Nov-04-2009Back from Morocco, Rothstein faces feds
(topic overview)
CONTENTS:SOURCESFIND OUT MORE ON THIS SUBJECTScott Rothstein is back in town. The Broward attorney accused of a Ponzi scheme involving selling legal settlements for investments that resulted in the loss of hundreds of millions of investors' dollars returned to South Florida today, but wasn't present in court this afternoon, where it was determined that a third-party receiver - former judge Herbert Stettin -- would be appointed over the financial accounts of the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm. By not showing up to court, the noted political fundraiser and philanthropist relinquished his position as CEO of the firm, a role now given to partner Stuart Rosenfeldt. "He is O-U-T out of the picture in terms of any control, power, or influence over the firm," said Kendall Coffey, the firm's lawyer, of Rothstein. Coffey also said that he believes the reason Rothstein, who arrived at the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport early this afternoon and is suspected to have been in Morocco, was a no-show today in court was because he was meeting with federal investigators.
[1] The scandal has sent lawyers, investors, and politicians alike in a tizzy while investigators are scrambling to learn exactly how much money has been lost. Scott Rothstein, a Fort Lauderdale attorney, poses for portrait at his office on Las Olas Boulevard, surrounded by sports memorabilia. Rothstein, a partner of the law firm Rothstein Rosefeldt and Adler, is suspected of running a covert investment scheme on the side and may have walked away with "substantial sums'' put up by investors, according to a lawsuit brought by his partner, Stuart Rosenfeldt. Rothstein attracted investors by promising huge returns and selling settlements he said he had reached, but at least some of those settlements did not exist, according to Rosenfeldt's suit.
[2] Senate President and chief financial officer candidate Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, and state Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, who's running for Atwater's Senate seat, have pledged to give back contributions related to Scott Rothstein, the Fort Lauderdale attorney [[ accused by his law partners of looting investors in a multimillion-dollar scheme. Atwater appears to have received a combined $11,500 from Rothstein, his wife, the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm and a slew of businesses tied to Rothstein. Bogdanoff's Senate campaign has logged at least $10,500 in Rothstein-linked money, and a political committee she's affiliated with got $5,000 from Rothstein's law firm. Both Atwater's and Bogdanoff's campaigns, however, said they haven't figured out yet exactly where to return the money.
[3] Legal experts say attorneys who worked at the embattled Fort Lauderdale firm of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt & Adler are potentially liable to third parties for the actions of founding partner Scott Rothstein, who allegedly stole up to $500 million from investors in a side business. This exposure may be the case even for attorneys such as Palm Beach County Commissioner Steven Abrams, who worked for the firm but was not an owner. Abrams, who led the firm's Boca Raton office until he resigned on Monday, carried the title of partner, according to the firm Web site and Abrams' biography with the county commission. Abrams said although he held this title, he wasn't actually an owner, shareholder or even really a partner of the firm.
[4] According to the state court filing in which the firm is seeking dissolution, investors allege that Mr. Rothstein may have sold settlements that didn't exist. In an interview, Mr. Rosenfeldt said investors recently called him to say they were owed money. He said he found that Mr. Rothstein had created at least 26 trust accounts to hold funds from investors for the purchase of settlements. Mr. Rosenfeldt said he learned that on Oct. 23 the accounts contained about $500 million, but that the money was gone by Oct. 30. It isn't clear where the money went. "Scott was good at spending money, but he wasn't that good," Mr. Rosenfeldt said, alluding to Mr. Rothstein's flamboyant lifestyle. Mr. Rosenfeldt said Mr. Rothstein hasn't been in the office since about the middle of last week, and when Mr. Rosenfeldt asked about him, Mr. Rothstein's assistant said he had left, citing a family emergency. Mr. Rosenfeldt said he doesn't know Mr. Rothstein's whereabouts. Mr. Rothstein's lawyer told Mr. Rosenfeldt his client would return to Fort Lauderdale Tuesday.
[5] A spokesman for the law firm said it has launched an internal probe focused on a business Mr. Rothstein started that involved selling purported legal settlements to investors. He said the firm has contacted the U.S. attorney's office in Miami. At least one of the investorsBanyan, a Fort Lauderdale investment firmhas also contacted the U.S. attorney's office, which declined to comment on the matter. The investors in the venture would pay cash upfront to people owed money from court cases in exchange for the right to collect the full amount of the settlement at a later date, a partner at the firm said, recounting a description of the business he said he got from Mr. Rothstein. The partner, Stuart Rosenfeldt, said Mr. Rothstein told him that he was handling the sale of such settlements to investors and was earning attorney's fees and commissions on the sales.
[5] A complaint filed in Broward County Circuit Court by Fort Lauderdale firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, P.A. cites allegations by investors that chief executive officer and managing partner Scott W. Rothstein may have misused investor money and fabricated nonexistent structured legal settlements for sale.
[6] The
Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that Rothstein's 70-lawyer firm was placed in receivership on Monday because it had no money to pay employees. Rothstein is believed to have fled to Morocco and the firm has hired
Coffey Burlington's Kendall Coffey,
a former U.S. attorney for South Florida, to investigate allegations against him. Coffey did not immediately respond to a request for comment but sibling publication the Daily Business Review reports (subscription required) that Rothstein's former colleagues have likened him to a mini-Marc Dreier, according to a
complaint filed by Coffey in state court in Broward County. "It is with surprise and sorrow that the attorneys of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler have learned that Scott W. Rothstein, the managing partner and CEO of the firm, has, according to assertions of certain investors, allegedly orchestrated a substantial misappropriation of funds from investor accounts," the firm said in its complaint. The DBR reports that Rothstein has refused to resign as a 50 percent shareholder in the firm, which he cofounded as a seven-lawyer shop in 2002.
[7] A Broward County attorney and heavyweight political money-raiser has been accused by his own law firm of orchestrating an investment scheme that brought major financial losses to investors. Scott Rothstein, founding partner of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt & Adler, was the subject of a complaint filed by his firm Monday in Broward County Circuit Court that seeks to dissolve the Fort Lauderdale-based firm and appoint a receiver in the wake of allegations that Rothstein misappropriated investor funds in a side business.
[8] Five lawyers have already left the more than 70-attorney Fort Lauderdale-based international firm, although others will stay with or without pay, according to president Stuart Rosenfeldt. He vows to start a new law practice from the apparent ashes of his partnership with Scott Rothstein, although the Rothstein firm presently remains open for business. A Broward County Circuit Court judge said at the hearing that he may be inclined to appoint Rosenfeldt, who is an employment practitioner, as a receiver for the well-known Fort Lauderdale-based legal partnership. This would avoid the considerable potential cost of putting a court-appointed receiver in charge, the Business Journal notes. The firm filed suit today against Rothstein, its managing partner, chairman and chief executive officer, accusing him of orchestrating the alleged "substantial misappropriation" of investor funds and seeking a court-ordered dissolution and receivership, as detailed in an earlier ABAJournal.com post.
[9] UPDATED : Nov. 2, 2:10 p.m. This story has been updated with new information from sibling publication the Daily Business Review in Miami. Maybe it's something in the water in South Florida, but another one of the Sunshine State's prominent lawyers is finding himself on the wrong side of the law. According to press reports, Scott Rothstein (right), a name partner at 70-lawyer Fort Lauderdale firm
Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, has forced the liquidation of his firm because of his role in the collapse of a multimillion-dollar investment scheme. The Bronx-born Rothstein apparently made himself into quite the mover-and-shaker in South Florida in recent years,
owning a fleet of high-priced automobiles and becoming a
large contributor to both Democrat and Republican political candidates, including current Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.
[7] Sink's campaign also pledged to investigate other contributions for Rothstein links. It appears she has received about $4,500 from a string of business entities tied to Rothstein. Rothstein's support for Sink was considered a major coup for Florida Democrats because he has been primarily a money-raiser for Republicans, including Gov. Charlie Crist and the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush and John McCain. "He was a major get for the Democrats," said Republican operative Roger Stone, who was a partner with Rothstein in a political consulting business based out of the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law offices in Fort Lauderdale. Stone said the consulting partnership was dissolved a few months ago, though he still rents office space from the law firm and said he visits about once a month. Stone said he was "as surprised as anyone else" about the allegations against Rothstein.
[10] The Republican Party of Florida is pledging to give about $150,000 in Rothstein-linked money to a victim-compensation fund when one is set up. The Florida Democratic Party announced it is returning a $200,000 check from Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm to the firm in hopes it "helps the victims of any wrong doing recover what they have lost." Rothstein, a prominent GOP moneyman who has raised money for Crist and for John McCain's presidential campaign as well as for Democrat Alex Sink's gubernatorial bid, is accused by his law partners of misappropriating millions in investor money. Since Monday, Sink and other candidates have been pledging to unload their Rothstein money, although it's not immediately clear where the money will go.
[11] The Florida Democratic Party and the Republican Party of Florida plan to return campaign contributions associated with Scott Rothstein, the Broward lawyer under scrutiny for financial improprieties. For FDP, it's easy: Just return a $200k check. Not so for RPOF. Rothstein, his firm and wife havecontributed more than $600,000 over the years. RPOF has spent that money, so it's returning what was given last quarter: $50,000 from Scott Rothstein, $90,000 from his law firm and $8,244 in in-kind contributions. The parties join Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, Jeff Atwater and CFO Alex Sink who have announced they'll return some cash. Gov. Charlie Crist, who has received at least $100,000 from Rothstein and his firm for his U.S. Senate campaign hasn't made any announcement on what he'll do.
[12] "Broward's been a little bit beaten up I mean, we're in trouble. Your mouth drops open and I'm just numb, I'm numb from all of this." Bogdanoff one of the Legislature's biggest Rothstein beneficiaries with $24,500 in contributions said she'd return any political donations from the lawyer, who is accused of misappropriating millions of dollars from wealthy investors. Though Rothstein was known as a Republican fundraiser, Democrats and Republicans alike especially on the state level enjoyed his financial largesse. Politicians who received money from Rothstein, his law firm and related companies generally fell into two camps on Monday. One group, including both Democrats and Republicans, immediately said they'd return any money that came from Rothstein. Among them: Bogdanoff; County Commissioner Sue Gunzburger, a candidate for re-election who got $5,600 through Rothstein, his associates or companies; and state Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, who got $2,000 from Rothstein and his wife at the August fundraiser at the couple's home.
[13] Since 2006, attorney Scott W. Rothstein and the law firm of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler have become prominent players in the world of Broward politics. Records from the Federal Elections Commission, the state of Florida and Broward County show that Rothstein, his partners, his family members and his companies have contributed more than $1.7 million to various political groups and campaigns.
[14] Democrat Alex Sink's gubernatorial campaign is returning at least $2,000 in contributions related to prominent Broward County attorney and political moneyman Scott Rothstein, who's being accused by his law partners of misappropriating money from investor trust accounts.
[15] Roger Stone told TPMmuckraker in an interview today that he retained a private investigator last year to scrutinize the activities of Scott Rothstein, Stone's onetime business partner who is now being
accused of a $100 million fraud involving his south Florida law firm. And, Stone added, he broke with Rothstein earlier this year after Rothstein tried to censor criticism of his friend Gov. Charlie Crist on
The Stone Zone ]]
The Stone Zone, for which Rothstein's law firm was providing web hosting. Stone, reached in Ohio where he is working election day, explained that about a year ago Rothstein's spending -- "on luxury cars, real estate, watches, charitable and political donations" -- had gotten so out of control that Stone hired private investigator Adam Mangino. "He came back with two pieces of advice: 'I don't know where the money is coming from, but I do know the money is not his,'" Stone says. "It was at that point that I asked Rothstein to dissolve the company."
[16] In our
first installment of the Scott Rothstein fraud story we told you that accused Florida political power player Scott Rothstein (allegedly) made off with a $100 million in other people's money. Now it turns out he almost made off with GOP fixer Roger Stone's website. TPMMuckraker's Justin Elliott
got hold of Stone today who told him the
whole sordid tale -- Rothstein's attempts to censor Stone's criticisms of Rothstein's pal Charlie Crist on Stone's website, Rothstein pulling the plug on the infamous Stone Zone, a ridiculous scale of high living, compulsive political contributions, a private investigator.
