Subject:

Corporate Crime

  • Blogs

    May 24, 2012

    Uncovering the Rothstein Ponzi Involvement of George Levin, Frank Preve, and Banyon Investments

    Yesterday, we brought you the accusations against Rothstein Ponzi investors George Levin and Frank Preve, who the Securities and Exchange Commission says knew about Rothstein's scam and fed hundreds of millions of dollars into it anyway.That post took you through what (allegedly) happened from the s ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 23, 2012

    Frank Preve Emailed Scott Rothstein: "I Can't Show Anyone That I Am a Complete Idiot"

    This is one of those times when the documents speak for themselves; I could rewrite and paraphrase the claims made by the Securities and Exchange Commission, but that wouldn't be better for either of us.The short version of the story: The SEC says Fort Lauderdale-based hedge fund managers Georg ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 29, 2012

    How Rothstein Says Banks Helped Run His Ponzi Scheme, Part 2: T.D. Bank

    ​We wrote earlier today about the latest settlements going to investors in Scott Rothstein's $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme; investors were awarded $130 million and lawyers at least another $50 million from T.D. Bank and Gibraltar Bank & Trust Co. The previous post covered Rothstein's description o ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 23, 2012

    Scott Rothstein Deposition Sequel in the Works

    ​If Scott Rothstein's deposition in Miami last month left something to be desired, we've got good news -- the feds are planning the sequel.According to federal court documents filed last week, Herbert Stettin -- the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler bankruptcy trustee -- has requested another deposition ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 5, 2012

    Melissa Britt Lewis Murder Trial Postponed -- Again

    ​It's been nearly four years since Melissa Britt Lewis, a 39-year-old Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler attorney, was found murdered, her body dumped in a Plantation canal. The man charged with killing her avoided trial for years because he was initially deemed mentally incompetent. Tony Villegas, 48, wa ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 28, 2011

    Scott Rothstein: "There Was a Lot of Marijuana Smoking Going On in My Office"

    ​There's some pretty interesting stuff coming out of Scott Rothstein's mouth during his deposition in Miami, like his claim that the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm was full of potheads.For whatever reason, attorney Sam Rabin wanted to know about Rothstein's drug use during his Ponzi expeditio ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 22, 2011

    Scott Rothstein Transcripts Released From Day One of Bankruptcy Deposition

    Scott W. Rothstein​Ponzi mastermind Scott Rothstein sure seems to be talking quite a bit during his deposition in South Florida, as the first day of transcripts run over 350 pages.Rothstein spent most of the first day of his deposition -- December 12 -- explaining away how the Ponzi scheme wor ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 22, 2011

    Rothstein Rats Out Other Laywers in Ongoing Ponzi Scheme Depositions

    ​Earlier this morning, we posted the hundreds of pages of transcripts that were released following Scott Rothstein's first day of depositions in Miami federal court.As his responses are examined, more revelations about the former Fort Lauderdale Ponzi schemer's conduct are sure to come to light. R ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 22, 2011

    Scott Rothstein Expands on His Alleged Dealings With Ted Morse... and Escorts

    ​From the hundreds of pages of transcripts from Scott Rothstein's deposition in Miami is a large section dedicated to the car-dealing Morse family, and specifically, Rothstein's claims about his "best friend" Ted Morse.A recently filed civil lawsuit alleges Ted Morse had a hand in Rothstein's ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 8, 2011

    Broward Denies Lauderdale Lakes Bailout After City Manager's "Governmental Ponzi Scheme"

    kathyhyatt.comThis sign will probably be replaced with a "for sale" sign​Apparently having negative money isn't ideal for running city like Lauderdale Lakes -- but the Broward County Commission isn't quite ready to help.Lauderdale Lakes commissioners place a lot of the blame on former City Man ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 1, 2011

    Alan Mendelsohn, Political Adviser and Government Scammer, to Be Sentenced Today

    Alan Mendelsohn​Alan Mendelsohn -- the Hollywood ophthalmologist, GOP fundraiser, lobbyist, and adviser to former Gov. Charlie Crist -- will be sentenced in federal court today after pleading guilty to a conspiracy charge in December.Mendelsohn's conspiracy charge specifically claimed scheming to ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 31, 2011

    Scott Rothstein's Head Computer Nerd Turns Himself In

    Scott Rothstein -- still 49 more years in the slammer​Curtis Renie, the 38-year-old information technology head of Ponzi scheme mastermind Scott Rothstein's law firm, turned himself in to the feds today.Renie, of Fort Lauderdale, is the third person to turn himself in to authorities to be indicted ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 27, 2011

