q. Did you believe that
19 BlackBerry's value had decreased at this
20 time?
21 A. No, no. Those videos, 44
22 percent drop, that is scary. I don't
23 remember 40 percent drop that day, but...
24 Q. Let's go to the next page
25 ending 270 at the bottom. If you look at
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2 the first row, you sold 4,000 shares of
3 BlackBerry on February 2nd, 2021, correct?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. Do you remember why you sold
6 those shares on that day?
7 A. For the same reasons.
8 Q. Just uncertainty?
9 A. Yeah, scary. I could take a
10 better guess with the chart next to it than
11 just seeing the number.
12 Q. Am I correct that in January --
13 you can put that away -- in January 2021
14 and February 2021 you did not buy or sell
15 shares of AMC?
16 A. No.
17 Q. Bed Bath & Beyond?
18 A. No.
19 Q. Did you buy or sell shares of
20 Express Inc.?
21 A. No.
22 Q. Did you buy or sell shares of
23 GameStop?
24 A. No.
25 Q. Did you buy or sell shares of
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2 Nokia?
3 A. No.
4 Q. Did you buy or sell shares of
5 Koss Corporation?
6 A. No.
7 Q. Did you buy or sell shares of
8 Tootsie Roll?
9 A. No.
10 Q. Did you buy or sell shares of
11 Trivago?
12 A. No.
13 Q. Did you consider buying any of
14 these shares -- any shares of these stock
15 in January 2021?
16 A. I maybe looked at GameStop, but
17 I was clueless. I didn't know what was
18 going on.
19 Q. But you looked at it because of
20 the price?
21 A. Yeah, it went up. AMC I
22 understood a little bit why, because the
23 movie theaters, like as long as nobody was
24 filing bankruptcy, it was cheap.
25 Q. Purchasing those stocks were
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2 cheap then?
3 A. I can understand people were
4 buying it, because no bankruptcy, COVID was
5 over.
6 Q. Since January 2021 have you
7 purchased shares of BlackBerry again?
8 A. After?
9 Q. Yes.
10 A. Yes. Shares? Probably. I'm
11 not sure.
12 Q. But options you have?
13 A. Options I have, yeah. I still
14 believed in the company afterwards.
15 Q. And why aren't you purchasing
16 as much stock?
17 A. Now, today?
18 Q. Yeah.
19 A. Well, mainly Robinhood made me
20 lost a lot of money, almost everything,
21 everything pretty much.
22 Q. Right now is it your opinion
23 that BlackBerry stock is undervalued?
24 A. Long-term, yes.
25 Q. What does that mean?
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2 A. They have a lot of potential in
3 the future.
4 Q. And I think we covered this
5 towards the beginning, but today you still
6 use Questrade?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. And that's the only brokerage
9 that you use?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. Do you hold stock in any of the
12 other companies we've discussed in this
13 deposition?
14 MR. ROSEN: You mean the nine
15 stocks that are subject to the lawsuit?
16 MR. COHEN: Yes.
17 Q. And I will go -- I will go
18 through them for you. Do you presently
19 hold any AMC stock?
20 A. No.
21 Q. Do you presently hold any Bed
22 Bath & Beyond stock?
23 A. No.
24 Q. Do you presently hold any
25 GameStop stock?
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2 A. No.
3 Q. Do you presently hold any
4 Express Inc. stock?
5 A. No.
6 Q. Do you presently hold any Koss
7 Corporation stock?
8 A. No.
9 Q. Do you presently hold any Nokia
10 stock?
11 A. No.
12 Q. Do you presently hold any
13 Tootsie Roll stock?
14 A. No.
15 Q. Do you presently hold any
16 Trivago stock?
17 A. No.
18 Q. Do you know what stocks make up
19 the greatest portion of your portfolio
20 today?
21 A. Yes, I know, yeah.
22 Q. Could you tell me?
23 A. I have a put option on
24 Microsoft.
25 Q. Long-term?
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2 A. No, short-term.
3 Q. And that makes up the bulk of
4 your portfolio?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. Any other stocks?
7 A. No. Oh, yeah, maybe I have a
8 hundred bucks in weed stocks, the weed
9 stock.
10 Q. Like cannabis?
11 A. Yeah.
12 Q. Is that an American company?
13 A. I'm not sure.
14 Q. What made you want to invest in
15 that?
16 A. Sometimes I just buy a little
17 to remind me of I should look in it. It is
18 a new industry, but it is complicated.
19 Q. Because of the legality issue?
20 A. No, just there is already like
21 so many companies, which company is going
22 to win.
23 Q. Approximately what is the value
24 of your investment portfolio today?