[17] The accusations are reverberating to the state capital in Tallahassee, where the Florida Democratic Party said Tuesday it was returning $200,000 in contributions linked to the firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, while the state Republican Party said it would also refund about $150,000. "We sincerely hope our action today helps the victims of any wrongdoing recover what they have lost," said Scott Arceneaux, executive director of the Florida Democratic Party. Republican Gov. Charlie Crist announced later that "in an abundance of caution" he would refund $9,600 contributed to his U.S. Senate campaign by Rothstein and his wife, Kim.
[18] A prominent Fort Lauderdale law firm is asking a Florida court to dissolve it amid allegations that substantial amounts of money are missing from accounts created by the firm's co-founder, Scott Rothstein. The possible dissolution of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Alder PA would amount to a repudiation of the politically well-connected Mr. Rothstein by his law partners and pose a potential embarrassment to the many Republican politicians in the state who have enjoyed his support.
[5] No charges have been filed against Fort Lauderdale lawyer Scott Rothstein. His law firm's president claimed in court papers Monday that Rothstein may have misused or misappropriated money from an outside investment business. Neither Rothstein nor his attorney returned calls from The Associated Press seeking comment.
[19] Founded in 2002, Rothstein Rosenfeldt has seven offices, including in Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Miami, New York and Caracas, Venezuela. As the firm grew from seven to 70 lawyers, some wondered how it financed such rapid growth in the absence of notable cases or wins. "He had a meteoric rise and no apparent explanation for that, other than Scott was very outgoing and appeared to be very politically connected," said Richman, who serves with Rothstein on the 4th District Court of Appeal nominating commission. Others were curious about Rothstein's flamboyant lifestyle. Property records show that in 2008, he bought a $6.45 million home in Fort Lauderdale, a $6 million condo in New York and a $2.8 million oceanfront estate in Narragansett, R.I. He could not be reached Monday.
[8] As we wrote earlier, Rothstein's law firm has grown from seven lawyers in 2002 to more than 70 today, with offices in Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Miami, Tallahassee, New York and, recently, Caracas, Venezuela. According to a
story in the Broward County Sun-Sentinel, property records show that in 2008 alone, Rothstein bought a $6.45 million Fort Lauderdale home, a $6 million condo in New York and a $2.8 million oceanfront estate in Narragansett, R.I. He also has reportedly amassed an impressive collection of exotic cars worth millions: Ferraris, Bentleys, Rolls-Royces and a pair of 2010 Lamborghini Murcielagos ' each worth about $400,000, records show.
[20] Flight records show the same jet flew from Fort Lauderdale to Casablanca on October 27. ( The Wall Street Journal reports that Rothstein wired $16 million to an individual in Casablanca.) According to the DBR, Stuart Rosenfeldt, Rothstein's fellow 50 percent equity partner, asked a state court judge in Broward County to appoint him custodian of the firm instead of hiring an outside receiver to oversee its liquidation. The firm might not be able to make its next payroll.
[21] Law firm president Stuart Rosenfeldt asked Broward County Court to appoint a receiver and dissolve the firm, saying the problems were discovered "in the past few days." Rothstein's attorney said the lawyer has left the country and his whereabouts are unknown, but he is expected to return this week, the Herald reported. According to the complaint in Broward County Court, "Stuart Rosenfeldt and the firm have filed this action to minimize any further damages caused by Mr. Rothstein, to emphasize that the innocent attorneys and staff of the complaint are not implicated in this controversy, and, most importantly, to protect the best interests of their clients."
[22] The law firm has asked a Broward County circuit court judge to appoint a receiver, following allegations made against founding partner Scott Rothstein, a prominent philanthropist and politically connected attorney.
[8] The attorney, Scott Rothstein, and partner Stuart Rosenfeldt founded the firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler in 2002. Now Rosenfeldt is seeking to dissolve their partnership and have the 70-lawyer firm placed into court-supervised receivership "to minimize any further damage caused by Mr. Rothstein," according to court documents. "A review of the firm's records undertaken this past weekend indicates that various funds unrelated to the direct practice of law cannot be accounted for, circumstances suggesting that investor money may have been misused by Mr. Rothstein who controlled all such accounts," Rosenfeldt said in the court papers.
[23] Updated: Between $100 million and $185 million in is allegedly missing from investor trust accounts that made use of the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler name, the law firm's president told the
South Florida Business Journal today after a court hearing.
[9] The allegations against Rothstein, 47, relate to an investment business that sold interests in legal settlements. Court papers say these investments are not related to the practice of law, but the documents say Rothstein "allegedly orchestrated a substantial misappropriation of funds from investor trust accounts that made use of the law firm's name." The complaint says it was investors who brought the matter to the firm's attention, and some of those investors allege Rothstein may have been fabricating settlements. Abrams said he joined Rothstein Rosenfeldt because "it was an exciting opportunity to be on the ground floor of a growing firm." He knew of the firm through co-founder Stuart Rosenfeldt, a Boca Raton resident.
[8] The money is tied to a side business started by Rothstein, a major Republican fundraiser and philanthropist, that offered structured settlements, which converts a lump sum award to installments for tax and cost-of-living reasons. Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler founding partner and law firm president Stuart Rosenfeldt, in a complaint filed Monday by Coffey Burlington partner Kendall Coffey, asked Broward Circuit Judge Jeffrey Streitfeld to dissolve the law firm and appoint a receiver to take over the firm's finances but not its legal practice.
[24] The complaint by Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler -- which was founded in 2002 and has offices in Florida, New York and Venezuela -- said the firm seeks dissolution and appointment of a receiver to be able to "undertake all actions necessary to uncover the extent of Defendant Rothstein's activities." Neither Rothstein nor his lawyer was immediately available to comment. The Miami Herald reported that Rothstein and his law firm had made tens of thousands of dollars of political contributions locally to both Democratic and Republican political candidates. Citing unidentified sources, the newspaper said the FBI and other federal investigators were investigating a Rothstein-controlled investment company run under the mantle of his law firm.
[6] On the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler legal roster was former Palm Beach County Circuit Judge William Berger. He was among lawyers at the firm representing victims of Palm Beach billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in civil lawsuits. The Rothstein law firm is also known for its political connections and contributions.
[25] Closer to home, our Alexandra Clough reports that
Palm Beach County Commissioner Steven Abrams is resigning from the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm because of the controversy surrounding Rothstein. "I think it's best that a public official not be associated with the firm as it seeks to determine what happened," Abrams said today.
[15] Morocco was mentioned in the resulting chatter. Rosenfeldt told the newspaper's
Broward Politics blog that he had caught Rothstein in some "white lies" over the years. "the kinds of small lies I caught him in were nothing to lead you to conclude your partner was running a giant scam out of your law firm." Rothstein and the law firm have contributed generously to politicians and charities and news that his fiscal management is being questioned has led a number of recipients to check their coffers. Among those now "monitoring" the situation are Florida Democratic and Republican party organizations, each of which has received hundreds of thousands of dollars, reports the
Post on Politics blog of the Palm Beach Post.
[9] The Florida Democratic Party said today it is returning a $200,000 check it received in September from Rothstein's law firm. The Republican Party of Florida announced that it will give about $150,000 in Rothstein-related contributions received this year to a victim-compensation fund if one is set up.
[10] Rothstein hosted an Aug. 27 fund-raiser for Sink and had the law firm write a $200,000 check to the Florida Democratic Party in September. Said Stone: '''This would have to be a considerable blow to Alex Sink and the Florida Democrats. He was a major get for the DemocratsTheir trophy Republican seems to be on the lam.'''
[26] Currently serves on Governor's Chairman's Council. Partners with Republican operative Roger Stone, who keeps an office in his Las Olas Boulevard law firm. Recently threw his support behind Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink -- his firm gave $200,000 to the Florida Democratic Party in September.
[27] Rothstein has been a major Republican money-raiser, bundling big bucks for John McCain's presidential bid and Gov. Charlie Crist's 2010 U.S. Senate campaign and contributing about $500,000 to the state GOP either personally or through the law firm. It was considered a major coup for Democratic governor hopeful Alex Sink to win Rothstein's backing this year.
[26] Rothstein has been a major Republican contributor and money-raiser who raised big bucks for John McCain's presidential bid and Gov. Charlie Crist's 2010 Senate campaign. He is also a big supporter of Democrat Sink and hosted a fund-raiser for her in August
that he said raised about $240,000. Rothstein, his wife, his law firm and a software company Rothstein manages called AAMM Holdings gave $500 apiece to Sink in September.
[15] In attacking Sink over Rothstein's money, McCollum is unwittingly (or wittingly, perhaps?) raising the question: Should McCollum's fellow Republican, Gov. Charlie Crist, return the $100,550 directly contributed by Rothstein and his law partners to Crist's U.S. Senate campaign? Crist allies estimate Rothstein could account for as much as $500,000 to $1 million in contributions to Crist.
[28] Rothstein and his wife have given $4,800 apiece to Crist's campaign. Sink's campaign released this statement today: "These are very serious allegations. The campaign is returning or donating to charity Mr. Rothstein'''s and his wife'''s personal contributions, as well as contributions from the account of his law firm and AAMM Holdings, LLC. If it becomes clear that others were involved in this matter, it'''s our intention to return those contributions as well.'''
[15] We are monitoring the situation closely and will determine an appropriate course of action when more information becomes available." Alex Sink campaign to return $2,000: "These are very serious allegations. The campaign is returning or donating to charity Mr. Rothstein'''s and his wife'''s personal contributions, as well as contributions from the account of his law firm and AAMM Holdings, LLC. If it becomes clear that others were involved in this matter, it'''s our intention to return those contributions as well."
[29] The money will go to charities, the remains of Rothstein's law firm and a victim-compensation fund, the former recipients of Rothstein largesse said. Chief Financial Officer and Democratic governor candidate Alex Sink led the divestment parade Monday, announcing she was returning $2,000 she had received from Rothstein, his wife, the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler firm and a Rothstein business.
[10] The city ended up in the
media spotlight on Tuesday, when local police cordoned off the downtown offices of
Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler on trendy
Las Olas Boulevard. The cause for the scene: name partner Scott Rothstein (right), who built the 70-lawyer firm from a seven-lawyer shop he cofounded in 2002. Rothstein is accused of
misappropriating more than $200 million through a structured settlement side business that has caused the liquidation of his fast-rising firm. Sibling publication the Daily Business Review reports (subscription required) that Rothstein returned from Morocco on Tuesday hours before a hearing to remove him from control of the firm.
[21] Termie, as usual, ditto to what you said. Another GOP big Star shows the parties true colors.This Guy was the NO GOP fundraiser in s florida and has fled the country.So estimate he raised over 1M for the GOP and along with The House speaker will be sorely missed.They estimate he stole as much as 100 m and gave a grat chunk to Flora Politicans to purchase credability. The Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm has hired prominent lawyer and former U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey to represent it in what he called "very very difficult circumstances" caused by an imploding investment venture by the firm's president, Scott Rothstein, who is believed to be in Morocco.
[28] ".Mega-wealthy lawyer, businessman, and political backer Scott Rothstein called me last week and told me he was the "Jewish Avenger" and was out to destroy me. Rothstein wasn't joking; he was seething. He told me he was going to sue me and my wife and bankrupt my household. Rothstein, the managing partner of the law firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt & Adler, said he would throw all his legal might at me until I could never "participate in the journalism community again." He even said he was going to throw a news conference about me for the TV stations.
[8] Neither attorney responded to requests for comment on Tuesday. Abrams said his position as a firm employee was public knowledge, as a result of a June 17 ruling from the State of Florida Commission on Ethics. In that ruling, the Commission wrote that although Abrams holds the title of partner, he is "essentially an employee of the firm." As for the opulent spending habits of firm founder Rothstein, Abrams said it's not unusual for the owners of a law firm to "enjoy a lucrative lifestyle." Lawyers outside the firm said there were a number of red flags that caused them to wonder how Rothstein spent so much money on political campaigns and charities, and grew his firm so quickly, from seven to 70 lawyers in seven years.
[4] "Greed is a very powerful human emotion," Rampell said. Although Rothstein Rosenfeldt lawyers said in a court filing Monday that "Rothstein's allegedly improper activities were done without any knowledge of the other attorneys at the firm," in Rampell's view, professionals such as lawyers and accountants, who hold state licenses and have fiduciary responsibilities, have a greater burden to understand the nature of the companies for which they work. Despite the taint over the firm's finances, Abrams said he had no intention of giving back any portion of the $204,000 in salary he received last year as a Rothstein, Rosenfeldt attorney. "It's not a campaign contribution," Abrams said.