    Scott Rothstein Saga Continues: Four More Charged in $1.4 Billion Ponzi Scheme

    csmonitor.comIt sucks (now) to be friends with Scott Rothstein.​Former Fort Lauderdale lawyer and Ponzi schemer extraordinaire Scott Rothstein is almost a year into rotting away in his 50-year prison sentence, and now four more of his old pals have a chance of joining him in the joint for a few ye ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 14, 2011

    New York Hedge Funds Strike Back In Rothstein Suit

    We've heard all about how the Centurion and Platinum hedge funds in New York sank hundreds of millions of dollars into Scott Rothstein's Ponzi scheme.  Fort Lauderdale attorney Bill Scherer is suing them, claiming they were privy to the fraud and now must cough up ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 12, 2011

    Spring Break for Wall Street to Descend on South Florida

    ​Looks like South Florida's spring break this year isn't going to be just where the boys are. Fort Lauderdale will also be the locale for some bonds gone wild with the top guns of Wall Street. LDV Capital Management will party with its own series of weeklong celebrations at its fourth G ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 25, 2011

    Florida CFO Jeff Atwater's Call to Rothstein

    Atwater and Bogdanoff​When it comes to big-time politicians known to have seriously cottoned to flamboyant Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein, Florida's new chief financial officer escaped notice almost entirely. Jeff Atwater, who was elected to the state cabinet position in November ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 24, 2010

    Tony Villegas' Competency Hearing Postponed Until Day of Ex-Wife's Sentencing

    Tony Villegas' trial is on hold.​Tony Villegas arrived in Broward County Court this morning looking weary after more than two years in jail, his thin face hidden by a scruffy brown beard. He sat quietly, cuffed hands in his lap, wearing a black-and-white striped shirt that set him apart from the d ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 20, 2010

    Debra Villegas on Rothstein: "I'd Like to Believe That He Loved Me"

    Debra Villegas and Melissa Lewis.​Three months after Debra Villegas pleaded guilty to aiding in Scott Rothstein's massive Ponzi scheme, there's still plenty of mystery surrounding her relationship with the disgraced lawyer. How much did she know, and when did she know it? Did her best friend's dea ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 19, 2010

    Debra Villegas Gets Two More Months of Freedom; Tony Villegas Back in Jail

    Debra Villegas (left) is out on bond until October.​Debra Villegas, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with Scott Rothstein's Ponzi scheme, will not be sentenced on Friday as planned.Rothstein's former right-hand woman has two more months of freedom, thanks ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 9, 2010

    UPDATED: Scott Rothstein Ends Ponzi Scheme Saga With 50-Year Sentence

    ​Scott Rothstein will spend 50 years in prison, a federal judge decided this morning. The sentence ends a seven-month saga since Rothstein's empire crumbled. Once one of South Florida's most politically connected lawyers, he swindled more than a billion dollars in perhaps the biggest fraud case in ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 28, 2010

    Debra Villegas (Remarried!) Enters Not Guilty Plea

    ​This morning, Debra Villegas, the law firm employee who allegedly helped disgraced lawyer Scott Rothstein run his $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme, pled not guilty to a charge of money laundering in federal court in Fort Lauderdale -- a move that observers say was just a formality. Villegas's next court ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 16, 2010

    Should Deutch Thank Madoff for His Congressional Win?

    Thanks for nothing, Bernie!​National media pundits try so hard to understand South Florida. Bless their hearts; they find the weird mix of hanging chads, Ponzi schemers, gator wrestlers, and condo flippers to be terribly confusing. And once in a while, they just flub completely.This morning on NPR ... More >>

  • News

    March 25, 2010

    Scott Rothstein's Work as Mafia Rat May Help Him in Ponzi Case

    Thanks for nothing, Bernie!​National media pundits try so hard to understand South Florida. Bless their hearts; they find the weird mix of hanging chads, Ponzi schemers, gator wrestlers, and condo flippers to be terribly confusing. And once in a while, they just flub completely.This morning on NPR ... More >>

  • Calendar

    March 18, 2010

    Land of the Lost

    Thanks for nothing, Bernie!​National media pundits try so hard to understand South Florida. Bless their hearts; they find the weird mix of hanging chads, Ponzi schemers, gator wrestlers, and condo flippers to be terribly confusing. And once in a while, they just flub completely.This morning on NPR ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 4, 2010

