Post by ukipa on Nov 17, 2013 1:30:17 GMT 4
Wife of Fla. Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein sentenced to 18 months in prison for hiding jewels
By CURT ANDERSON - November 12, 2013 - www.therepublic.com
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida — The wife of convicted Ponzi scheme operator Scott Rothstein was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison Tuesday for trying to hide and sell $1 million in jewelry that federal agents sought to confiscate as ill-gotten gains.
U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenbaum sentenced Kim Rothstein, 39, after prosecutors and her lawyer both appealed for leniency. Kim Rothstein has been cooperating extensively with investigators since her arrest and said she was ready to pay the price for trying to keep some of the profits from her husband's $1.2 billion fraud racket.
"I'm grateful to have a chance to start my life again," said Kim Rothstein, telling the judge her life had "unraveled in such a horrific fashion." She added, "I'm willing to serve my time with dignity."
Kim Rothstein, her friend Stacie Weisman and her civil lawyer, Scott Saidel, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, tamper with a witness and obstruct justice. Saidel, 46, was sentenced to three years in prison for his role and Weisman, 50, got 3 months behind bars to be followed by nine months of home detention.
Scott Rothstein, 51, once a high-profile lawyer who rubbed elbows with presidents and governors, is serving a 50-year sentence for running a scheme in which thousands of investors were duped into putting their money into legal settlements that turned out to be phony. The fallout has included dozens of investor lawsuits and led TD Bank to reach a $52.5 million civil settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations it failed to report suspicious activity in accounts linked to the scam.
According to papers filed by Kim Rothstein's defense attorney, David Tucker, it was Scott Rothstein who initially suggested hiding jewelry, watches and coins from investigators looking to seize profits from the scam to repay wronged investors.
"Scott also recommended that Kim turn these items over to someone whom she trusted to sell them," Tucker wrote, adding that the Rothsteins communicated about the plot through coded language in letters.
Among the items she chose was a 12-carat diamond ring that had become central to bankruptcy proceedings in the collapse of the Fort Lauderdale-based Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm. A local jewelry store that had sold the ring to Scott Rothstein was trying to find it, leading to a series of lies, including a false claim that the ring had been sold to a dead man, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence LaVecchio.
Kim Rothstein testified falsely in that bankruptcy case that all her jewelry had been turned over to federal investigators, according to court documents. But when she was confronted by Internal Revenue Service about that lie, Kim Rothstein immediately admitted the scheme and agreed to record conversations with Weisman and Saidel, which helped prosecutors charge them and also led to charges against two other men involved in the jewelry transactions.
"She did so without the government offering any benefit," said Rosenbaum, who was nominated last week by President Barack Obama for a seat on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. "That is worth something to this court."
Tucker said in court papers that Kim Rothstein met her future husband while working at an upscale bar, deciding after a series of tumultuous relationships that he was her "prince charming, someone who would care for her and with whom she could live a fairy tale life." Three weeks after they met, Scott Rothstein proposed and they had their wedding reception at Miami Beach's famed Versace Mansion with then-Gov. Charlie Crist in attendance.
But, Tucker said, Scott Rothstein turned out to demand total control over his wife, including rules on when she could leave the house, and he allegedly became abusive when she questioned him. She insisted she never knew about the Ponzi scheme or any of her husband's financial dealings, which came crashing down in October 2009.
Kim Rothstein has recently filed for divorce, according to Tucker.
By CURT ANDERSON - November 12, 2013 - www.therepublic.com
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida — The wife of convicted Ponzi scheme operator Scott Rothstein was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison Tuesday for trying to hide and sell $1 million in jewelry that federal agents sought to confiscate as ill-gotten gains.
U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenbaum sentenced Kim Rothstein, 39, after prosecutors and her lawyer both appealed for leniency. Kim Rothstein has been cooperating extensively with investigators since her arrest and said she was ready to pay the price for trying to keep some of the profits from her husband's $1.2 billion fraud racket.
"I'm grateful to have a chance to start my life again," said Kim Rothstein, telling the judge her life had "unraveled in such a horrific fashion." She added, "I'm willing to serve my time with dignity."
Kim Rothstein, her friend Stacie Weisman and her civil lawyer, Scott Saidel, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, tamper with a witness and obstruct justice. Saidel, 46, was sentenced to three years in prison for his role and Weisman, 50, got 3 months behind bars to be followed by nine months of home detention.
Scott Rothstein, 51, once a high-profile lawyer who rubbed elbows with presidents and governors, is serving a 50-year sentence for running a scheme in which thousands of investors were duped into putting their money into legal settlements that turned out to be phony. The fallout has included dozens of investor lawsuits and led TD Bank to reach a $52.5 million civil settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations it failed to report suspicious activity in accounts linked to the scam.
According to papers filed by Kim Rothstein's defense attorney, David Tucker, it was Scott Rothstein who initially suggested hiding jewelry, watches and coins from investigators looking to seize profits from the scam to repay wronged investors.
"Scott also recommended that Kim turn these items over to someone whom she trusted to sell them," Tucker wrote, adding that the Rothsteins communicated about the plot through coded language in letters.
Among the items she chose was a 12-carat diamond ring that had become central to bankruptcy proceedings in the collapse of the Fort Lauderdale-based Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm. A local jewelry store that had sold the ring to Scott Rothstein was trying to find it, leading to a series of lies, including a false claim that the ring had been sold to a dead man, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence LaVecchio.
Kim Rothstein testified falsely in that bankruptcy case that all her jewelry had been turned over to federal investigators, according to court documents. But when she was confronted by Internal Revenue Service about that lie, Kim Rothstein immediately admitted the scheme and agreed to record conversations with Weisman and Saidel, which helped prosecutors charge them and also led to charges against two other men involved in the jewelry transactions.
"She did so without the government offering any benefit," said Rosenbaum, who was nominated last week by President Barack Obama for a seat on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. "That is worth something to this court."
Tucker said in court papers that Kim Rothstein met her future husband while working at an upscale bar, deciding after a series of tumultuous relationships that he was her "prince charming, someone who would care for her and with whom she could live a fairy tale life." Three weeks after they met, Scott Rothstein proposed and they had their wedding reception at Miami Beach's famed Versace Mansion with then-Gov. Charlie Crist in attendance.
But, Tucker said, Scott Rothstein turned out to demand total control over his wife, including rules on when she could leave the house, and he allegedly became abusive when she questioned him. She insisted she never knew about the Ponzi scheme or any of her husband's financial dealings, which came crashing down in October 2009.
Kim Rothstein has recently filed for divorce, according to Tucker.