[4] The unfolding implosion of the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm and its very public face, founder Scott W. Rothstein, is about as big and shocking a story in Broward that I can recall. We don'''t know where this leads yet. We do know this was a quick and stunning downfall, and that many high-profile attorneys and other firm employees might soon be out of work. (A court hearing about receivership is scheduled for later on Monday afternoon, while a spokesman hired by the firm said it remains open for business). Some aren'''t surprised by this news at all.
[30] '''In accordance with our policy to return tainted donations, we have, through our attorney, refunded the questionable donation from the law firm of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt, & Adler. We sincerely hope our action today helps the victims of any wrong doing recover what they have lost,''' said Scott Arceneaux, Executive Director of the Florida Democratic Party. Database Editor Dana Williams contributed to this blog posting.
[31] According to south Florida press reports (
here,
here ), the law firm has hired former U.S. attorney Kendall Coffey to investigate allegations involving founding partner Scott Rothstein (pictured).
[32] Fort Lauderdale attorney and money-raising bigfoot Scott Rothstein has achieved Enron status in Florida political circles this week. Just as politicians scrambled to shed their ties to the fraud-inflated energy company after its 2001 bankruptcy, Florida elected officials this week are rushing to unload Rothstein-related campaign contributions after his law partners accused him of perpetrating a multimillion-dollar scheme to bilk investors.
[10] Fort Lauderdale, Fla., attorney Scott Rothstein's meteoric rise in the South Florida legal and political worlds ended over Halloween weekend with the revelation that investors claim he stole in excess of $200 million.
[24] FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A South Florida attorney who has raised millions for notable politicians nationwide and hobnobs with sports stars and celebrities was removed Tuesday as head of the law firm he co-founded, suspected by his partner, investors and federal investigators of financial wrongdoing in an exotic investment scheme.
[18] The firm's Florida Bar trust account at Commerce Bank in Fort Lauderdale was listed. In case of the deaths of both Rothstein and Rosenfeldt, the bank was directed to release the funds to specified people tied to the settlement. A form on law firm letterhead stated "we are holding such sum in our trust account."
[33] Founded in 2006, Rothstein and Stone's consulting firm was called RRA Consulting and was based at the offices of law firm Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler in Fort Lauderdale. Both Stone and Rothstein's offices were on the 16th floor of Fort Lauderdale's landmark Las Olas City Centre, where Stone still maintains a secondary office.
[16] Fort Lauderdale police spokesman Sgt. Frank Sousa tells the media in this video clip that the department got a call about a security threat, and that's why more than 10 officers were surrounding the building where Rothstein Rosenfeldt and Adler law firm is.
[34] Rothstein Rosenfeldt used the titles partner and even shareholder to denote seniority, Abrams said. Rosenfeldt said those titles were "salutory," reflecting the attorneys' status or the size of the book of business they brought to the firm. Those titles didn't come with any authority when it came to firm finances, the lawyers maintained. Abrams said he never even stepped foot inside Rothstein's secured office in Fort Lauderdale.
[4] Rothstein isn't the only South Florida lawyer to recently be accused of more style than substance. Earlier this month Lewis Freeman, a well-known Miami attorney and accountant who frequently acted as court-appointed receiver for failing businesses,
agreed to liquidate his firm following reports of an FBI raid on one of his offices near Fort Lauderdale. We'll update the post with more information on this developing story as we have it.
[7] Attorney General Bill McCollum on Tuesday called on anyone who received money from Fort Lauderdale lawyer Scott Rothstein to return it. That would include his party and its chairman, Jim Greer. McCollum, a Republican candidate for governor, said Rothstein faced "very serious" allegations of securities fraud and that his office is determining whether it has any jurisdiction.
[35] The state Republican Party plans to donate some of the campaign cash it has received from Broward fundraiser Scott Rothstein to victims, following word that the prominent lawyer is under investigation for securities fraud. Earlier today, Attorney General Bill McCollum said he had asked the party to review how much money it had received from Rothstein and return it.
[36] The Republican Party of Florida has been a big beneficiary of Fort Lauderdale lawyer Scott Rothstein's contributions and fundraising during Gov. Charlie Crist's leadership. Here's how Crist responded today to questions about Rothstein after he toured a small Web development company in Fort Lauderdale.
[37] Scott Rothstein, a well-known Florida lawyer who is being investigated by his own firmwhich claims $500 million is missing from its accountson Tuesday landed at a Fort Lauderdale airport.
[38] FORT LAUDERDALE - Politicians in both parties scrambled to distance themselves Monday from Scott Rothstein. The Fort Lauderdale lawyer, his associates, his family members and his companies gave at least $1.7 million to local, state and federal political campaigns since 2006.
[13] Gov. Charlie Crist's U.S. Senate campaign will give $9,600 it received from Fort Lauderdale attorney and accused multimillion-dollar investment scammer Scott Rothstein and his wife to charity or some other entity, Crist campaign manager Eric Eikenberg said this afternoon.
[11] "One of the countries that doesn't have extradition treaties with the Israel and the U.S. is Morocco.'' The question Rosenfeldt and others are asking now is: Where is Scott Rothstein? Is he in Morocco? Rothstein and an uncle who worked at the firm left last week, Rosenfeldt said. He believes they flew away in a private jet he said Rothstein leases. As rumors flew late last week, some people went to a charity-related party at the Rothstein home in Fort Lauderdale just to see if he was there. It was Thursday night, and communications consultant Chuck Malkus said the city already was abuzz. Kim Rothstein told the 150 attendees her husband was out of town. "It was normal for Scott Rothstein's standards,'' Malkus said.
[39] In 2008 alone, Mr. Rothstein and his firm contributed more than $175,000 to the Florida Republican Party, according to party officials. "When I met Scott he was already rich," Mr. Rosenfeldt said. "He told me he made a killing on stock."
[5] Rothstein seeks judgment of dissolution and appointment of a receiver. He and the firm are represented by Kendall Coffey with Coffey Burlington of Miami. Rothstein and his firm were major donors to Florida politicians, giving about $600,000 to the state Republican Party and about $200,000 to Democrats, leaving politicos worried about whether they should return the money, the Herald reported.
[22] The state GOP does not plan to return the $400,000-plus that it received from Rothstein and his law firm between 2002 and 2008. "The contributions from previous cycles were spent to elect Republican candidates during those cycles," party spokeswoman Katie Betta said.
[10] Everyone must understand CORRUPTION is NOT about a Republican vs. Democrat; Corruption has no party, religion, race. etc. Corruption is the only genuine "Equal Opportunity" item. No wonder why Ellyn Bogdanoff always refused to help her constituents, who have been, for many years, under attack from the law firm of Becker-Poliakoff and other such "influential" firms. Many condo owners suffered monetarily, physically and emotionally, while those law firms advanced their agendas and profited from the people's miseries. Ken Keechl pulled off the exact same "ignoring act" as Bogdanoff, so did most other politicians except for the Honorable Julio Robaina! He is the only one who deserves my vote. On June 22, 2009 alone, Grant Smith of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt, and Adler handed Sue $9,500 at a lunch meeting where he was lobbying her. That does not include any earlier or later checks, and also does not include any checks from Grant Smith's Dad, Larry Smith, who is also part of RRA.
[31] Stone and Rothstein formed a consulting biz called RRA Consulting that operated out of the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law offices. Though it's still listed in state records as an active business, Stone said the partnership dissolved a few months ago. Stone, who lives in Miami, said he still rents office space from the law firm and visits about once a month.
[26] The Hollywood-based law firm's new name is Phillips, Eisinger, Koss, Rothstein & Rosenfeldt. 2002 : Founds the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm with Stuart Rosenfeldt. It grows from seven lawyers to more than 70.
[27] Most large law firms only pay 25-30% of fees generated to the partner, but we heard RRA paid more. It made no sense. Today RRA tells the judge they only have $500,000 in the bank to pay $400,000 in salaries next week. Does this mean the law firm wasn't profitable, or did Scott steal the firm's money too? Or did he fund the firm with the monies from the scam? Stay tuned. A lot more heads will roll before this is over. It really is pathetic how class envy overcomes one's own judgement. I know Rothstein is a lawyer so you can bash him for that, but to outright call him a criminal so early is poor judgement.
[40] There'''s got to be somebody to take the money.''' Geller is challenging County Commissioner Sue Gunzburger in the August 2010 primary.
On Monday, Gunzburger said she???d return the money she got from Rothstein. The amount ranges from $5,600 to $7,100 depending on whether law firm partners are included.
[31] Rosenfeldt says attorneys in the firm learned "in the past few days about irregularities surrounding a settlement funding business operated by Rothstein. The settlement funding business involved the purchase of structured legal settlements and the sale of these settlements to investors. Various investors have informed the firm that they believe that substantial funds are not accounted for and are missing. A review of the firm's records undertaken over this past weekend indicates that various funds unrelated to the direct practice of law cannot be accounted for, circumstances suggesting that investor money may have been misused by Rothstein, who controlled all such accounts.
[22] Some investors allege that defendant Rothstein may have been fabricating nonexistent structured legal settlements for sale to investors." Rosenfeldt says any such transactions were done "without any knowledge of the other attorneys at the firm, and, in fact, Rothstein actively endeavored to hide the existence of the scheme. (I)t appears that defendant Rothstein may have transferred substantial sums out of the investor trust accounts, and that the emergency appointment of a receiver is necessary to account for and, if appropriate, consider taking action to recover the missing investor trust account funds." Rosenfeldt says Rothstein refused to resign, and he owns 50 percent of the firm.
[22] According to Rosenfeldt, Rothstein operated a business using the law firm's name in which legal settlements were purchased and then offered for sale to investors. "Various investors have informed the firm that they believe substantial funds are not properly accounted for and are missing," Rosenfeldt's motion says, adding that some investors claim Rothstein "may have been fabricating nonexistent" legal settlements for sale.
[23] The money was not associated with cases handled by the fast-growing, 7-year-old law firm but from the structured settlement business created and operated by Rothstein, according to the complaint. The business purchased structured legal settlements and sold them to investors.
[24] "Firm lawyers learned in the past few days about irregularities surrounding a settlement funding business operated by Rothstein," states the complaint filed on Monday by Coffey. "A review of the firm's records undertaken over this past weekend indicates that various funds unrelated to the direct practice of law cannot be accounted for, circumstances suggesting that investor money may have been misused by Rothstein who controlled such accounts."
[7] Coffey confirmed to the New Times that Rothstein's investment scheme involved purchasing "structured settlements," in which people sell large settlements in legal cases for lump sums of cash. It's not clear how many victims there are or how much money is believed involved. Coffey told the publication that the law firm will be open for business Monday, but said it's too early to tell if the firm will survive.
[32] "Let's take a deep breath and see where we're going." Neither Rothstein nor his attorney immediately returned telephone calls and e-mails seeking comment. An attorney hired by Rosenfeldt, former Miami U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey, said he has been assured that Rothstein will return to the U.S. Coffey also said he has notified federal prosecutors about possible criminal wrongdoing at the firm. "I have assured them of the law firm's full cooperation," Coffey said. "This is a seismic blast."
[23] Federal prosecutors and the FBI declined comment on whether Rothstein is under investigation. Kendall Coffey, a former U.S. attorney hired by firm co-founder Stuart Rosenfeldt, said he has turned over his preliminary findings about a possible scam to federal authorities and the FBI has been contacted by several investors. In court Tuesday, Coffey told the judge he was informed that Rothstein was absent from the hearing because he was meeting "with federal authorities" but declined to get into specifics.
[18] Details of the investment offer were revealed Tuesday by the prospective investor and his attorney. The report shed some light on broader accusations raised Monday in court against Rothstein by his partner, Stuart Rosenfeldt, in a request for a court-appointed receiver to run the firm and audit its finances.
[33] An amended complaint proposing an outside receiver or Rosenfeldt to take charge of firm finances could be filed in time for Tuesday's hearing. "It is with surprise and sorrow that the attorneys of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler have learned that Scott W. Rothstein, the managing partner and CEO of the firm, has, according to assertions of certain investors, allegedly orchestrated a substantial misappropriation of funds from investor accounts," the complaint said.
[24] The prospective investor balked at the proposal because it seemed suspicious and walked away in August after meeting with Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler's general counsel, David Boden, in the firm's Fort Lauderdale office.
[33] Rosenfeldt and Rothstein founded the firm in 2002 in Fort Lauderdale. They have seven offices, in Florida, New York and Venezuela, and employ more than 70 lawyers.