25 A.
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2 Q. So you are a named plaintiff in
3 this case, correct?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. What does it mean to be a named
6 plaintiff?
7 A. I'm going to try to help out
8 with everybody that's involved in the class
9 action, that sold their stocks during that
10 time period.
11 Q. So you mentioned a class
12 action. What is a class action?
13 A. A group of people that suffered
14 damages.
15 Q. And do you know what a class
16 representative is?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. And you are seeking to be a
19 class representative in this action?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. Why is that?
22 A. I think I would be helpful for
23 this case.
24 Q. How so?
25 A. Just by my statements, the
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2 evidence I show speaks for themself.
3 Q. So because of your personal
4 story, you think you will be a good class
5 representative?
6 MR. ROSEN: Come on, don't put
7 words in his mouth. Ask him a
8 legitimate question, please.
9 Q. What do you understand to be
10 the responsibilities of a class
11 representative?
12 A. Yes, I understand.
13 Q. I'm sorry, what are the
14 responsibilities of a class representative?
15 A. To make sure they did -- the
16 complaint is reviewed and everything looks
17 good to go forward.
18 Q. When did you first hear about
19 this lawsuit?
20 A. 2022.
21 Q. How did you hear about it?
22 A. On the internet. I was
23 searching for -- I was searching for it.
24 Q. You were affirmatively
25 searching for ways to join in an action
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2 against Robinhood?
3 A. Yeah, because this is all brand
4 new to me. I didn't know -- Questrade
5 wasn't going to let me know, so I guess
6 it's up to yourself to protect yourself.
7 Q. Did you ask Questrade about
8 participating in a lawsuit?
9 A. No.
10 Q. Did you reach out to The Rosen
11 Law Firm?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. And about when was that?
14 A. In 2022.
15 Q. And who did you speak with at
16 the firm?
17 A. Laurence maybe the first time
18 or Michael.
19 Q. Was this the first contact you
20 ever had with The Rosen Law Firm?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. I'm handing you what's been
23 marked Exhibit 146.
24 (Defendant's Exhibit 146 marked
25 for identification.)
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2 Q. This is a Reddit post, correct?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. And the top post is about The
5 Rosen Law Firm defeating Robinhood's motion
6 to dismiss in this case, correct?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. If you flip to the third page,
9 at the bottom is a comment that you made on
10 that post, correct?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And that was on August 31st,
13 2022?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. And you say "Anyone here thinks
16 it go be the biggest stock market
17 settlement ever? In the billions?"
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. Is this when you learned about
20 the lawsuit?
21 A. I'm not sure.
22 Q. Do you remember making this
23 comment?
24 A. No.
25 Q. Is it your goal to earn a
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2 settlement in this case?
3 A. To everybody in the class, to
4 earn something.
5 Q. In the billions?
6 A. It could happen. There was two
7 lawsuits. I'm not sure if it's -- if this
8 is the Robinhood one or the Citadel one, of
9 collusion that got dismissed.
10 Q. Did you seek to join the
11 Citadel lawsuit?
12 A. I think it was already
13 dismissed, that one, by the time I found
14 it.
15 Q. I'm handing you what's been
16 marked Exhibit 147.
17 (Defendant's Exhibit 147 marked
18 for identification.)
19 MR. ROSEN: I'm going to need a
20 truck to carry all of these things back
21 to my office.
22 Q. So this is StockTwits, right?
23 A. Yeah.
24 Q. And this is your account?
25 A. Yes.
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2 Q. And on May 16th, 2022 you
3 posted this post, correct?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. Can you read what you wrote?
6 A. "Is there a lawsuit for Citadel
7 and Robinhood for Canadians for January 28?
8 Class action lawsuit that we should know
9 about or lawyers to contact?"
10 Q. And why did you make this post?
11 A. To seek information, to seek an
12 answer, if somebody had an answer for me.
13 Q. And this is the -- withdrawn.
14 Does the lawsuit you are
15 participating in now satisfy your quest to
16 be part of a lawsuit like the one you were
17 talking about in the StockTwits post?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. Are you aware of any
20 allegations against Citadel in the current
21 complaint?
22 A. The current complaint? Yes.
23 Q. Earlier today you mentioned the
24 Congressional report. Do you remember
25 that?
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2 A. Yes.
3 Q. What were you talking about?
4 A. The report, the document from
5 the Congress.
6 Q. From the United States
7 Congress?
8 A. Yeah.
9 Q. And it dealt with Robinhood?
10 A. Robinhood is involved, yeah.
11 Q. Have you read that report?
12 A. I tried to, yeah.
13 Q. What do you mean, you tried to?
14 A. Well, I'm not a lawyer, so
15 there was a lot of pages in that one.
