Transcript

Excerpt from a Deposition Transcript

Below appears the first 15 pages of a transcript of a deposition in a case that is now closed and resolved. The formatting has been left unchanged so that you may see as closely as possible what a printed deposition transcript might look like. The numbers down the left margin are line numbers. The four digit numbers after every 25 lines are the page numbers. With page and line numbers the exact portion of a desired piece of testimony can be referenced.

0001

1 IN THE STATE COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF FULTON

2 STATE OF GEORGIA

3 METCALF, RICE, FRICK & )

4 DAVIS, P.A., )

4 )

5 Plaintiff, )

5 ) CIVIL ACTION

6 -VS- )

6 ) FILE NO. 98-VS-139738C

7 SOUTHERN FOODS, INC., )

7 )

8 Defendant. )

9 - - -

11 Deposition of YOUSEF ABBASI, taken on behalf

12 of the Plaintiff, pursuant to the stipulations

13 contained herein, before Laura B. Gildenberg, CCR No.

14 B-1810, at the offices of Minkin & Snyder, 3060

15 Peachtree Road, Suite 1100, Atlanta, Georgia, on Monday

16 November 6, 1998, commencing at the hour of 11:25 a.m.

23 Shugart & Bishop

24 Certified Court Reporters

24 6520 Powers Ferry Road, Suite 390

25 Atlanta, Georgia 30339

25 (770) 955-5252

0002

1 APPEARANCES OF COUNSEL:

2 FOR THE PLAINTIFF: DAVID J. REED,

3 ATTORNEY AT LAW.

4 FOR THE DEFENDANT: ERNEST L. GREER,

4 ATTORNEY AT LAW.

5 NICOLE A. RICHARDSON,

6 ATTORNEY AT LAW.

7 ALSO PRESENT: Gregory T. Davis.

10 INDEX TO EXAMINATION:

11 Examination by Mr. Reed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

14 INDEX TO EXHIBITS:

15 Plaintiff's Initial

16 Exhibit No. Description Reference

17 1 Discovery Documents Folder . . . . . 61

18 2 Payments Folder. . . . . . . . . . . 62

19 3 Financial Statements of Southern

19 Foods, Inc., . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

20 4 Franchise Excise Tax Return. . . . . 4

21 5 Engagement Letter. . . . . . . . . . 111

22 6 Letter, J. Lenhart to Metcalf, Rice,

23 Frick & Davis. . . . . . . . . . . . 120

24 (All exhibits retained by Mr. Reed.)

25 - - -

0003

1 (Disclosure was made pursuant to

2 O.C.G.A. 9-11-28 (c) and (d) and

2 15-14-37 (a), (b) and (c).)

4 - - -

5 MR. REED: This will be the deposition

6 of Yousef Abbasi, taken for the purposes of

7 evidence and all other purposes permitted by

8 the Civil Practice Act. It's taken pursuant

9 to notice and pursuant to agreement of

10 counsel.

11 I propose that we reserve all objections

12 except as to the form of the question and the

13 responsiveness of the answer until such time

14 as the deposition may be used.

15 Is that stipulation acceptable?

16 MR. GREER: It's acceptable. But of

17 course if you get into attorney-client

18 privilege issues and things of that sort, I

19 don't --

20 MR. REED: You can certainly instruct

21 your client not to answer a question.

22 MR. GREER: Right.

23 MR. REED: Okay. Would you swear the

24 witness.

25 MR. GREER: Excuse me. The last thing

0004

1 is that we're going to reserve signature.

2 MR. REED: Fine. Okay.

3 YOUSEF D. ABBASI,

4 having been first duly sworn, was examined and

5 testified as follows:

6 MR. GREER: Let me just say one more

7 thing, David.

8 I have a document here that has just

9 been brought to my attention. I just want to

10 let you know that we're going to produce a

11 copy if it hasn't already been produced.

12 It's a document called Tennessee Department

13 of Revenue Franchise Excise Tax Return.

14 So I just wanted to let you know it's

15 here for you in the deposition. I don't know

16 if it's been produced. But I assume it has

17 because we've produced all documents in our

18 possession that we know of that are

19 responsive to your discovery.

20 MR. REED: Okay. You say you assume

21 it's been produced. Why is it being

22 presented to me specially?

23 MR. GREER: Well, because it came across

24 my desk and I don't remember ever seeing the

25 document.

0005

1 MR. REED: You're not sure it's been

2 produced is what you're saying.

3 THE WITNESS: Right. I don't remember.

4 And I think it's going to be a material

5 document in the case.

6 MR. REED: Is this my copy to have?

7 MR. GREER: No.

8 MR. REED: Okay. Then I'll just wait

9 for you to get me a copy of it.

10 MR. GREER: Okay.

11 EXAMINATION

12 BY MR. REED:

13 Q. All right. Go ahead and state your name for

14 the record and spell it, if you would, for the court

15 reporter.

16 A. Y-o-u-s-e-f; middle initial D, as in David;

17 last name Abbasi, A-b-b-a-s-i.