[22] Rothstein earlier transferred $16 million to Morocco, Rosenfeldt said in a phone interview. "He didn't have to do this," Rosenfeldt said. "He was a frickin' good lawyer." He said none of the settlements that Rothstein marketed involved firm clients, but the Review obtained settlement forms linking Rothstein, the firm and its trust accounts.
[33] Police showed up earlier today outside the law firm, and were called, Coffey explained, for protection and to help avoid any sort of potentially dangerous situation should Rothstein decide to show up. Lawyers from the firm believe that their clients could have lost as much as $500 million because of Rothstein's scheme.
[1] Rothstein is well-known in state and national political circles. Since 2005, he and his law firm have given more than $1 million in political contributions.
[8] According to campaign finance data, Rothstein and his law firm gave $529,000 to the GOP since 2002. Betta said the GOP had taken $140,000 from him this election cycle, and another roughly $8,000 in "in-kind" contributions.
[36] Rothstein branched into a dizzying array of businesses in recent years, including restaurants, real estate, fine watches and premium vodka. A small army of attorneys sat through Monday's hearing on behalf of creditors and clients they declined to reveal. When I asked Rosenfeldt on Monday if he was second-guessing his deference to Rothstein on finances and Rothstein's other business ventures, he shrugged meekly. Anyone who's spent time with the Bronx-born Rothstein knows he can be charming and persuasive, bullying and abrasive. In a column last year, I described him as part Joe Pesci wiseguy from Goodfellas, part H. Wayne Huizenga mogul. He spent lavishly and loudly, with a fleet of expensive cars and a budding collection of big-name attorneys and consultants. The law firm started with seven attorneys in 2002 and expanded to more than 70 attorneys this year.
[41] Many thought Rothstein was a house of cards waiting to fall. I wrote about Rothstein a year ago, spending a few hours with him in the Las Olas restaurant that he had just bought with Boca Raton restaurateur Anthony Bova. He was charming and witty, and I wanted to believe his claims that all the whispers were simply jealousy and resentment. At the time, he said, '''I'''m going to ride this wave as long as God allows.''' He also called the law firm '''a benevolent dictatorship,''' with a unique financial arrangement: only he and co-founder Stu Rosenfeldt were equity partners. All the other attorneys, even those listed as partners, were '''non-equity shareholders.''' '''I run the ship,''' he said.
[30] They founded their law firm on a handshake. Stuart Rosenfeldt says Scott Rothstein was like a brother to him, and he trusted his partner completely.
[41] The man who headed the practice, and is now under suspicion, is Scott Rothstein. He is being linked to a set of phony investments, and court documents filed today in Broward County, allege some law firm funds cannot be accounted for.
[25] Earlier today, we inquired as to
just what was going on at Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, a fast-growing Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., firm whose founder may have been involved in a huge investment that went south involving structured settlements. We still have a ton of questions about the situation: Where is Rothstein? What was the investment all about? Will criminal charges be brought? But for now, we know this: that the firm's co-founder, Stuart Rosenfeldt, has asked a Broward County, Fla., court to dissolve the firm and appoint a receiver to look after the firm's finances.
[20] Scott Rothstein, 47, was dumped as chief executive officer at Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler by Broward County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Streitfeld, who named a retired Miami judge as receiver to take control of the 70-lawyer firm's finances. "He has, for now, relinquished his authority," Streitfeld said at a hearing.
[18] September 2008 : receives the Broward County Chapter of the Anti-Defamation League's Distinguished Community Service Award January 12, 2009 : One of 12 members appointed by Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter to the County Courthouse Task Force November 2, 2009 : Sun Sentinel reports that Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler has hired former Miami U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey to investigate allegations involving Rothstein. A member of the firm - Marc Nurik - resigns so he can represent Rothstein.
[27] RRA has hired
Coffey Burlington's Kendall Coffey, a former U.S. Attorney in South Florida, to audit the firm's finances and pursue receivership through a
complaint filed against Rothstein. While criminal charges have yet to be filed against Rothstein--a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Miami did not respond to a request for comment--the
Miami Herald reports that he met with federal law enforcement officials Tuesday afternoon.
[21] Rothstein headed the second prominent legal firm to implode in South Florida in a month. He refused to resign as a 50 percent shareholder in the firm, Coffey wrote. Coffey, a former Miami U.S. attorney and Democratic Party attorney, said he had no comment on the complaint.
[24] The South Florida Business Journal reported in 2008 that the origins of the "Stone alliance grew out of Rothstein's involvement with Republican Party fundraising for Gov. Charlie Crist." About six months ago, Stone tells us, he and Rothstein butted heads over that very issue when Stone criticized Crist, a Rothstein friend and
beneficiary of the attorney's hefty campaign contributions.
[16] "Rothstein was a reliable check for the Republican state committee. Crist would lean on him to give money to the Republican Party of Florida," Stone says. "Crist would lean on him to give money to Mel Martinez, which is like raising money for a dead body." Stone adds, he always had his suspicions about Rothstein's high-flying lifestyle. "He had neither the business acumen nor the wherewithal to make this amount of money, honestly. Rothstein could not read a balance sheet, he did not know how."
[16] Rothstein was a major contributor to the Republican Party and to multiple charities around South Florida, and a regular in the society pages of local newspapers. Referring to lawyers, politicos, clients, investors and others that could be affected, Coffey added: "When something like this blows up, the shrapnel lands in a lot of places."
[2] "I want to start fresh," Rosenfeldt said. "I just hope I can get through this with my reputation intact." At this point, with so many unanswered questions and so much investor money potentially gone, it's hard to know how anyone will emerge from this mess. Rosenfeldt said he discovered something was wrong in recent weeks, when people who thought they were Rothstein's friends learned money invested with Rothstein might have gone missing. If this turns out to be the worst, full-fledged fraud, then many will wonder how supposedly smart lawyers like Rosenfeldt could leave the financial keys to their kingdom alone in the hands of someone like Rothstein.
[41] Scott Rothstein loved his fancy sports cars, and there could be an apt metaphor there. The Fort Lauderdale lawyer might have taken some people, including his supposed best friends, for a very expensive ride. We still don't know where Rothstein is, or where the money those who invested with him is. We still don't know if there's an innocent explanation, or if he'll join the ranks of infamous schemers like Bernie Madoff. It looks like his expensive ride is over.
[40] That, in essence, was the reaction Tuesday from two Broward County Commissioners who'''ve received campaign cash for their 2010 re-election campaigns from Fort Lauderdale lawyer Scott Rothstein, his associates, his associates, his family members and his companies. '''I hate to tell you, if I saw him on the street I wouldn'''t know who he is,''' said Commissioner Diana Wasserman-Rubin.
[31] Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, will return checks he received from Broward lawyer and political fundraiser Scott Rothstein, Atwater campaign manager Rick Wilson said today. Atwater received $11,500 in checks for his 2010 chief financial officer campaign from Rothstein, his wife and political entities he controlled -- all coming on June 30.
[42] Promising to return Rothstein-related contributions is Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, whose campaign for CFO has received at least $11,500 in Rothstein-related money. State Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, who is running for Atwater's Senate seat, says she will unload $10,500 given to her campaign this year by Rothstein, his wife and his businesses.
[10] Excepting the obvious anxieties of Rothstein friend Charlie Crist, the Republican who may have the most to regret is
Florida Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, currently running for the north Broward-south Palm Beach Senate seat vacated by Jeff Atwater. She's got a ton of money from Rothstein -- the $2,750 he's donated since 2006 under his own name is just the tip of the iceberg.
[43] Rothstein has been a major fundraiser for Republican candidates, including former President George W. Bush, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and 2008 GOP presidential nominee John McCain. He's also a major contributor to Florida charities and nonprofit groups. Palm Beach County Commissioner Steve Abrams, who works part time at the firm's Boca Raton office, says will resign from his position with the firm.
[19] Last year, it hired County Commissioner Steve Abrams and Palm Beach County Circuit Judge William Berger to launch a Boca Raton office. Abrams said Monday that he was immediately resigning from Rothstein Rosenfeldt. "I think it's best that a public official not be associated with the firm as it seeks to determine what happened," he said. Abrams, a former Boca Raton mayor, said he had no inkling anything was amiss. He said he was stunned to learn of the firm's woes Sunday. Although Abrams is listed as a partner, he said he was merely an employee with no operational control of the firm's finances.
[8] Rothstein Rosenfeldt was established as a professional association, a type of corporate entity that shields employees from liability. "regardless of what they may have agreed among themselves and what their controlling documents say, a very creative lawyer could attempt to argue that a partnership was formed through the actions and words of the folks associated with the firm," said Greg Coleman, a member of the Florida Bar's Board of Governors and a past president of the Palm Beach County Bar Association.
[4] Rosenfeldt said six attorneys resigned following the firm's descent into turmoil -- including Palm Beach County Commissioner Steve Abrams -- but many appear dedicated to starting up a new venture. Rosenfeldt said in an interview Tuesday that he that he invested two-thirds of his life savings in the firm Tuesday, planning to use the undisclosed funding to create a new entity with the same group of lawyers.
[33] With the firm's future in doubt, clients are anxious and employees are reeling. Among those in shock is Peter Feaman, a Republican state committeeman for Palm Beach County. Feaman is the third attorney in the three-man Boca Raton office, and like Abrams, he said he was blindsided.
[8] Palm Beach County Commission member Steven Abrams is resigning from the law firm of Rothstein, Rosenfelt and Adler.
[8] A law firm collapses due to dirty/bad business in Palm Beach County and politicos are possibly involved; This is news? Find a law firm w/o a dirty lawyer or a firm not operating on the brink and that is a true headline.
[8] WEST PALM BEACH-A scandal involving a well-connected Ft. Lauderdale law firm has reached into Palm Beach County. Monday County Commissioner Steve Abrams announced he's leaving the legal practice, because of the controversy.
[25] Rothstein was thought to be out of the country over the weekend but returned to Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday shortly before the hearing. Neither he nor his attorney, former law firm colleague Marc Nurik, attended the hearing. Another is set for Friday afternoon.
[33] Last year, Villegas' estranged ex-husband Tony was
arrested for the murder of Melissa Britt Lewis, an attorney at Rothstein's firm and Debra Villegas' best friend. That incident was the reason Rothstein cited for hiring a security detail off-duty cops to guard his home. As
Daily Pulp reported, Rothstein himself returned to Fort Lauderdale this afternoon.
[44] Legendary Republican operative and Nixon acolyte Roger Stone, who was partners with politically connected attorney Scott Rothstein in a Fort Lauderdale-based consulting firm, says he was shocked to hear that [[ Rothstein is accused of orchestrating a multimillion-dollar investment scheme.
[26] I had an interview today with Roger Stone -- the famed Republican dirty trickster and political consultant who had an office in Scott Rothstein's law firm and teamed up with him on certain political projects -- and I'll have a full post up tomorrow about it.
[45] Again, there's no evidence of wrongdoing on Rothstein's part. Just a great many questions on behalf of his investors and the partners at his law firm who joined him at many a political fundraiser.
[43] The law firm claimed in court documents that Rothstein offered investors a chance to get involved in structured settlements and convert a lump sum award into smaller installments to be paid out over time.
[33] Rosenfeldt, the firm's president, said firm chairman Rothstein maintained iron-fisted control of firm finances and exclusive control of firm management, according to Monday's court complaint. The prospective investor, who spoke on a condition of anonymity, told the Review that he was approached to pay a portion of the settlement between a defense contractor manufacturing faulty equipment and one of its employees. The manufacturer purportedly entered into a series of pre-suit settlements with employees to prevent them from going public.
[33] Rothstein drives around in luxury cars, owns three homes and in August purchased the former Gianni Versace mansion in South Beach. Now he is suspected of fabricating a business in which he sold legal settlements to investors, hiding the scheme from the firm's other attorneys and keeping millions of dollars for himself.
[18] When a settlement recipient wants money in a lump sum, investors can pay a percentage up front and the rest would go to investors in installments. Alan Sakowitz, a South Florida attorney and real estate developer, told Bloomberg News he was solicited to buy settlements through a broker working for Rothstein.
