Fort Lauderdale Attorney Sentenced to 50 Years in Billion-Dollar Ponzi Scheme

The United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office; and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Criminal Investigation Division, announced today's sentencing of attorney Scott Rothstein, 47, of Fort Lauderdale, in connection with the operation of a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme through the defunct Ft. Lauderdale law firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt and Adler, P.A (RRA). Today's sentence follows Rothstein's January 27, 2010 guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to violate the racketeering influenced corrupt organization (RICO) statute (Count 1); one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering (Count 2); one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud (Count 3); and two counts of wire fraud (Counts 4 and 5). U.S. District Court Judge James I. Cohn sentenced Rothstein to 50 years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. The court's sentencing order also incorporated the previously issued preliminary order of forfeiture, which ordered the forfeiture of Rothstein's interests in real property, vehicles, bank accounts, and investments, among other properties. Posted in: Deposit Account Fraud