16 Q. Excluding your deposition
17 today, about how much time would you say
18 you have spent on matters relating to this
19 lawsuit?
20 A. How much time? It is a weekly
21 thing. I talk to the lawyers and stuff,
22 frequently, since October I think, or
23 September.
24 Q. Of 2022?
25 A. Yeah.
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2 Q. And how long are these weekly,
3 did you say they are meetings, how long is
4 this weekly thing?
5 A. E-mails, stuff, we made a Zoom
6 call once, to sign the certification and
7 all that kind of stuff. They added my name
8 as a representative.
9 Q. In the complaint?
10 A. Yeah.
11 Q. Have you read the complaint?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. When did you read it?
14 A. A couple of times, and, again,
15 yesterday.
16 Q. Have you reviewed the other
17 filings in this case?
18 MR. ROSEN: Could you be more
19 specific?
20 Q. Have you reviewed --
21 MR. ROSEN: When you say
22 filings, I mean, he's not a lawyer.
23 You mean court filings?
24 Q. Have you reviewed any other
25 court filings in this case?
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2 A. I think so, yeah.
3 Q. Like what?
4 A. Does the retainer agreement
5 count for one? Certification.
6 Q. Have you read any of the
7 motions that have been filed in this case?
8 A. Probably not all of them. Is
9 it in the document?
10 Q. No, I haven't shown you
11 anything. I'm just wondering about your
12 general involvement so far.
13 A. I probably read it at some
14 point.
15 Q. Have you done anything to
16 prepare for this lawsuit?
17 MR. ROSEN: For this lawsuit?
18 That is a rather vague question. Could
19 you be more specific, please?
20 Q. Have you, Mr. Poirier, done
21 research about issues involved in this
22 lawsuit?
23 A. No.
24 Q. Have you spoken with the other
25 class representatives?
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2 A. No.
3 Q. Do you know what stage this
4 litigation is at?
5 A. Yes, I think, yes, discovery
6 phase.
7 Q. Okay. And how much time do you
8 expect to spend on this lawsuit moving
9 forward?
10 A. As much time as they need to.
11 Q. Have you been compensated for
12 your time and involvement in this case at
13 all?
14 A. No.
15 Q. Did you pay for your own travel
16 to get here today?
17 A. No.
18 Q. Who paid for that?
19 A. Rosen.
20 Q. And for your hotel?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. Have you been told whether
23 you'll receive compensation as a result of
24 this case?
25 A. No.
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2 Q. This is previous Exhibit 5 in
3 this case. On page 1 -- well, do you know
4 what this is?
5 A. It looks like a complaint
6 document against Robinhood.
7 Q. And on page 1, under Summary of
8 the Action in this first paragraph, it says
9 that "This is a class action on behalf of
10 persons or entities who held common stock"
11 in these companies "as of the close of
12 trading of January 27th, 2021 and sold such
13 shares at a loss between January 28th, 2021
14 and February 4th, 2021."
15 Do you see that?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. So is it your understanding
18 that in order to qualify as losses in this
19 case, a stock had to have been held as of
20 the close of trading on January 27th, 2021?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. And before we looked at the
23 certification that you signed regarding the
24 trades you made in BlackBerry, do you
25 recall that? It is Exhibit 130, if you
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2 could find it.
3 A. Okay, yeah.
4 Q. So this says that --
5 MR. ROSEN: "This" being the
6 certification form, exhibit?
7 Q. I'm sorry, the certification
8 form that you signed on the back page, the
9 chart says that you purchased 8,000 shares
10 of BlackBerry stock on January 28th, 2021.
11 Do you see that?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. Do you understand that this
14 date is after the date upon which you
15 needed to have held shares?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. You understand that?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. Are you alleging in this case
20 that Robinhood's restrictions is what
21 harmed you?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. Even though you were able to
24 sell -- you were able to buy BlackBerry
25 stock through Questrade, correct?
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2 A. Yes.
3 Q. Did Robinhood force you to sell
4 your BlackBerry stock when you sold it?
5 A. No.
6 Q. So how did Robinhood's
7 restrictions cause you to lose money?
8 A. They manipulated the stock
9 price.
10 Q. How?
11 A. By the restrictions.
12 Q. And how do you define your
13 losses?
14 A. From the stocks that I had on
15 the 27th to the ones I sold between the
16 time period, the 28th to the 4th.
17 Q. Is it your allegation as a
18 named plaintiff that the only reason you
19 lost money in selling those shares was
20 because of the purchasing restrictions
21 Robinhood put in place?
22 A. The only reason? Yes.
23 Q. What about your -- before you
24 talked about your discipline in buying and
25 selling stocks. Do you remember that?
