Deposition of Richard J. Chivaro — Blue Flame Medical LLC v. Chain Bridge Bank, N.A. (E.D. Va., Dkt. 150-9)
Summary
This is Exhibit 93 in Document 150-9 of Case 1:20-cv-00658, excerpts of the remote deposition via Zoom of Richard J. Chivaro, taken Thursday, March 4, 2021. The witness describes a conversation in which Mr. Kim was concerned about whether Blue Flame was legitimate and uneasy about wiring money to a bank in China, then called back after speaking with Mr. Thomas. He agrees the controller's office had no role in choosing PPE items, negotiating orders, vetting suppliers or setting terms of the Blue Flame contract. He says its role was limited to putting Blue Flame in contact with the Department of General Services and the Office of Emergency Services.
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
“Deposition of Richard J. Chivaro — Blue Flame Medical LLC v. Chain Bridge Bank, N.A. (E.D. Va., Dkt. 150-9).”
Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/court-filing-no-1-20-cv-00658-dkt-150-9-e-d-va-4ec521b6ce/
, SHA-256 d1ba7532c37d2d90358b9c978a5fdf1c9bc5316c524af9942a552860b25f7cc7.Full text
Case 1:20-cv-00658-LMB-IDD Document 150-9 Filed 05/20/21 Page 1 of 7 PageID#
3716
EXHIBIT 93
Richard J. Chivaro 30(b)(6) 3/4/2021
Case 1:20-cv-00658-LMB-IDD Document 150-9 Filed 05/20/21 Page 2 of 7 PageID#Page 1
3717
1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
2 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
3 (Alexandria Division)
4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - X
5 BLUE FLAME MEDICAL LLC, :
6 Plaintiff, :
7 v. : Civil Action No.
8 CHAIN BRIDGE BANK, N.A., : 1:20-cv-00658
9 JOHN J. BROUGH and DAVID M. :
10 EVINGER, :
11 Defendants. :
12 _____________________________ :
13 CHAIN BRIDGE BANK, N.A., :
14 Third-Party Plaintiff, :
15 v. :
16 JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., :
17 Third-Party Defendant. :
18 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - X
19 Remote Deposition
20 Thursday, March 4, 2021
21 Deposition via Zoom of RICHARD J. CHIVARO,
22 a 30(b)(6) witness herein, called for examination by
www.trustpoint.one 800.FOR.DEPO
www.aldersonreporting.com (800.367.3376)
Richard J. Chivaro 30(b)(6) 3/4/2021
Case 1:20-cv-00658-LMB-IDD Document 150-9 Filed 05/20/21 Page 3 of 7 PageID#
Page 113
3718
1 was a legitimate operation. The controller knew
2 nothing about wiring funds to a bank in China. That
3 was news to her.
4 This was the first time that she had heard
5 anybody express any concern with the fact that Blue
6 Flame was not legit. And as I indicated, he later
7 called back and told the controller that he had a
8 conversation with Mr. Thomas and Mr. Thomas seemed to
9 be very knowledgeable about the medical supply
10 industry and that he was now on board with going
11 forward with the deal.
12 Q. Okay. You mentioned, for Mr. Kim's
13 concerns, he was concerned that Mr. Thomas -- let me
14 just get the language right. I don't want to
15 misquote you. He was concerned that the guy was
16 legit, you said, and he was uneasy with wiring money
17 to a bank in China, correct?
18 A. Correct.
19 Q. Did Mr. Kim convey any other concerns to
20 Ms. Yee?
21 A. Well, as I indicated, he wanted to know
22 how well the controller knew Mr. Thomas. She told
www.trustpoint.one 800.FOR.DEPO
www.aldersonreporting.com (800.367.3376)
Richard J. Chivaro 30(b)(6) 3/4/2021
Case 1:20-cv-00658-LMB-IDD Document 150-9 Filed 05/20/21 Page 4 of 7 PageID#
Page 114
3719
1 him that she did not know him, she knew him by name
2 only and was just going -- forwarding -- her exact
3 words were she does not have a dog in this fight,
4 that to the extent that we could get the PPE for
5 California, that she was in support of doing that,
6 that she was not influencing or attempting to
7 influence the governor's office or the Department of
8 General Services or Office of Emergency Services to
9 do a deal that they did not feel comfortable with
10 doing. So that's -- that's about what happened.
