Prominent And Politically Connected Florida Attorney Accused In $100M Fraud Scheme

[laststeamtrain]

Source: TPM

Prominent And Politically Connected Florida Attorney Accused In $100M Fraud Scheme
Justin Elliott | November 3, 2009, 12:29PM

In a case already being compared to the Bernie Madoff affair, a lawsuit filed Monday in Broward County accuses south Florida "super attorney" Scott Rothstein of bilking investors in a scheme run out of the powerful firm Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler, which now says it can't make payroll.

An attorney for one investor told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that the amount of money missing could be over $100 million, though it's not clear where it went.

Rothstein and his wife are jet-setters who live in a 6-plus million dollar Fort Lauderdale home and were known for driving a veritable fleet of expensive sports cars and showering their favorite charities with big donations. A flamboyant character who was once pictured on billboards with Miami Dolphins great Dan Marino, Rothstein grew up in a lower-middle class family in the Bronx. He's now out of town and possibly out of the country -- no one knows where exactly -- and the Feds have reportedly shown up at his law firm offices.

He has not been charged with a crime.

Read more: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/prominent_politically_connected_florida_attorney_accused_rothstein_in_fraud_scheme.php

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Law and disorder: Lawyer's firm accuses him of plundering accounts
Scott Rothstein built a legal empire on charm and savvy. Now it's imploding.

By Jon Burstein, Sally Kestin and Brittany Wallman

South Florida Sun Sentinel

2:55 AM EST, November 3, 2009

FORT LAUDERDALE

The news hit with the shock of a thunderclap: South Florida super attorney Scott Rothstein, political operator and philanthropist with a zest for sports cars and living large, was accused by his broke law firm Monday of looting investor accounts and was nowhere to be found.

"This is a seismic blast that has been shattering for the law firm," said Kendall Coffey, a former U.S. attorney hired to represent what now remains of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler.

At least six of RRA's attorneys — including Palm Beach County Commissioner Steve Abrams — have resigned from the firm's South Florida offices, along with the entire Caracas, Venezuela, branch operation, which had at least 15 lawyers.

The havoc went far beyond the 150-employee law firm that has its headquarters in an office tower on Fort Lauderdale's Las Olas Boulevard. Accusations that a dark secret loomed behind the swift rise of the tough-talking, sharp-dressing Rothstein, who rubbed shoulders with politicians and sports figures, left many in the legal, political, business and philanthropic worlds stunned.

The law firm he co-founded in 2002 filed suit against Rothstein on Monday after a frantic, tear-soaked weekend, in which colleagues came to believe that Rothstein may have misappropriated millions of dollars from wealthy investors in a financial scheme he reportedly ran on the side.

At least one investor, as well as the law firm itself, has contacted the U.S. Attorney's Office. The Florida Bar is investigating. ... http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fort-lauderdale/sfl-rothstein-law-firm-b110109,0,4262229.story

[Uben]

1. Find him, convict, and strip of all wealth

Send this son of a bitch to prison for life, and make it one of the nastiest prisons on earth. Thieves are just like murderers to me. They take something that is not theirs to take. I wish we had a death penalty for thieves.

[peacetalksforall]

2. I take pleasure learning that he worked with Roger Stone. I think this is going to be

big - politically. I hope no Dems are involved on the criminal side.