Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, Ft. Lauderdale, Law Firm Dissolution, Ponzi Scheme

Not all investors have been notified yet. There are still a few more abroad unaware of parts of this fiasco.

[sandra]

Disbarred attorney Scott Rothstein appeared in federal court Wednesday to declare that his lawyer has no conflicts of interest in representing him -- an effort to make sure his upcoming guilty plea is bullet proof. Appearing in a beige jail jumpsuit and handcuffs, Rothstein calmly answered questions under oath from U.S. District Judge James Cohn.

The judge had recently raised questions about whether defense attorney Marc Nurik could have potential legal conflicts, as he worked at the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm before resigning to represent Rothstein individually.

Rothstein is expected to change his plea to guilty on Jan. 27. The 47-year-old faces from 30 years to life in prison.

Source:

Scott Rothstein assures judge his lawyer has no conflicts

[WSJ Law Blog]

Attorney Scott Rothstein Pleads Guilty, Faces Decades Behind Bars



Well, it’s official. Scott Rothstein, the disgraced south Florida lawyer who for years ran his law firm as a criminal enterprise, has come clean.

In federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Rothstein Wednesday morning pleaded guilty to five counts, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. Click here for the plea agreement; here for the story on the plea, from the Miami Herald; here for the AP story; here for past LB coverage.

Some good nuggets from the Herald on the proceeding:

Dressed in a tan prison jumpsuit and shackled at ankles and wrists, the formerly high-flying lawyer displayed no emotion as he acknowledged guilt . . . .

Rothstein, 47, did not address the court, other than to answer yes or no to questions from the judge. But his wife, Kimberly, shared her feelings after the proceeding:

“Today is the saddest day of my life,” she read from a prepared statement. “Two years ago, when I married the sweetest man I’d ever met, I would never have believed our future together could come to this.”

According to the Herald, Rothstein’s sentence, slated for May 6, is likely to be in the 30-year range. He’ll likely be cut some slack because he returned from a last-minute flight to Morocco, detailed his crime for authorities and named others who aided him or benefited from the illegal profits.

As far as white-collar cases go from time to time, this one was swift. It was only three months ago that Rothstein took a private jet to Morocco to escape the imminent implosion of his Ponzi scheme.

After his return, he pinpointed for federal authorities hundreds of homes, cars, jewelry, watches, businesses, bank accounts and other personal assets purchased with the tainted proceeds of the Ponzi scheme over the past four years. Authorities have seized about $60 million in Rothstein assets. One might say he tried to “do the right thing.”

Rothstein is now in custody at the Federal Detention Center in Miami.

[jitendrasnv]

Hello !!

I am not aware of this fact .Can you please update me what is this all about.

Thanks

[forum_admin]

Scott Rothstein’s wife hit with $1.1 million lawsuit. Bankruptcy lawyers claim she owes the money to creditors of her husband’s defunct law firm.

The lawsuit also seeks repayment of $153,000 in salary she was paid by the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm and $104,000 in political contributions she made that were reimbursed by the law firm.

Read more:

>> Kim Rothstein owes $1 million, bankruptcy lawyers claim in lawsuit

Really a shame all the people damaged forever by this fiasco!

[forum_admin]

Federal prosecutors want Scott Rothstein to be sentenced to 40 years Wednesday -- 10 years more than the $1.2 billion Ponzi schemer hopes to get.



Scott Rothstein
CHARLES TRAINOR JR / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

Federal prosecutors say it's all well and good that convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein has pleaded guilty and helped them unravel his massive fraud -- but he should still go to prison for 40 years.

Prosecutors point not only to the vast scale of the disbarred Fort Lauderdale lawyer's scam -- selling $1.2 billion in phony legal settlements, leading to $430 million in investor losses -- but also reject Rothstein's "misguided"' argument that he deserves no more than 30 years in light of similar financial-fraud cases around the country.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence LaVecchio cited other notorious jailed Ponzi perpetrators -- including Bernard Madoff ($50 billion scheme, 150 years' imprisonment) in a footnote -- to dramatize the need for a "more severe sentence" than sought by Rothstein at his hearing in Fort Lauderdale federal court Wednesday. LaVecchio stressed that in Rothstein's 12-page letter to the sentencing judge, filed Friday, he acknowledged that his criminal behavior has had a "severe impact on this community."


Read more: Scott Rothstein prosecutors request 40-year prison term - Broward - MiamiHerald.com

[sandra]

Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein gets 50-year sentence

Wednesday, 06.09.2010

Scott Rothstein, South Florida Ponzi schemer extraordinaire, received a 50-year prison sentence Wednesday after a hearing in federal court in Fort Lauderdale. U.S. District Judge James Cohn, an Alabama native appointed by President George W. Bush, gave the disbarred lawyer more than what prosecutors requested for his crime as the mastermind of South Florida's biggest financial fraud.

"I am truly and deeply sorry for what I have done," Rothstein said, addressing the court wearing cuffs on his wrists and ankles. "I don't expect your forgiveness."' He apologized to investors he stole from, to his law firm colleagues, to his firm's clients, to the court system, fellow lawyers, to charities.

Read more: Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein gets 50-year sentence - Broward Breaking News - MiamiHerald.com

George and Steven Levin are both pigs! They have alot more to hide.