18 Q. What does D stand for? David?

19 A. David.

20 Q. Okay. And what's your home address?

21 A. 210 Gabriel Drive, Roswell, Georgia 30075.

22 Q. Your work address?

23 A. 3399 Peachtree Street, Suite 2090, Atlanta,

24 Georgia 30326.

25 Q. Are you married?

0006

1 A. Yes.

2 Q. To whom?

3 A. To Tracy Johnson.

4 Q. Does she go by Johnson, not Abbasi?

5 A. She goes by Abbasi, but that's her original

6 name.

7 Q. Okay. Do you have children?

8 A. One child.

9 Q. Is that child above the age of 18 years, or

10 18 years or older?

11 A. The child is three years.

12 Q. Okay. Do you have other relatives that live

13 in Fulton County?

14 A. I don't really know.

15 Q. Why do you say that?

16 A. My family is quite large.

17 Q. Well, how many brothers and sisters do you

18 have?

19 A. I have four brothers and one sister.

20 Q. Do any of them live in Fulton County?

21 A. I don't know.

22 Q. Are you not in touch with your family?

23 A. I don't know because I really don't know

24 where my brother lives. Rome. Is Rome Fulton County?

25 I don't know.

0007

1 Q. Okay. Is that your brother Mohammed?

2 A. Yes.

3 Q. Is his last name also Abbasi?

4 A. Yes.

5 Q. Just so you know: Fulton County is

6 relatively small. It goes from about Alpharetta down

7 to just south of 285.

8 A. I'm sorry. I really don't know. I mean the

9 counties I don't know. I mean there's no way for me

10 to -- I never looked at a map with the counties on it.

11 Q. Okay. Do you have any brothers or sisters

12 that live in the Atlanta metro area?

13 A. No. Just Mohammed. That's the only thing:

14 I didn't know whether Rome is Fulton or not.

15 Q. Do you have any other relatives that live in

16 the Atlanta metro area, as defined by, say, 60 miles

17 from the center of Atlanta?

18 A. I doubt it, but I don't know the answer to

19 this question. I don't know.

20 Q. That's fine. Are you employed?

21 A. Yes.

22 Q. By whom?

23 A. By my company.

24 Q. Which is?

25 A. Southern Foods.

0008

1 Q. You are a, if I understand correctly, a

2 shareholder, director, officer, and employee of that

3 company. Is that correct?

4 A. Yes.

5 Q. Are you a shareholder of any other companies?

6 A. Yes.

7 Q. How many others?

8 A. I can't tell you. I mean I have to really

9 write them down.

10 MR. GREER: As best as you can remember.

11 BY MR. REED:

12 Q. Start with the first one you can remember.

13 A. Okay. The Grand Companies, Grand I, the

14 Grand Phoenix, the Grand Holding Company. That's one.

15 Q. You said the Grand Phoenix. What did you say

16 after that?

17 A. I said the Grand I, the Grand Phoenix. I

18 said the Grand Holding Company.

19 As a matter of fact, no, I think it's the

20 Grand Holding Company that owns both. So I'm

21 shareholder and director of the Grand Holding Company,

22 which owns these companies.

23 Q. Are you a shareholder in any other companies

24 besides these four Grand companies and Southern Foods?

25 A. Yes.

0009

1 Q. They are?

2 A. I'm a shareholder of a company called Sheba

3 Mist IV Touristic Enterprises.

4 Q. How do you spell that?

5 A. S-h-e-b-a IV Touristic Enterprises. And

6 Sheba Foods, Inc. And their, you know, their

7 subsidiaries.

8 Q. How many subsid -- Do they have corporate

9 subsidiaries?

10 A. Yeah. So by, you know, by virtue of owning

11 the holding on, I guess -- Is that considered

12 shareholding or just --

13 Q. How many corporate shareholders? How many

14 corporate entities?

15 MR. GREER: Could we go off the record

16 for a second?

17 MR. REED: Sure.

18 (Discussion between the witness and

19 counsel.)

20 THE WITNESS: What was the question?

21 BY MR. REED:

22 Q. Are you saying Sheba IV Touristic Enterprises

23 or Sheba Foods --

24 A. Sheba Foods.

25 Q. -- is the one that has corporate

0010

1 subsidiaries?

2 A. Yeah, I think Sheba Foods. And I'm sorry

3 because, you know, I was not relating directly like

4 you're saying. So Sheba Foods is the company that I'm

5 shareholder of and director of.

6 Q. And how many corporate subsidiaries are there

7 of Sheba Foods?

8 A. I don't know.

9 Q. Are there many?

10 A. Yeah. At least three, I'd say.

11 Q. Okay. Other companies that you are a

12 shareholder of?

13 A. New World Services.

14 Q. Any others?

15 A. Springfield Investments.

16 Q. Is that a corporation?

17 A. They are LLCs, I think.

18 Q. Both New World and Springfield?

19 A. Yes.

20 Q. Okay.

21 A. I don't remember anything else right now.

22 Q. You don't remember any other corporation that

23 you are a shareholder of?