[33] On the wall were pictures of Rothstein with politicians including California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Rothstein told them he was selling investments in sex-discrimination and whistleblower cases that were settled confidentially. Sakowitz said he considered investing in three $900,000 settlements. Rothstein would pay the clients $660,000 each immediately with Sakowitz's money, and he would get the full amounts in three payments at 30, 60 and 90 days, he said. Sakowitz said he was denied permission to meet the clients, see backup documents or talk to the attorneys who worked on the cases. "When we left, we thought, this is either an unbelievable opportunity or this is a big scam," Sakowitz said. He met with Rothstein two more times and, convinced the settlements were a sham, decided not to invest. He said he called the FBI and tried to persuade other potential victims not to invest with Rothstein.
[33] Under the deal, Sakowitz and his friends would pocket the $240,000 profit in just three months. Rothstein, who has been in Morocco since last week, returned Tuesday and will answer the allegations, said his attorney Marc Nurik. "You will be seeing him shortly," Nurik said. "It would be premature for me to address any of this." Rothstein told the group that his firm does 3,000 such settlements a year without ever filing a lawsuit, mainly by using private investigators and surveillance tactics to build airtight cases in areas such as workplace sexual discrimination and corporate malfeasance that defendants immediately seek to settle.
[18] Rothstein has been a fund-raiser mostly for Republicans, including presidential candidate John McCain and Gov. Charlie Crist. On his firm's Web site, Rothstein describes himself as a "close friend and adviser" to Crist. This year, he gave money to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink. He also gave $4,800 to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
[8] "To my knowledge there has not been an instance where we have returned funding that was spent in a previous cycle." U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, is returning $4,600 he received in the last election cycle from Rothstein. Rooney also received $4,600 from Rothstein's wife in 2008, but his campaign does not plan to return that money, a campaign spokesman said. Crist's U.S. Senate campaign announced that it is returning $9,600 it received from Rothstein and his wife this year.
[10] If it'''s investor money that'''s where it belongs, not even debatable,''' Keechl said. Planning to return Rothstein money is former Florida Senate Minority Leader Steve Geller of Cooper City, who received a $50,000 contribution in September to a political committee he controls. Like Keechl, he said his political committee would return the money once it'''s clear who'''s legally in place to get it.
[31] Tallahassee ''' Bill McCollum for Governor Campaign Manager Matt Williams issued the following statement today regarding CFO Alex Sink'''s announcement that she will return $2,000 in contributions from embattled fundraiser Scott Rothstein. '''It seems CFO Sink would now like to wash her hands of Scott Rothstein, the embattled fundraiser she once wooed. Her proactive step to return $2,000 from Rothstein and his entities is noted, but Rothstein himself boasted of raising Sink'''s campaign a total of $240,000. If Mr. Rothstein'''s bold assertions about his fundraising prowess are true, CFO Sink should immediately turn over the remaining $238,000 to federal authorities.
[28] At last I have the answer to my question six months ago: Who in the heck is Scott Rothstein and where did he come from? After living in Ft. Laud. for over 33 years, this man's rise to fame tops them all. At last I have the answer to my question six months ago: Who in the heck is Scott Rothstein and where did he come from? After living in Ft. Laud. for over 33 years, this man's rise to fame tops them all. At last I have the answer to my question six months ago: Who in the heck is Scott Rothstein and where did he come from? After living in Ft. Laud. for over 33 years, this man's rise to fame tops them all. As a current client of this firm I would like to know where this leaves me, as I am in the middle of critical issues and need to be assured that my attorney wil focus to represent my best interests with continuity and not be distracted during this scandal. He must have read John Grishams book:The Firm. He must have read John Grishams book:The Firm. If you are a client of this firm, you had better contact them. If you think that they won't be distracted by far bigger issues than your case, you are a fool.
[30] Coffey Burlington attorney Kendall Coffey, who was hired by Rosenfeldt to sue Rothstein, said the firm with 70 attorneys had about $500,000 cash on hand. He said he alerted the FBI on Monday to the possible fraud.
[33] Rosenfeldt says Rothstein, "a charismatic and talented lawyer, has controlled firm management, especially financial matters, and has not extended access to core financial matters and records to any other attorney in the firm."
[22] One South Florida lawyer familiar with the situation found Rosenfeldt's proposal galling. "That makes no sense," says the lawyer, who requested anonymity. "We don't know if he's involved in this or not. At least six U.S. lawyers have resigned from RRA, including Marc Nurik, a partner who is now representing Rothstein. The DBR reports that another 15 lawyers affiliated with the firm in Venezuela have also terminated their relationships.
[21] How could a 70 lawyer firm spend $10 milliuon a year on advertising. political contributions and lavish entertainment. Stone realized that the other partners were living off a Ponzi scheme run by Rothstein, and he smartly head for the hills.
[21] The third name partner, Russell Adler, joined the firm in 2005 but does not hold an equity stake.A source told the DBR that the amount misappropriated by Rothstein was at least $200 million but could be as high as $500 million.
[7] Some of Rothstein's colleagues told the New Times that the outside business entity in question was operated solely by Rothstein. They denied that Rothstein had fled the country.One member of the firm, Marc Nurik, has already resigned so that he can represent Rothstein. Jeffrey Sonn, a name partner at Fort Lauderdale securities litigation firm
Sonn & Erez, has publicly stated that his firm is investigating both Rothstein and Banyon Capital, the outside fund allegedly run by Rothstein.
[7] Sakowitz and his partner met with Rothstein in the firm's Fort Lauderdale office in August. They sat on a lizard-skin couch as Rothstein stood by a bank of television monitors, a revolver strapped to his ankle.
[33] FORT LAUDERDALE - A few weeks ago, Scott Rothstein sent an urgent e-mail to his colleagues. As law partner Stuart Rosenfeldt remembers it, Rothstein said he had a client who needed to know which countries lack extradition treaties with Israel and the United States. "There was a bunch of e-mail chatter about this country and that,'' Rosenfeldt recounted in an interview Monday.
[39] FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A prominent and politically connected South Florida attorney was being investigated by his own firm for financial irregularities in an investment business that led his law partner to seek dissolution Monday.
[23] I, too, am disheartened by the facts being unraveled, the lives, businesses and fundations affected, and the further impact on the reputation of South Florida business and politics. Hey out there! Are there truly any among us who believe for a second that some of his closest partners, friends, family, and political allies did not know something about something? Are we to believe that McCain and Christ, and both the Democrat and Republican parties never smelled a rat? Are we to assume that Rosenfeldt knew nothing and never inquired as to where all the money was coming from? Surely, if he was using the Xanax to mask the anxiety of the unfolding revelation, then he would be wise to seek another medication to mask his apparent incompetence and negligence in this sorted affair. Rothstein may have orchestrated this scheme and the after shocks may reverberate from Ft. Lauderdale to Washington D.C. But I have a simple fact to impart on all of you.
[40] It's not yet clear exactly what's going on at the prominent Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., law firm
Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler.
[32] "I've had worse days," Rosenfeldt told me before an emergency hearing Monday to determine the fate of the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm and its 150 employees.
[41] Rothstein Rosenfeldt and Adler will be asking us to appoint a receiver for the law firm today.
[46] "Rothstein. has, according to assertions of certain investors, allegedly orchestrated a substantial misappropriation of funds from investor trust accounts that made use of the law firm's name," the filing on Monday said.
[6] MIAMI (Reuters) - A prominent Florida law firm is seeking dissolution and the emergency appointment of a receiver to probe allegations that its managing partner misappropriated substantial funds from investor trust accounts, court documents and media reports said.
[6] The 47-year-old attorney has boasted of a rags-to-riches ascent from a modest New York childhood in the Bronx to a lifestyle of luxury cars and sumptuous homes. If the firm is dissolved it could meet the same fate as Dreier LLP, a New York law firm that was closed after its founder, Marc Dreier, was arrested for defrauding investors by selling bogus notes. Earlier this year, Mr. Dreier was sentenced to 20 years in prison. It is still unclear, however, whether the Florida firm would have to disband.
[5] Rothstein maintained iron-fisted control of the law firm's finances, and its attorneys had limited knowledge of the alleged scheme until just recently, according to the complaint.
[24] While the firm's receivership complaint attributed alleged misappropriation to an "investment business created and operated by Rothstein," the Review obtained sample forms from an investment recruit that directly intertwined Rothstein's structured settlement business and the law firm.
[33] '''We are ready to send it,''' Wasserman-Rubin said. Keechl said he would return the money once he finds out who'''s in charge at Rothstein'''s law firm. '''I'''ve got to find out who'''s in charge of the organization,''' he said.
[31] A hearing Monday resolved nothing, including Rothstein's whereabouts. A second hearing was set for Tuesday. "This is a seismic blast that shattered the law firm," Coffey said at the hearing. Afterward, he said, "When you have a shattering event like this, you still have cases, you still have hearings to attend, you have closings.
[24] Rosenfeldt and the RRA firm are suing Rothstein and hired Kendall Coffey to represent the firm. "I have heard rumors about countries from A to Z where he could currently be located," Coffey said Monday in a court hearing.
[39] "The way the firm is structured I have no ownership interest in the firm," said Abrams, who was paid a salary of $204,231 last year by Rothstein, Rosenfeldt.
[4] November 2008 : Named Outstanding Philanthropist by various nonprofit agencies, fundraising professionals and philanthropists at a Signature Grand luncheon attended by more than 700 people. April 18, 2009 : Serves with his wife as co-chairpersons of the American Heart Association's Broward County Heart Ball at the Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa. July 10, 2009 : The Sun Sentinel reports Rothstein is paying Fort Lauderdale police to guard his home 24 hours a day at a cost of $1,080 a day, or $394,200 a year.
[27] Broward County records show that on July 22, Rothstein transferred a $1.9 million property on Castilla Isle in Fort Lauderdale from his name to a Delaware limited liability corporation, CI 08. The Broward County Property Appraiser's website shows that he paid $2.73 million for the property in 2005. A few weeks later, on August 10, Rothstein did the same with another parcel he owned on Castilla Isle, transferring this $2.2 million property into a Delaware corporation called CI 27. That same day he transferred this $1.33 million parcel to CI 07 and this $1.4 million parcel to CI 16. That's nearly $8 million in real estate that figures to grow in value when the economy bounces back -- all controlled by corporations in Delaware, which the Tax Justice Network found to be the world's most notorious tax haven. He did not immediately return a message left on his voicemail.
[47] The house, on Castilla Isle in Fort Lauderdale, is appraised for tax purposes at $1.89 million. Another house on the street that public records show also belongs to Mr. Rothstein is appraised at $1.3 million.
[5] Rothstein owns a $6.4 million home in Fort Lauderdale, properties in Manhattan and along Rhode Island's coast, and a large collection of expensive cars, including a Rolls-Royce and a Bentley. He was protected around the clock by off-duty Fort Lauderdale police officers, a detail that has now been rescinded by top officials at the police department, a spokesman said.
[23] Property records show that Rothstein
spent more than $15 million on real estate properties in Florida, New York, and Rhode Island. He also ownsa
fleet of high-priced automobiles. Not surprisingly, Florida's Republican Party, the recipient of many a Rothstein fundraiser, also announced on Tuesday that it would return those donations.
[21] Rothstein personally has given more than $500,000 and the firm has given $538,000, including $317,000 to the Republican Party of Florida.
[8] First of all, everybody should now that Rothstein's gang also has tides to another Republican Party Fundraiser Joe Lubeck (Managing Partner of Moroso Race Track a/k/a PBIR) and Sid Levy partner of Lubeck in Moroso Race Track. They both has laudered over $1 million from Rothstein as investment in the almost defunct Moroso Track a/k/a PBIR. Levy and Lubeck collected from Scott Rothstein's investment $10,000 and $300,000 respectevily, as " Consulting Fee". This connection should be follow very carefully since both, Lubeck and Levy are Pandoras Box.
[8] Question: Scott Rothstein has given more than $500,000 to the Republican Party in the last few years. You went to his wedding. You obviously have a close relationship with him. Crist: Well I don'''t think we know exactly what those items are.
[37] "The Republican Party of Florida is currently putting a plan in place to turn over contributions associated with Scott Rothstein," RPOF spokeswoman Katie Gordon Betta said in an e-mail. "The funding will be turned over for placement in a victim compensation fund when such a fund or similar entity becomes available." It remains unclear, though, how far back they'll go to look for tainted cash.
[36] We'll see what January holds. Now if McCollum had some balls he would hold a press conference, demand the RPOF and Chuckles Crist return Rothstein and Dr. Mendleson's campaign contributions. Why is he stopping short? That would show real leadership not the half hearted type we are so used to R's espousing. Here's the problem. if the Republican Party returns the Rothstein money they have NO MONEY!!!! Apparently Greer is concerned about even meeting payroll.
