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J.R. Dunn Jewelers settles lawsuit in Rothstein case

A South Florida jeweler frequented by Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein has agreed to settle a lawsuit trying to recoup money that Rothstein paid for its fine earrings, watches and other jewelry. SPD Group, operating as J.R. Dunn Jewelers, agreed to a $325,000 settlement with the trustee handling the bankruptcy case for Rothstein’s shuttered law firm, court documents show. The settlement money, to be paid over 25 months, will help reimburse creditors of the former Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm. The settlement still needs approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Fort Lauderdale. More in the Sun Sentinel [...]

A look at some of the biggest Ponzi schemes

– Bernard Madoff was sentenced to a 150-year prison term after revealing that he used his investment advisory business to cheat thousands of investors of roughly $20 billion in a multi-decade fraud, using the money from new investors to pay returns to existing clients. More on Bloomberg Businessweek here. [...]

Former Rothstein Associate Indicted In Ponzi Scheme

A South Florida attorney with close ties to convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein was indicted Monday in connection with Rothstein’s $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme. Steven Lippman, 49, of Plantation, was charged with conspiracy to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act, to defraud the U.S., and to defraud a financial institution. Read CBS Miami News report [...]

Fla. Ponzi schemer implicates many others in crime

Over two grueling weeks, convicted Florida Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein laid out in incriminating detail how far the tentacles stretched in his $1.2 billion fraud, pointing the finger at numerous lawyers, bankers, business people, relatives, friends and unnamed law enforcement officials and politicians. The testimony, made public in hundreds of pages of transcripts, could form the outline of another wave of indictments that federal prosecutors have been promising for months. Rothstein, a 49-year-old disbarred lawyer, was questioned in December by about 30 attorneys representing investors who lost money and some people who could face charges. Read Bloomberg Businessweek report [...]

Ex-Lawyer Says Funds Inadvertently Helped His Fraud Continue

A former Florida lawyer convicted of running a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme said a group of hedge funds inadvertently helped him keep it going in the months before it collapsed. The new details emerged in recently released transcriptions of testimony given by former lawyer Scott Rothstein in connection with a series of lawsuits stemming from his fraud. More in the Wall Street Journal [...]

Ponzi Schemer Rothstein Says He Is a Good Example for Madoff.

So begins a deposition, held behind closed doors in a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., court, in which the now-disbarred Florida lawyer (pictured) claims to lay the details of the $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme that earned him a 50-year prison sentence. Rothstein, 49, is now in the federal witness-protection program because of assistance he provided to prosecutors investigating organized-crime figures.
Read more in the Wall Street Journal [...]

Ex-lawyer: I had help in fraud

Scott Rothstein, the Florida lawyer sentenced to 50 years in prison for running a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme, said officials at three Manhattan hedge funds helped him prop up the fraud in its final months, according to transcripts of a court deposition. Rothstein, 49, said his scheme began to collapse early in 2009, when he could no longer pay customers. Officials at Platinum Partners Value Arbitrage, Centurion Structured Growth, LLC, and Level 3 Capital Fund agreed not to tell potential new investors he failed to make payments to them, he testified. Read NY Post article [...]

Rothstein talks about drug use, escorts and organized crime

Billion-dollar fraudster Scott Rothstein fretted that drug dealing within his downtown Fort Lauderdale law firm could attract unwanted attention to his Ponzi scheme, according to transcripts of his testimony released Tuesday. But when it came to prostitutes gallivanting around the swanky offices of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, no problem. He felt protected on that front. Then there were the organized-crime members who would pop in to visit, Rothstein said. Rothstein’s description of the antics in the now-bankrupt law firm he used as his criminal base came in 950 pages of transcripts made public Tuesday. His extraordinary, closed-door deposition session wrapped up on Friday. "external">Read Orlando Sentinel report [...]

Florida Ponzi lawyer: partners involved in scam

The former Florida lawyer convicted of running a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme claims both his partners at a now-defunct Fort Lauderdale law firm knew about and profited from the illegal activity, according to transcripts of testimony released Wednesday.
The disbarred attorney, Scott Rothstein, said in a sworn deposition that ex-partners Russell Adler and Stuart Rosenfeldt knew about and benefited financially from the Ponzi scam that collapsed in fall 2009. The scam involved investments in fake legal settlements.
Read Washington Post article here.
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Before $1.2B Ponzi collapse, Rothstein emails to associate brag about fraud’s huge success

Before his $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme collapsed, Scott Rothstein crowed repeatedly to an alleged wealthy accomplice about the fraud’s huge success, calling himself “banker and pimp” and bragging that he operated the “International Bank of WOW!,” according to a new lawsuit that sheds fresh light on the scam’s inner workings. “Have I told you how much I loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeee this business … and how much I love the color green,” Rothstein said in one of many emails to the alleged accomplice, auto magnate Edward J. “Ted” Morse Jr. Read Washington Post report [...]