11 Q. Did Ms. Yee tell Mr. Kim how she first
12 came to learn about Blue Flame Medical?
13 A. Yes, she told him that she knew him by
14 name only and that he had contacted and reached out
15 to her and that she was -- he knew that the
16 controller contacted the governor's office, both Ann
17 O'Leary and Ana Matosantos, because he spoke with Ana
18 Matosantos and she told him where the information had
19 come from.
20 Q. And did Ms. Yee communicate to Mr. Kim
21 that Mr. Thomas had originally reached out to her
22 fundraiser, Ms. Smith?
www.trustpoint.one 800.FOR.DEPO
www.aldersonreporting.com (800.367.3376)
Richard J. Chivaro 30(b)(6) 3/4/2021
Case 1:20-cv-00658-LMB-IDD Document 150-9 Filed 05/20/21 Page 5 of 7 PageID#
Page 187
3720
1 Q. I just want to clarify some points from
2 your testimony earlier for the record.
3 A. Yep.
4 Q. The controller's office didn't have any
5 role in deciding which PPE items the state of
6 California would purchase in March of 2020, correct?
7 A. Correct.
8 Q. And the controller's office did not have
9 any role in negotiating PPE orders with PPE suppliers
10 in March of 2020, correct?
11 A. Correct.
12 Q. The controller's office did not have any
13 role in vetting potential PPE suppliers in March of
14 2020, correct?
15 A. Correct.
16 Q. And the controller's office didn't have
17 any expertise in PPE in general in March of 2020,
18 correct?
19 A. Or following, correct.
20 Q. And the controller's office didn't
21 negotiate the contract with Blue Flame to purchase
22 100 million N95 masks, correct?
www.trustpoint.one 800.FOR.DEPO
www.aldersonreporting.com (800.367.3376)
Richard J. Chivaro 30(b)(6) 3/4/2021
Case 1:20-cv-00658-LMB-IDD Document 150-9 Filed 05/20/21 Page 6 of 7 PageID#
Page 188
3721
1 A. Correct.
2 Q. And the controller's office didn't have
3 any input into any of the terms of the contract with
4 Blue Flame, correct?
5 A. Correct.
6 Q. In fact, the controller's office's role
7 was limited to putting Blue Flame in contact with the
8 Department of General Services and the Office of
9 Emergency Services, correct?
10 A. Correct, which she did.
11 MR. MITCHELL: Greg, can we please put
12 into the chat the document that we have identified as
13 tab 6, which I believe has been previously marked as
14 Plaintiff's Exhibit 8. And Greg, you'll need to
15 share your screen to show the document to
16 Mr. Chivaro. Please bear with us a moment.
17 BY MR. MITCHELL:
18 Q. All right. Mr. Chivaro, what's on your
19 screen is an email and its attachments that were
20 produced by the state of California. For the record,
21 they bear Bates stamps DGS0212 through DGS0226.
22 And I'd like to first direct your
www.trustpoint.one 800.FOR.DEPO
www.aldersonreporting.com (800.367.3376)
Richard J. Chivaro 30(b)(6) 3/4/2021
Case 1:20-cv-00658-LMB-IDD Document 150-9 Filed 05/20/21 Page 7 of 7 PageID#
Page 191
3722
1 Q. And this is an invoice from Blue Flame
2 Medical, correct?
3 A. Correct.
4 Q. And at the top left, do you see that Blue
5 Flame Medical's address is listed as 499 South
6 Capitol Street, Southwest, Suite 420, Washington,
7 D.C. 20003?
8 A. I see that.
9 Q. And in the middle of this document,
10 Mr. Chivaro, do you see that there is a list of N95
11 mask models and then there's, below that, four
12 different items listed?
13 A. I do, yes.
14 Q. Did the controller's office have an
15 understanding of what N95 mask models the state of
16 California had agreed to purchase from Blue Flame?
17 A. No.
18 Q. At this point in time --
19 A. It would have been -- I'm sorry, that
20 would have been negotiated by the -- by DGS and Blue
21 Flame.
22 Q. Thank you.
www.trustpoint.one 800.FOR.DEPO
www.aldersonreporting.com (800.367.3376)
File and source
- File
- 150-att9.pdf
- Size
- 53,181 bytes
- SHA-256
- d1ba7532c37d2d90358b9c978a5fdf1c9bc5316c524af9942a552860b25f7cc7
- Our copy
- 150-att9.pdf
- Original
- No public link identified.