[35] Lamberti, Lieberman, Hasner, and Bogdanoff: They all got Rothstein $$. Long, isn't it? Mind you, that doesn't include the contributions he made to the candidates for federal office -- John McCain and Charlie Crist, to name a couple. Nor does it include the many contributions he made directly and bundled on behalf of local politicians. I'm tempted to list them, but honestly, it's almost easier to list the state politicians who didn't take money from Rothstein. Let's just talk about those who blundered most spectacularly.
[43] '''Broward'''s been a little bit beaten up ''' I mean, we'''re in trouble. Your mouth drops open and I'''m just numb, I'''m numb from all of this.''' This year, Bogdanoff has received $11,000 from Rothstein and his various political fundraising arms, coming via 22 checks at the state maximum, $500. She is running for a state Senate seat. Since 2006, Bogdanoff, a high-ranking Republican in the House, has taken in $26,750 from Rothstein in her campaign account and a political committee she controls, Creating Possibilities.
[48] The other group, also including Democrats and Republicans, took more of a wait and see approach. That camp included former Florida Senate Minority Leader Steve Geller, who got $50,000 for a political committee he controls; the state Democratic Party, which got $200,000; and the state Republican Party, which got $525,000. Gunzburger said returning the money her campaign received "is the only proper thing to do." Geller said it's premature to decide what is appropriate to do with the money.
[13] "The future of the firm is currently being decided, but it will be separate from Mr. Rothstein," said a firm spokesman. Mr. Rothstein is known in South Florida for both his lavish lifestyle and his ties to state Republicans. Public records show he bought a home belonging to Miami Dolphins football star Ricky Williams in March 2005.
[5] Stone says the consulting business never had any clients and never opened a bank account. He was surprised to learn that RRA Consulting's status is listed as "active" in state business records because, he says, he and Rothstein previously agreed to kill the firm. It should be noted that Stone was quoted in a 2008 newspaper article suggesting that he had in fact done work for RRA. And Stone
told the Palm Beach Post earlier today that he was as "surprised as anyone" about the Rothstein charges.
[16] A 10-page confidential settlement agreement prepared for use in August required a wire transfer to an RRA trust account and covered attorney fees paid to the firm. A 20-page "acknowledgement of assignment/purchase of settlement proceeds" above Rothstein's signature line listed him as the attorney of record on a settlement.
[33] A four-page form entitled "personal guaranty" pledged Rothstein, the firm's managing partner, personally guaranteed payments of settlement proceeds to beneficiaries. Another one-page form on RRA letterhead said the firm unconditionally guaranteed a series of monthly payments under a settlement agreement.
[33] "I'm always looking for an opportunity," Sakowitz said Tuesday. "We were always looking for a way to show this was real, and we couldn't find it." It worked this way: Rothstein said his firm had negotiated a $900,000 settlement that would pay out over several months.
[18] The documents indicate Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, which also used the acronym RRA, detailed the workings of a settlement with a whistleblower who obtained a $1.2 million settlement without filing a complaint or a lawsuit.
[33] October 2008 : Donates $1 million to Holy Cross Hospital October 6, 2008 : Former Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne, a disbarred and disgraced Democrat who pleaded guilty to four federal felonies, takes a job with the consulting and lobbying arm of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler a week after leaving federal prison.
[27] Rothstein has raised money for other politicians around the country, including former President George W. Bush and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Rothstein's investors estimate their losses could easily exceed $100 million, said attorney Jeffrey Sonn who represents some of them. He added it will take time to reach a final figure.
[18] Scott Rothstein's suspected Ponzi scheme that lawyers involved in the case have estimated to have lost hundreds of millions of dollars has been called a "tragedy" by one investor who says he is at risk for tens of millions of dollars.
[2] Prominent Florida lawyer and power broker Scott Rothstein solicited investors to buy shares in a structured settlement that purportedly had been reached with a defense industry whistleblower, who wanted instant cash in place of installment payments over time.
[33] The Legislature'''s biggest benefactor from Scott Rothstein -- state Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale ''' said today she'''d return any political donations from the lawyer accused of misusing funds from clients, the latest money-in-politics scandal to surface in Broward. '''I'''m numb,''' Bogdanoff said in Tallahassee, where legislators are gathering this week for committee hearings.
[48] I hope Bova Prime doesn't close as I love the food. It is hard to believe that the "partners" in his fort lauderdale office claim they had no clue. Maybe they didnt know the truth, but everyone else suspected there was a fraud going on. Many in the legal community in Broward were buzzing about all this money Scott was throwing around and knew that most lawyers dont make that kind of money; No one heard of any big cases EVER won by Scott.
[40] There's simply no excuse for not having at least a gut feeling that Rothstein's honeymoon with high society couldn't last. One year ago in this newspaper, columnist Bob Norman began a profile that reflected both the fascination and the skepticism of the region's big shots. Rothstein's big-spending ways and race to the top of the Fort Lauderdale glitterati has legal and business insiders wondering: Who is this guy? Is he for real, or is he building a house of cards? For real? Or house of cards? If that's a coin flip, then maybe it's not the kind of bet you want to make with your investment dough.
[49] We still don'''t know who lost money and how much, but based on the M.O. of past con men, like Madoff and Dreier, it'''s usually the closest friends and associates who get burned most. In an interview last year, Rothstein told me his three best friends were: Ted Morse, president of the Morse auto dealership chain; Howard Gruverman, a Hollywood businessman whose Edify benefits firm is on the 11th floor of the same Las Olas office building where Rothstein worked; and Chuck Zloch, of Oakland Park, who Rothstein said was associated with Mass Mutual benefits. I attempted to reach them on Monday but didn'''t hear back.
[40] As far back as two years ago we had regular discussions that Rothstein's wealth and free-flowing donations didn't add up, Rothstein had total unchecked control of firm books, and anyone with half a brain could tell from Day One that Rothstein was dirty. We just didn't know how he was getting the money.
[45] In a text message sent Saturday, Mr. Rothstein apologized to firm lawyers, Mr. Rosenfeldt said. In the note, according to Mr. Rosenfeldt, Mr. Rothstein described himself as "a fool" and said he was sorry for any harm he had done to his colleagues.
[5] Rothstein and Rosenfeldt were each 50 percent shareholders of the firm, which had ballooned from seven lawyers in 2002 to more than 70.
[33] When asked about the documents on firm letterhead, Coffey said Rosenfeldt and others at the firm have "come to learn that was setting up the investment accounts as 'law firm trust accounts.' The lawyers weren't involved in that." Coffey said the firm's attorneys were "completely walled off" from any information about investment accounts to the point that they had to have a computer expert create access over the weekend.
[33] This look like a plot lead by this lawyer. How many victim of him are in the market by now. He worth large sum of money but a lawyer make so much at month nor millions like this attorney was doing.So now a law suit is already been filed and a very well know attorney name Coffey is working in this matter.
[30] Currently, we are monitoring the situation regarding Mr. Rothstein, and our lawyer has reached out to the attorneys involved in the case to sort out the facts and the law."
[29] The 47-year-old Rothstein could not be reached for comment, the Wall Street Journal
Law Blog reports. His lawyer, Marc Nurik, says he is away for a few days to "clear his head" and will be back by the end of the week to "straighten this thing out." Rothstein leases a private jet, and there is speculation that he may now be in Morocco, reports the
South Florida Sun Sentinel.
[9] Rothstein is a major player in South Florida business, politics and philanthropy. He has hosted fundraisers for former President George W. Bush, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and others.
[23] I don't think anybody does." Geller said Rothstein "has been well known as a pillar in the community prior to this. One would have no reason to suspect that someone who has given to so many charities and so many politicians before me would have anything wrong," he said. Gov. Charlie Crist, leader of the state Republican Party, said he didn't want to "prejudge anybody.
[13] Rothstein is credited with bundling millions of dollars for GOP presidential candidate John McCain and numerous state and Broward County races. For his efforts, he was invited to Gov. Charlie Crist's wedding.
[24] Gov. Crist paints with Highman Robert Butler for charity.; Charlie Crist; News; Palm Beach Post; What do you expect to hear from Gov. Charlie Crist's State of the State speech tonight?; Alex Sink; Bill Nelson; Charlie Crist; Florida; Palm Beach Post; politics; state government; Rep. Larry Cretul holds his first press conference before he is elected Republican leader of the Florida House.; State; Congressman Tim Mahoney talks with Post reporter George Bennett about his alleged affairs.; Breaking; breaking news; features; hp; local news; PalmBeachPost; PBPost Features; Rep. Tim Mahoney holds a press conference the day after allegations of an affair with a staffer and paid to cover it up. ; breaking news; candidate; hp; local news; PalmBeachPost; PBPost News; politics; Mahoney still wants to represent the 16th District.; candidate; hp; PBPost News; Reps.
[26] "Ibelieve that anyone who received money, political contributions, from Mr. Rothsteinshould return that money, whether that's my opponent, Alex Sink, whether that's the Democratic Party, or whether that's the RepublicanParty," McCollum said at a news conference. As theconference ended, McCollum was asked to describe his level of confidence in Greer's performance as party chairman (Greer is Gov. Charlie Crist's guy, and McCollum is now much more engaged in helping to raise money for the party as the leading candidate for governor).
[35] Name partners at most of the largest lawfirms in teh counrty do not makethat kind of money. Scotty boy who stopped practicing so he could smooze around town somehow out earned most Fortune 500 executive. Now let us go pick up the cars,boat and the jewelry ( reportedly worth millions) and pay back some of the people who he scammed. Then go after the malpractice insurance of teh attorneys who turned a blind eye because of their own greed. Where is his wife Kimberly? Heard she was at their home on Thursday for the fundraiser, but has anyone seen her since? Oh, and to Jason Credible, this isn't a 'jewish' thing as you suggest, because Holy Cross is run by a bunch of Catholic Nuns and they dropped their rosaries for his 'money'. The only religion here is GREED. And for both political parties that got into bed with him, hope the voters remember those that accepted his donations in the next election!! Crist is waiting to see what shakes out? What's up with that crap? And Rosenfeldt didn't know anything was going on? BS. Someone needs to look further into the arrangement over the RRA female attorney who was killed by the COO's husband; can we say COVER UP? Just like Madoff, that COO had to know what was going on.
[40] At one point, Rothstein, 47, was a partner in a small firm, living a comfortable but not gaudy life in Plantation. Then his ambition, or perhaps greed, took over. He began reaching for the stars at age 40, in 2002, when he launched the Rothstein Rosenfeldt firm with Stu Rosenfeldt. Russell Adler soon joined them as a non-equity partner.
[40] "I am an employee, like everyone else, except for Rothstein and (co-founder Stuart) Rosenfeldt." Even co-founder Rosenfeldt said he was in the dark about the firm's finances.
[4] Reviewing the firm's accounts "was not my job," Rosenfeldt said Tuesday evening. "I didn't even have access to those records." When asked if Rosenfeldt ever asked for access from Rothstein, he replied, "A few times.
[4] The reason why: Rosenfeldt says Rothstein circulated an "urgent'' e-mail around the firm several weeks ago seeking information for a client who needed to know which countries don't have extradition treaties with the United States or Israel.
[9] All of that is ongoing." Rothstein's attorney, Marc Nurik, who quit the firm to take his former boss as a client, told Coffey that Rothstein is out of the country. Coffey said he heard "rumors from country A to Z" on Rothstein's location.
[24] When asked if the firm's lawyers feel victimized by Rothstein, Coffey answered simply, "Yes."
[28] Rothstein's whereabouts are unknown. Commissioner Abrams, who was one of three lawyers at the Boca Raton satellite office, said he had no knowledge of what's being alleged. "It surprised everybody at the firm," said Abrams.
[25] Mr. Rothstein had been out of the office since the middle of last week, according to a firm partner, and his whereabouts in recent days were unclear to the.
[38] Just re-read the news story. It really does make you scratch your head when you see Keechl, Wasserman-Rubin and Gunzburger all got around $5,500 to $7,100 each in donations from Rothstein. yet Steve Geller, running for the same office as those three, hauls in like 10x what any of them receive. It was all in a single $50,000 check from Rothstein personally.
