Fort Lauderdale, FL – Scott Rothstein, the flashy Fort Lauderdale lawyer who investors say fleeced them out of hundreds of millions of dollars and whose partners say wiped out his law firm’s finances, is cooperating with federal investigators and identifying others who may be involved in his alleged scam, sources familiar with the probe said Wednesday.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Rothstein and his defense attorney, Marc Nurik — seeking to cooperate with the feds — disclosed details of his alleged Ponzi scheme to prosecutors, FBI agents and IRS agents at the U.S. attorney’s office in Fort Lauderdale, the sources said.
Investigators are not only looking into allegations that Rothstein bilked investors by selling them “fabricated” civil settlements, but also into accusations that he stole from his law firm’s financial operations and from clients’ trust accounts, the sources said.
Rothstein had secreted away millions of dollars into foreign bank accounts in recent months as he prepared for the possibility of fleeing, the sources said. It’s unclear how much — or if any — of that money could be available to repay possible victims.
Rothstein, 47, had left for Morocco on Friday as news of his alleged investment scheme started leaking around Broward County. He came back mid-day Tuesday to face a federal investigation and the loss of his Las Olas Boulevard law firm, Rothstein Ronsenfeldt Adler. The once high-flying firm, formed in 2002, has only $500,000 left in its bank account, a lawyer said.
On Oct. 31, Rothstein sent his law partners a text message that indicated he was contemplating suicide, sunsentinel.com reported Tuesday night.
Retired Miami-Dade judge appointed as financial overseer of the 150-employee firm that its attorneys say only has $500,000 in its operating accounts.
Rothstein mused that he had three options — kill himself, live life “on the lam as a fugitive” or go to prison and risk being killed there because he had made enemies, said the law firm’s co-founder, Stuart Rosenfeldt, according to the website. Rosenfeldt talked to Rothstein, urging him to “choose life.”
Rothstein’s investors had $500 million deposited in a Canadian bank on Oct. 23 and that money was gone seven days later, said William Scherer, an attorney representing 12 investors he says lost about $80 million. Among them: Rothstein’s neighbor, businessman Doug Vonallmen.
Good buddy of mine almost invested millions with him a few months ago, b”h he didnt!