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2 A. Yes.
3 Q. Would you attribute any amount
4 of the losses you sustained to a lack of
5 discipline?
6 MR. ROSEN: Objection, calls
7 for a legal conclusion.
8 A. No.
9 Q. Is it your position that there
10 are no other events that occurred between
11 January 28th and February 4th that could
12 have caused your losses?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. I'm going to show you what has
15 been previously marked Exhibit 31, and this
16 is Defendant's First Set of Requests for
17 the Production of Documents and
18 Electronically Stored Information Directed
19 to Plaintiffs, correct?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. Have you seen this before?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. When?
24 A. In January.
25 Q. How did you receive this?
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2 A. E-mail, probably e-mail. No,
3 maybe not this one, no. It just looks the
4 same. Maybe not this one.
5 Q. So this document is asking the
6 plaintiffs to produce documents in their
7 possession relevant to the lawsuit.
8 A. Okay.
9 Q. Do you see that?
10 A. Yeah.
11 Q. Did you receive anything like
12 this?
13 A. Yes, yes, I think so.
14 Q. When did you receive that?
15 A. In January.
16 Q. So what you were talking about
17 before is in fact what you are holding in
18 your hands now?
19 A. Similar to it, yes.
20 Q. When you received this
21 document --
22 A. Okay, yeah.
23 Q. I'm sorry.
24 A. No, I'm starting to remember.
25 There is a lot of pages.
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2 Q. When you received this document
3 in January or something that looked like
4 this document in January, did you search
5 for the documents requested?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. And did you search through your
8 text messages?
9 A. Yes, I checked everything.
10 Q. And hard copy documents too?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. Where else did you look for
13 documents?
14 A. My laptop and my cell phone.
15 Q. When you looked on your laptop,
16 did you enter a search to find documents?
17 A. I don't have a lot of saved, so
18 I just need to scroll down.
19 Q. In your like saved Word files
20 you're saying?
21 A. Yeah, or my cloud, whatever
22 it's called.
23 Q. Do you have a work laptop?
24 A. Personal laptop.
25 Q. Do you use your personal laptop
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2 for work?
3 A. No.
4 Q. And do you have an e-mail
5 account?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. How many?
8 A. Google, Gmail account.
9 Q. Did you search both of those
10 accounts -- is that just one account?
11 A. I have -- I have another
12 account that is like junk mail. I don't
13 use it.
14 Q. Did you search all of your
15 e-mail accounts for responsive documents?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. Do you maintain your investment
18 records anywhere?
19 A. No.
20 Q. How do you see them when you
21 want to look at them?
22 A. It's on Questrade.
23 Q. So did you look -- did you look
24 at your Questrade interface for documents
25 responsive to this request?
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2 A. Yes.
3 Q. And you produced everything
4 that you had from it?
5 A. Yes, and I think they did a
6 good job of putting everything together.
7 Q. Did you ever communicate in
8 writing with anybody regarding BlackBerry
9 securities?
10 A. No.
11 Q. Have you gotten a new phone in
12 the last few months, since January?
13 A. No.
14 Q. Did you search all of your
15 social media accounts for responsive
16 documents?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. Did you search the private
19 areas of those social media accounts, like
20 direct messages?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. And your private accounts you
23 searched?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. And you turned over all of the
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2 documents responsive?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. Did you limit your search to a
5 specific time frame?
6 A. No.
7 Q. When did you give your
8 documents to counsel?
9 A. January or February or March.
10 After January. Time goes by so fast.
11 Q. Did you take any steps to
12 preserve the documents and make sure they
13 didn't get deleted?
14 MR. ROSEN: Do you have a time
15 frame that you're talking about? Can
16 you be specific about what it is you
17 are asking him?
18 Q. Since January 2021 have you
19 deleted or thrown out any documents that
20 would be responsive to these requests?
21 A. No.
22 MR. COHEN: Could I have --
23 could we take a short break?
24 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: The time is
25 3:57 p.m. -- 3:56 p.m. and we are off
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2 the record.
3 (Recess taken.)
4 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: The time is
5 4:05 p.m. and we are back on the
6 record.
7 MR. COHEN: I have no further
8 questions for you, Mr. Poirier. Thank
9 you for sitting.
10 THE WITNESS: Thanks. I'm glad
11 it's over.
12 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: We are going
13 off the record at 4:05 p.m. and this
14 concludes today's testimony given by
15 Mr. Marcel Poirier. The total number
16 of media units used was four and will
17 be retained by Veritext.
18 MR. ROSEN: I want to designate
19 the transcript confidential.
20
21 [TIME NOTED: 4:05 p.m.]
22
23
24
25
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