[31] Elaborate, "conspiracies aside." Does anyone believe that NO ONE who worked for Scott Rothstein had NO CLUE what was going on? Didnt he have to have some help to do all of those wire transfers, settlement documents, collect money, pay money, spend money, keep track of hundreds of millions? You really think he did ALL these things by himself? If so, I have a structured settlement I'd like to sell you.
[44] Just got hold of Debra Villegas, the chief operating officer of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, who
Scott Rothstein claimed handled his financial affairs.
[44] '''As soon as a receiver is appointed to recover Scott Rothstein'''s personal money, personal assets, my will promptly refund the entire amount of the money.
[31] The Democrat is keeping the c. $240K hauled in from a Rothstein fundraiser. Her campaign says it will return any other money that is shown to be questionable.
[28] The reports on the Supervisor's website, and earlier media reports, say Gunzberger got around $8,500. I can only find around $6,500 in her reports. What does it matter as Gunzberger said she will return all the money from Rothstein, RRA, and companies associated with Rothstein.
[31] Rothstein also accounted for another $10,000 to RPOF chairman Jim Greer's 527. The party said in a statement that, until wrongdoing is proved, it won't return any Rothstein cash contributed this past quarter.
[28] Sink offered to return $2,000 contributed by Rothstein, his wife and their businesses.
[28] Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney's campaign will give $4,600 in Rothstein contributions to a pair of Treasure Coast charities.
[11] Now there's a comforting thought. It's not just investors who should have been wary. A slew of politicians -- most of them Republican -- courted Rothstein campaign contributions when they should have known there was danger that those dollars could drag their names into an ugly controversy. If the wild spending of Rothstein wasn't a clue something was amiss, then at least there was reason to be concerned about his mercurial ways. "Anyone who says anything about me or prints anything about me that is not true will have a battle on their hands," he says.
[49] Money was taken "from investor trust accounts that made use of the law firm's name," the lawsuit said.
[24] "Immediate judicial action is being sought to facilitate the investigation and accounting of investor funds and to address the ongoing affairs of the firm in an appropriate manner," Coffey wrote in the complaint. After the hearing, he said, "the law firm is facing significant financial challenges."
[24] Everyone must understand CORRUPTION is NOT about a Republican vs. Democrat; Corruption has no party, religion, race. etc. Corruption is the only genuine "Equal Opportunity" item. No wonder why Ellyn Bogdanoff always refused to help her constituents, who have been, for many years, under attack from the law firm of Becker-Poliakoff and other such "influential" firms. Many condo owners suffered monetarily, physically and emotionally, while those law firms advanced their agendas and profited from the people's miseries. Ken Keechl pulled off the exact same "ignoring act" as Bogdanoff, so did most other politicians except for the Honorable Julio Robaina! He is the only one who deserves my vote.
[36] "Whatever was RRA and whatever name it surfaces as in the near future, it will still have that great solid talent base that made us a great law firm." Another 15 attorneys affiliated with the firm in Venezuela pulled out Monday. Staff writer Terry Sheridan and Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
[33] '''entrepreneurial environment''' that triggered client loyalty, not the usual law firm mentality focused on running up hours and costly litigation. '''In the short term, you'''re not making the money, but in the long run the clients stay with you,''' he said. He also talked about his one rule for employees: '''If you lie, you die'''You can give me bad news, say something I might not want to hear, but never lie to me.
[30] Boden, who is not licensed to practice law in Florida, did not return a call for comment at the law firm by deadline.
[33] The law firm, as a whole, was responsible for a half million in political contributions, according to the web site.
[25] The defense contractor agreed to transfer the full amount to the law firm, $900,000 would go to the whistleblower, and the rest would go to the firm.
[33] Berger, meanwhile, left a $145,000-a-year position in the middle of a reelection campaign to join the firm. "We had a good chance of getting reelected, when all of a sudden he made that decision. He said he was doing it for financial reasons and that it was important to his family," said West Palm Beach lawyer Gerald Richman, who ran Berger's campaign committee.
[8] The fallout has spilled into Palm Beach County, where the firm dangled big money to lure top political figures, including a judge.
[8] The firm currently has 70 lawyers and a total of 150 employees. It is "scrambling" to find money to pay employees, Mr. Rosenfeldt said. The firm's lawyers had no knowledge of the alleged improprieties, according to its filing.
[5] Rosenfeldt said the firm's law practice will continue and there is no evidence any other lawyers were involved.
[23] Rothstein Rosenfeldt Alder, which Mr. Rothstein co-founded in 2002, focused on labor and employment matters, but it grew rapidly, hiring well-known local lawyers and former judges, who specialized in various practices, including real estate, mergers and acquisitions, and governmental relations.
[5] A lawyer for Rothstein, Marc Nurik, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In an email exchange with WSJ reporter Nathan Koppel on Sunday, Rothstein called the rumors that he had fled the jurisdiction "totally untrue," and that he'd be back in Ft. Lauderdale on Tuesday. "I have nothing to hide at all," he added.
[20] Rothstein, 47, could not be reached for comment. "He's been away to clear his head," said Rothstein's lawyer, Marc Nurik.
[32] Keechl, who is a lawyer, said he'''s never had any non-government business dealings with Rothstein. '''When you have fundraisers you have the people that you invited, and you always say bring your friends,''' she said. '''So often times I don'''t know who they are.'''
[31] I like to jab the dog in the eye. If it bites me, I'll jab its eye out." Rothstein once told me he had 43 voices in his head, ranging from lawyers to businessmen to guys from the Bronx streets where he grew up. I felt like there were about five of the latter type on the phone line. It was sort of a phone-call version of being mugged by a gang of hooligans in Central Park."
[8] I managed to go through three years of law school without doing that. Vic Tobin is another one of Mr. Rothstein's supposed "good friends," so it will be interesting to see how he handles the Receivership. I like to see a judge with a heart, but when my clients go bankrupt, they generally do not receive the same level of sympathy from the court, or a priority setting on their motions. I guess its "good to be the king" even when the king is wearing no clothes (or should I say no custom made designer suits).
[46] I was at a charity event at Boca Resort where there was art work being auctioned for Charity. I am a collector of art so I would open the bids very genorously ($5K-10K) and Rothstein would hold up his paddle and yell "$150,000!", "$200,000 when bids were at $10,000, that was 3 years ago and when I knew that this "attorney" had some kind of ponzi scheme or scam behind him.
[32] Kendall Coffey, a former U.S. Attorney who is representing Rothstein, said he is dealing with a "dizzying" array of issues related to Rothstein. "This is breaking news for everybody."
[2] "The attorneys in the firm are shocked about allegations being circulated in the last few days about matters that involve one attorney in the firm," Coffey said to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
[32] A prominent and politically connected South Florida attorney is being investigated for financial irregularities and may lose control of his firm to receivership.
[19] The firm has hired former U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey to handle the investigation.
[8] 
The Miami Herald reported on Tuesday that federal authorities were carrying out a criminal investigation into Rothstein's activities. The newspaper said he was suspected of operating a Ponzi scheme by selling tens of millions of dollars in fabricated legal settlements to investors.
[6] Some investors allege that Defendant Rothstein may have been fabricating non-existent structured legal settlements for sale to investors.
[20] "This is a terrible tragedy for the entire community," George Levin, who says he was a major investor in the Rothstein's settlement business and fears he is one of the biggest losers in the alleged Ponzi scheme, said through the family's spokesman Don Silver of Boardroom Communications.
[2] The investor said the proceeds from the settlement were already in bank accounts owned and controlled by RRA and Rothstein had signing authority on the TD Bank account.
[33] Sources said Rothstein may have misappropriated $200 million to $500 million in a scheme tied to structured settlements.
[33] Rosenfeldt said about $500 million in trust accounts for settlements disappeared from Oct. 23 to 30.
[33] Late Friday afternoon, Rosenfeldt got more concerned when "certain people I knew to be friends of Scott called me and said we can't find Scott.'' They were investors who wanted money released from trust accounts, he said.
[39] You all are a bunch of vengeful stupid people. The moment I saw Scott for the first time I knew this man was a crook. I dont understand how people could not figure this out. Lawyers dont make that kind of money, they dont drive 2 million dollar Bugatti cars, they dont wear millions of dollars of jewelry, they dont have bodygaurds UNLESS THEY ARE DOING SOMETHING SHADY! Everyone is so bedazzeled by rich scum bags like this guy that they dont question anything.
[40] A sociopath if you will. A message to G and Steve Kane: Maybe if he didnt flee the country and disappear after all that money went missing then maybe people wouldnt be so accusing. What he did screams GUILTY! You two are either family members or people who he paid to write that or just plain stupid. If you are going to have a fundraiser for him, Im sure you will both be the only ones attending it. I think that everyone he has worked close with and every person and organization he contributed to should be investigated thoroughly. Corrupt people like to get their corrupt friends into political office so that they can have favors returned later. I think if the government investigates (assuming the ones doing the investigating are not being paid off) they will probably find that Scott is only a small fish compared to others involved in this scheme.
[40] I so agree with Bob Jones; there is NO WAY the other partners could NOT notice. Rothstein's spending money like he has a printing press and none of the partners wonder where their percentage is? Non-equity or not, he's spending that kind of dough, you'd certainly think the other partners would want a piece of the action.
[40] Stone, who has long been an associate of Trump's, got Crist the fundraiser. He said Mangino couldn't decipher where the money was coming from, but knew it wasn't Rothstein's.
[45] Rothstein did not give a nickel to Republical House campaigns. He was always and only about Charlie Crist, all the time.
[29] Charlie Crist campaign : "The campaign is aware of and closely monitoring the potentially serious allegations concerning Mr. Rothstein.
[29] Many have wondered how Rothstein expanded so rapidly and spent so lavishly, with an intricate array of business interests along with a fleet of expensive cars and vast real estate holdings. He also gave generously to charity and mightily to political campaigns.
[30] A source told the Daily Business Review the amount allegedly misappropriated by Rothstein was at least $200 million but could be as high as $500 million.
[24] Here's one more, an $846,000 property on Broward Boulevard. These four add another $5 million to the properties controlled by Rothstein.
[47] None of the properties listed above are Rothstein's home address -- that's the $5 million home here. Update: Just found more properties transferred into corporations: This one is across the street from Rothstein's house on Isla Bahia Drive. That's a $1.16 million property he transferred last January. Add this $308,000 property and this $2.2 parcel downtown, which was to be the site of Bova Smoke.
[47] CampaignMoney.com reports Rothstein sent $139,000 to mostly Republican candidates, plus a couple Democrats.
[25] Florida Republican party: "We are certainly very concerned about the serious rumored allegations facing Mr. Rothstein.
[29] All the events, advertising, riding around with bodyguards, contributions. None of this added up and everyone knew it. To "A" who thinks Rothstein is a great Republican: Has it dawned on you yet that since he is a 'great contributor to the Republican party he has also screwed them to the hilt!!! God bless him. That's the ONLY good thing to come out of this mess.
[40] Rothstein accounted for at least$789,375 in contributions to various state and federal party committees, according to federal and state records.
[28] Rothstein was hugely active in state politics, mostly on the Republican side, according to Stone.
[16] There was quite a bit of circumstantial evidence that Rothstein had a screw loose. Rothstein's support of Sink was, at the time, a slap in the face to her opponent, Republican Bill McCollum, who just might get the last laugh.
[43] Wasserman-Rubin received $5,500 from Rothstein and people and entities he'''s associated with. Commissioner Ken Keechl, who received $6,000, also said he doesn'''t really know Rothstein. '''I'''ve met him twice,''' he said.
[31] TALLAHASSEE ''' Federal health care overhaul proposals in Congress could add between 1.4 million and 1.69 million people to the state'''s Medicaid rolls and cost state taxpayers more than $600 million annually by 2015, state officials said in a report released today.
[48] The total cost would be $4.2 billion ''' with the state picking up $608 million of that, the report said.
[48] Florida'''s costs for the Medicaid expansion would rise even more after that under the Senate plan -- to $819 million by 2019, the report calculates. The figures are being presented this afternoon in Tallahassee, where legislators are gathered for committee hearings on the budget.
[48] Under the Senate plan, Florida'''s Medicaid rolls would grow from about 2.7 million to 4 million people by 2015, according to a report by the state Agency for Health Care Administration.
[48] Rothstein's attorney, Marc Nurik, said Rothstein will be back Wednesday. Staff writers Jon Burstein and Robert Nolin contributed to this report.
[39] The investment business created and operated by Rothstein centered around the sale of interests in structured settlements.
