Scott Rothstein expected to be arrested, charged Tuesday (South Florida)

[seafan]

Source: Miami Herald

Scott Rothstein, the flashy Fort Lauderdale attorney who authorities say ran a $1 billion investment scam while acting like a philanthropic tycoon, is expected to be arrested Tuesday on a federal racketeering charge, sources familiar with the case said.
Rothstein, who had fled to Morocco in late October but returned in early November, is expected to appear at a magistrate hearing to face the RICO conspiracy charge at the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale.

While under federal watch in November, Rothstein cooperated with prosecutors and provided them with details of his Ponzi scheme, involving the sale of fabricated legal settlements to wealthy investors.FBI and IRS agents also raided his Fort Lauderdale law office and seized his waterfront home and other assets.

.....

Prosecutors are using the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act to charge Rothstein and possibly others. The conspiracy law was passed by Congress to battle the Mafia and others involved in criminal enterprises. Rothstein, who was disbarred last week by the Florida Supreme Court, is accused of mail, wire and bank fraud, along with money laundering. He faces at least 20 years in prison and forfeiture of tens of millions of dollars in illegal profits.

Rothstein's life in the fast lane -- befriending high-profile figures from Gov. Charlie Crist to NFL Hall of Famer Dan Marino -- crashed spectacularly over the Halloween weekend, when his investors first suspected that the lawyer may have stolen hundreds of millions of dollars from them. The trail of wreckage is long -- including Holy Cross Hospital's returning a $1 million gift from Rothstein's charitable foundation.





Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/416/story/1359059.html

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Hold onto your hats, seats and children, people. This is going to be BIG.

[seafan]

1. Down the crapper indeed.

Scotty's personal toilet. It's gold.


Hat tip to Bob Norman.

[DeSwiss]

3. Ooooo!!!

But I hear that the bathrooms in prison aren't nearly as nice as that.....

[Malikshah]

2. Been following this over the last month -- the New Times and Bob Norman have

been covering this assiduously...the Scum-Sentinel and the Palm Beach Toast -- not so much.... They'll do the stories, but they don't provide the details....

This story touches a lot of Florida pols...Crist, LeMieux, Lamberti, ... the list goes on.

Hiassen couldn't write this -- it's toooooo damn rich. :)

[Iowa]

4. "...sale of fabricated legal settlements to wealthy investors..."

There's a term in investing called "Country Club Syndrome". Many wealthy investors think that it's beneath them to invest with the "peasants" in things like low-cost, no-load, mutual funds. So they seek out exclusive investment firms with all their flash and glitter. And they almost always get fleeced. Sometimes they get fleeced by a con like this guy, but they almost always get fleeced by exorbitant fees, or substandard investments... usually both. Contrary to popular belief, this is one area where a regular working stiff who has the stamina to spend a lot of time studying personal finance can out-perform wealthy investors who hire "the best".

[FarCenter]

5. New Link "Rothstein arrested on racketeering charge"

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1359183.html

[seafan]

6. The Perp Walk: Because we've seen far too few of these......

An image captured from WFOR-Ch. 4 shows Scott Rothstein handcuffed. (Miami Herald, WFOR-Ch. 4)



And too many of these...




With another hat tip to Bob Norman at The Daily Pulp.



FINALLY, Broward County is in line for some justice. The tentacles of this case have international reach.


Madoff. Then, Stanford. Now, Rothstein.


Bring it on.

[Scurrilous]

7. US charges Fla. lawyer with $1B investment fraud

<snip>

"A once high-flying South Florida attorney who courted politicians and celebrities was arrested Tuesday on federal racketeering and fraud charges for allegedly operating a $1 billion investment fraud scheme using faked legal settlements, law enforcement officials said.

Lawyer Scott Rothstein was led into the Miami FBI office in handcuffs following his early-morning arrest on five charges, including a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations or RICO law often used against the Mafia and other criminal organizations.

Alicia Valle, spokeswoman for the Miami U.S. attorney's office, said Rothstein was also charged with mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy. The combined maximum prison term for convictions on all counts is 100 years, according to court documents.

Rothstein was scheduled to appear in federal court later Tuesday. A news conference by prosecutors, the FBI and Internal Revenue Service was also planned."

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