24 A. No, not now I don't remember. I'm sorry.

25 Q. Have you in answering my question excluded

0011

1 corporations that you are a shareholder in merely as a

2 passive investor, such as Fortune 500 companies?

3 A. Of course.

4 Q. You're not including corporations that you

5 just hold for investment purposes?

6 A. No, I'm not including that.

7 Q. All right. The Grand Companies and the

8 Grand I, the Grand Phoenix and the Grand Holding

9 Company, I assume they're all related. Is that

10 correct?

11 A. Correct.

12 Q. What's the nature of the enterprise that

13 they're engaged in?

14 A. Restaurants.

15 Q. They're engaged in the restaurant business?

16 A. Yes.

17 Q. Tell me: How many restaurants do they

18 collectively own?

19 A. 12.

20 Q. Okay. And what kinds of restaurants?

21 A. Bennigan's.

22 Q. They own 12 Bennigan's restaurants?

23 A. Yes.

24 Q. Which is the corporation? Is there one

25 corporation among those that owns, say, the franchise

0012

1 rights to all 12 of those Bennigan's?

2 A. I don't know the answer to this question.

3 Q. Okay. The holding company, is it right to

4 say that the holding company is the one that owns the

5 shares in the other corporations?

6 A. Correct.

7 Q. And Sheba IV Touristic Enterprises, is that

8 one of the corporate subsidiaries of Sheba Foods, Inc.?

9 A. Yes.

10 Q. Okay. And what is the nature of the business

11 of Sheba Foods?

12 A. Restaurants.

13 Q. And how many restaurants does Sheba Foods and

14 its subsidiaries own?

15 A. 16.

16 Q. What kinds of restaurants are they?

17 A. Fast-food and also -- basically fast-food.

18 Q. And are they -- They're not Wendy's; is that

19 correct?

20 A. No, they're not.

21 Q. Okay. What kinds of fast-food restaurants

22 are they?

23 A. They are called Sheba's MacBurger.

24 Q. Sheba's MacBurger?

25 A. Uh-huh (affirmative).

0013

1 Q. Where are these restaurants?

2 A. In Cairo.

3 Q. I gotcha. Okay. Is that where you were

4 born?

5 A. No.

6 Q. Where were you born?

7 A. In Jerusalem.

8 Q. How long did you live in Jerusalem?

9 A. 17 years.

10 Q. And then where did you live after that?

11 A. I came to school here, to the United States.

12 Q. Where did you go to school?

13 A. Southwest Missouri State University.

14 Q. Did you graduate?

15 A. Yes.

16 Q. And what was your degree?

17 A. Engineering, physics.

18 Q. What did you do after you graduated from

19 school?

20 A. I was a consultant engineer.

21 Q. At what company?

22 A. At Berue D'etude Cordennier. It's a French

23 company.

24 Q. Okay. What year did you graduate?

25 A. 1974. Between '74 and '75.

0014

1 Q. Did you have any significant work experience

2 other than just odd jobs to earn a little bit of money

3 before you graduated?

4 A. I was just going to school and having

5 part-time jobs.

6 Q. Of what country were you a citizen at that

7 time?

8 A. Jordan.

9 Q. Okay. Forgive my horrible lack of knowledge

10 about the geography and history of the area, but was

11 Jerusalem part of Jordan at the time you were born?

12 A. Correct.

13 Q. It's not any longer; correct?

14 A. Correct.

15 Q. They lost it in the Six-Day War; right?

16 A. Correct.

17 Q. Were you living there at that time?

18 A. In 1967, yes.

19 Q. Okay. Are you still a citizen of Jordan?

20 A. No.

21 Q. A citizen of the United States?

22 A. That's correct.

23 Q. Okay. When did that happen?

24 A. I don't remember. I'm sorry.

25 Q. Fine. So after school, you went to work for

0015

1 this French company. And how long did you work for

2 them?

3 A. About four years.

4 Q. And that takes us up to?

5 A. 1979 perhaps. I worked for them --

6 approximately I want to say because I don't remember

7 exactly -- for five years, four years.

8 Q. How many languages do you speak?

9 A. Two and a half.

10 Q. English? Arabic?

11 A. French.

12 Q. And part French?

13 A. Yes.

14 Q. Okay. And after you discontinued your

15 employment with this French company in engineering

16 work, what did you do?

17 A. I worked as a consultant for the government.

18 Q. Of?

19 A. Bahrain.

20 Q. And how long did that employment continue?

21 A. I did two projects after that, one for the

22 government of Bahrain, and I worked also as a

23 consultant and engineer for a Finnish consultancy group

24 from Helsinki, but I forgot the name. I'll dig it out

25 if you're interested.

Excerpt from a Deposition Transcript

Send mail to davidjreed@davidjreed.com with questions or comments about this web site. Last modified: December 05, 2006

Send mail to davidjreed@davidjreed.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: December 05, 2006