[20] All checks from Rothstein's address, Rothstein's partners and friends, or Rothstein's companies. She got the checks from Grant Smith (RRA #3 in command)who was lobbying her, and, according to Buddy Nevins, Sue introduced at County Commission next day what Smith wanted about jails.
[31] Then after your membership card is received go to any pain clinic in Broward County where willing doctors will gladly provide prescriptions for Xanax and Oxycodone.no questions asked, of course. How can his partners claim they knew nothing. $400k a year on security and this does not make your "best friend" partner ask what the hell is ging on.
[40] RPOF, which has received $500,000 or more in Rothstein-related money over the years, is returning only contributions from the 2010 election cycle, party spokeswoman Katie Betta said.
[11] The state Democratic Party isn'''t waiting. Eric Jotkoff, communications director for the state party, issued a statement this afternoon about the $200,000 contribution the party received in September.
[31] A variety of candidates and the state GOP and Democratic Party pledged today to return about $400,000 worth of Rothstein-linked campaign cash.
[10] Florida Democratic Party: '''As a policy, the Florida Democratic Party returns tainted donations and we hope that the Republican Party would do the same.
[29] What a shock everyone in town saw this coming and the amazing part is the Fed again never stepped in to investigate this man. It made zero sense how he came out of nowhere and rose to such stardom. Another major embarrassment to the Republican Party. Another slimeball talking God. Maybe he was doing that same God's work that Wasserstrom claimed when he shafted the people of Hollywood for the personal gain he planned to get from the company charging twice what another company wanted for a better product. Scott,actually he is a big supporter of Alex Sink and the Democrats now.
[30] As usual, it will be the littlest people who could get hurt the most, the law firm secretaries and restaurant servers who live paycheck to paycheck who might suddenly find themselves out of work. Or the charities who might find themselves stiffed on pledges who can'''t deliver things to people who really need them.
[40] All of the partners in that firm knew it was a RICO enterprise posing as a law firm.
[21] Ashby has covered the legal and business worlds for over a decade. Before becoming a journalist, he worked as a litigator at a large law firm and clerked for a federal judge.
[32] Tobin's actions are clearly unethical and need to be investigated asap. Wow! The Chief Judge bending over backwards at 6 in the morning telling other judges to be on the look out to help this ponzi scheme masquerading as a law firm.
[46] What the hey? Why is Chief Judge Tobin advocating for a private law firm? Favoritism and cronyism at its worst. He should be investigated too.
[46] You mean the houses and cars were not a tip off to the guys in the law firm.
[40] Having been a victim of the Abrams Boca Raton city government, I can see that what comes around goes around. There was so much corruption in his city government that it is no surprise that it is showing up in his law firm.
[8] Seriously, get a grip. Everyone loves a conspiracy plot but stretching it because he says get on this asap. The firm is collapsing, clients deserve to protect their assets given to the firm, those entitled to the assets (Creditors or otehrwise) should have confidence that a firm which has so demonstrably shown an inability to manage itself does not let the assets disappear, and all this should be done quickly. I wonder if this dude is still threatening people. I wonder if this dude has the temerity to threaten an employee of a large national law enforcement agency like he did to so many others.
[46] Please whoever draws the case try to set the motion today because of the amount of clients and money involved. If you have a case with the firm please be paitent I don't know if the lawyers will come or not and if they do come there is no money at this point to go forward with the case or pay firm employees. They need to a receiver apointed a quickly as possible to marshall whatever is left of the assets.
[46] I did receive money from other lawyers in the firm. Anybody who wants their money back always gets it back. I assume they don'''t want their money back. He had a bunch of companies.
[31] " f you have a case with the firm please be patient I don't know if the lawyers will come or not and if they do come there is no money at this point to go forward with the case or pay firm employees," Tobin wrote.
[46] I even heard some firms were competing for lawyers and Scott's firm paid a lot more, raising questions again about where the cash flow was coming from. I guess as long as the lawyers got paid well they didnt care where it came from.
[40] Roger Stone had it right. He was a friend of Rosenfeldt brought into to start a political lobbying group who bailed out a year ago when he realized the whole firm was a bunch of "empty suits" who couldn't "sell pussy on a troop ship."
[21] Coffey said Rosenfeldt and the firm wanted Miles McGrane of McGrane Nosich & Ganz in Coral Gables to be named receiver, but the judge asked about appointing Rosenfeldt as half owner of the firm rather than "bring in a total stranger."
[24] Coffey noted Matthew Menchel of Kobre & Kim of Miami, who represents a large creditor, wants James Cassel to be the receiver. After a brief discussion among lawyers, Rosenfeldt said he would be willing to take charge.
[24] Remember Coffey has a very well know of reputation of represent client with big money. As a paralegal-investigator working for very well known lawyers before in Florida I have worked in cases in which my boss was robber clients to profit himself.All of them went jail for awhile.
[30] A lawyer for some investors, Jeff Sonn, said initial estimates of the missing cash range from $100 million to $185 million.
[23] If it seems too good to be real, then it is. I also understand he never made good on the 250K reward his firm offered in the wake of the Melissa Lewis murder. Then again, the informant was one of his paralegals who was married to the SOB who murdered her lesbian girlfriend. How can you compare some investor who got duped out of millions with some minimum wage waiter losing his job? The waiter (if he's any good) will have another job tomorrow.
[40] Allegedly. Rosenfeldt has thrown him under the bus, telling the media he was lied to, duped, betrayed, etc. If Rosenfeldt was his partner and friend, why wouldn't he wait until his partner 'explained' the investor's claims of missing money? Methinks Rosenfeldt doth protest too much (and quickly).
[8] All the investors, partners, and politicians who are crying foul should sign up for membership to the National Hypocracy Association. While the money was flowing and favors were done, everyone willingly got into bed with this man.
[40] The settlement ventures apparently involved investors paying sums to individuals owed money from court rulings for the right to collect the full amount of the settlements later.
[6] The person who won the settlement needed money right away and was willing to "sell" the rights for $660,000.
[18] A New York attorney named Marc Dreier did the same thing, only to the tune of '''just''' $350 million. [40] According to the above-linked story in the Broward-Palm Beach New Times, the turmoil appears to caused by an imploding investment venture by Rothstein, who is believed to be in Morocco.
[32] Richard Rampell, a Palm Beach accountant, said there are shades of Bernard Madoff in the whole Rothstein affair.
[4] Would you all just shut up. All of this speculation is absurd. Just wait for Scott Rothstein to come back and tell us his side.
[40] "Here'''s the thing I never get. Another Madoff, right here on Las Olas no less. Just last week I was asking a friend of Scott's "what's up with that guy Scott? He's all over the place. Is he for real - aren't people curious about where it all comes from? How is it that Scott's smart business associates couldn't see what I could see and I only met him once or twice and I saw the crook in him from the first meeting? Too strange and too sad. Anyway, I wish all of the investors and those who financially relied on him the best.
[40] A few years back when researching a story on one of the largest frauds in South Florida history, we found ourselves driving around Fort Lauderdale. [21] Many South Floridians will remember Eikenberg, 33, who served for four years as chief of staff to former Republican Congressman Clay Shaw of Fort Lauderdale.
[48] Sink announced the return of at least $2,000 in Rothstein-related contributions. Other candidates, including Crist, say they are monitoring the situation.
[8] Peter Feaman, the third member of the firm's Boca Raton office, was called a partner.
[4] Broward Circuit Judge Jeffrey Streitfeld appointed Miami-Dade Senior Circuit Judge Herbert Stettin, who was not present, as receiver late Tuesday. He was granted complete authority over the firm's offices, files, records and security.
[33] My client is thrilled too. Tobin is clearly showing favoritism to his good buddy Rosenfeldt. The JQC needs to look into Tobin's connection with RRA. How does Tobin know all the details ans why is he telling judges how they should rule in advance. Pulp, why do you think Tobin's e-mail is incredibe? I looked at the RRA website, and looking at the lawyers there, it seems like Tobin has reason(s) to give them preferential treatment. Names like Dishowitz, Birken, (Judges sons or daughters I believe) It must be nice to get insider help from the Chief Judge.
[46] SOURCES1.
Rothstein is "O-U-T Out" | NBC Miami2.
Accused FL Lawyer Arrives In U.S. - ABC News3.
Atwater, Bogdanoff vow to give back Rothstein contributions | Post on Politics4.
Liability of Rothstein law firm's 'partners' for allegedly stolen money could become an issue5.
Florida Lawyer Faces Questions About Funds - WSJ.com6.
Florida law firm seeks probe of alleged funds scam | U.S. | Reuters7.
Another Prominent Florida Lawyer Finds Himself in Legal Trouble8.
Law firm accuses own prominent Broward attorney of theft; commissioner Abrams resigns9.
Rothstein Firm Seeks Allegedly Missing $100M to $185M; Is He in Morocco? | ABA Journal - Law News Now10.
Florida politicians rush to unload tainted Broward lawyer's contributions - $400,000 so far11.
Crist, Rooney, state Dems and GOP pledge to return Rothstein contributions | Post on Politics12.
FDP and RPOF to return Rothstein cash. And Charlie Crist?13.
Politicians in both parties scrambled to distance themselves Monday from Scott Rothstein. -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com14.
Database: Rothstein's political contributions -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com15.
Sink's campaign returning $2,000 in Rothstein-related contribs; no word from Crist camp; Abrams leaving firm | Post on Politics16.
Roger Stone: I Hired PI To Investigate Biz Partner And Accused Fraudster Scott Rothstein | TPMMuckraker17.
We Knew This Was a Good Story | Talking Points Memo18.
The Associated Press: Prominent Fla. lawyer's sales pitch called suspect19.
Top Story: High-profile law firm reels after partner is investigated | font, span, firm : WPEC onSet Site - WAP20.
Rothstein Rosenfeld Co-Founder Moves to Dissolve the Firm - Law Blog - WSJ21.
Scott Rothstein Returns to 'Fraud Lauderdale'22.
Courthouse News Service23.
The Associated Press: Fla. law firm seeks dissolution as lawyer probed24.
Law.com - Fla. Law Firm Rocked by Fraud Allegations Against Partner25.
Top Story: Commissioner leaves law firm following scandal | firm, rothstein, scandal : WPEC onSet Site - WAP26.
"Surprised" Roger Stone says GOP moneyman Rothstein's downfall hurts Democrat Sink | Post on Politics27.
Key dates and data in the life and career of attorney Scott Rothstein -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com28.
How McCollum's attack on Sink boomerangs on Crist, RPOF29.
Is Scott Rothstein's political money tainted?30.
Rothstein law firm implosion -- Astonishing, not surprising31.
Re-election seeking commissioners, candidates and state Dems looking to get rid of Rothstein-related cash32.
What's Going on at Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler? - Law Blog - WSJ33.
Law.com - Receiver Takes Over Fla. Law Firm as Investors Reveal Pitches34.
Fort Lauderdale police sends street team to guard RRA35.
McCollum: Return Scott Rothstein's money36.
Republicans donating some Rothstein-related cash to victims37.
Crist says he won't "prejudge" Scott Rothstein, who was big donor to Republican Party38.
Lawyer Rothstein Lands in Florida - WSJ.com39.
The question Rosenfeldt and others are asking now is: Where is Scott Rothstein? Is he in Morocco? -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com40.
Question for Rothstein: How much is enough?41.
Michael Mayo column: Founded on a handshake, Rothstein's law firm goes from trust to dust -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com42.
Atwater to return Rothstein-related cash43.
Who Got Rothstein Money? (And If That Gets Bad, Will They Give It Back?) - Broward Palm Beach News - The Juice44.
Villegas: "I Have No Comment to the Media Whatsoever" - Broward Palm Beach News - The Juice45.
Roger Stone Interview Teaser - Broward Palm Beach News - The Daily Pulp: Bob Norman's Blog46.
Chief Judge: Scott Rothstein's Firm Has "No Money" and Is Going Into Receivership - Broward Palm Beach News - The Daily Pulp: Bob Norman's Blog47.
[UPDATED] Rothstein Deed Transfers a Cause for Alarm? - Broward Palm Beach News - The Juice48.
Juice: National politics for South Florida |Sun-Sentinel Blogs | November 2009 Archives49.
Rothstein in Review: Who Wouldn't Have Thunk It? - Broward Palm Beach News - The JuiceGENERATE A MULTI-SOURCE SUMMARY ON ANY SUBJECTEnter your search query below. WAIT 10-20 sec for the new window to open.
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