    Stanford Employees in Fort Lauderdale Accused of Shredding Evidence of Massive Fraud

    FlickrDid Allen Stanford's local employees try to cover up his crime?​The first criminal trial in the Stanford Financial Group fraud is under way, and it ain't pretty for the local branch. In opening remarks of a trial that began Monday in Miami, prosecutors told the jury that Thomas Raffanello an ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 23, 2009

    The Year of the Ponzi

    Scott Rothstein is allegedly South Florida'a latest Ponzi king.​In 1921, Charles Ponzi began duping New Englanders with a bogus postage stamp investment scheme. He told them that by buying and selling foreign stamps -- yes, stamps --  they could see 40 percent returns. Instead, he simply took ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 17, 2009

    Awards Dinner Illuminates Ties Among Rothstein, Lamberti, and the ADL

    Lamberti received an award at the ADL dinner.​On November 4, the day after alleged Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein returned from his trip to Morocco, a special party was held at the Westin Fort Lauderdale. Its attendance list reads like a who's who of political heavy-hitters in Broward.The local ch ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 1, 2009

    Virtual Reality Bites: SEC Files Suit Against Palm Beach County Company

    If you think about it, the investment scam is the ultimate virtual reality game: It gives its customers the extremely life-like sensation of getting rich, albeit at considerable cost. So why not offer virtual reality itself as an investment scam? Too late. Someone's already thought of it.The SEC is ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 16, 2009

    Secret Service Receives Junk Fax; Phones Florida to Learn More About This Exciting Investment Opportunity

    Flickr: Abhisek Sarda​A Boca Raton man has entered a guilty plea in a Kansas court to charges that he was part of a conspiracy to defraud investors across North America. The case against John Persaud started the moment that one of his firm's junk faxes arrived in the Wichita, Kansas, office of the ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 29, 2009

    [Updated] Payday: Bernie Gets a Buck Fifty

    U.S. Department of JusticeCareful trying your Ponzi act with inmates' cigarettes, Bern.It's the day that Bernard Madoff gets to pay for his $65 billion sin. If you had money to invest -- and here I'm assuming you're not one of his victims -- then would you invest it on a bet that today the convicted ... More >>

  • Blogs

    March 26, 2009

    Luxury Mag in Boca Goes Belly Up; Writer Cries Foul

    Howard NeedleA New York City-based freelance writer says he was stiffed out of $1,150 by Howard Needle, publisher of the now-defunct Cravings Palm Beach, a luxury goods magazine based in Boca Raton. Scott Rose says that he had a contract from Needle to be paid 50 cents per word and that he was asked ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 19, 2009

    The Line To Lansky: Steinger Linked To Ben-Veniste, Jewish Mafia

    We know that Joel Steinger, the mastermind of the billion-dollar Mutual Benefits Ponzi scheme with ties to several Broward politicians (Steve Geller, Stacy Ritter, Ellyn Bogdanoff, and others), had connections to Colombian drug cartels. Now we have evidence of another intriguing ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 27, 2009

    Madoff's House Gets TP'd, Young Criminals Learn About Dressing Up for Crime

    Teenagers toilet papered Bernie Madoff's Palm Beach house this weekend and then called the newspaper to take credit. They said the prank was sanctioned by their parents because Madoff had lost their trust funds. Madoff is confined to his Manhattan condo, so he didn't see the TP himself. Nor did he r ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 20, 2009

    Weakened at Bernie's: PETA Gets the Ponzi Treatment, Too

    She will not be streaking at the inauguration.You probably thought today's inauguration ceremonies would provide a day's relief from the death march of victims of area reprobate Bernard Madoff. Well, sorry. Turns out the Palm Beach financial wizard made special-access inauguration tickets disappear ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 15, 2009

    Vice Mayor Keechl Mum About Fraud Case, Former Partner's Arrest

    I've always thought of Broward Commission newcomer Ken Keechl, who now holds the position of Vice Mayor, as a benign force. Sure, he's subject to the wiles and temptations of Broward's ruling class like anyone else, and he's fallen prey at times to special interests. But he's sort of a goo ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 22, 2008

    For Those Who Can Afford to Have a Sense of Humor Re: Madoff

    I just learned a new and brilliant noun from urbandictionary.com. The word is Ponzi Crawl: A pub crawl that adds a new person to buy a round at each location. Each new person is promised that they will get free drinks at all the future bars if they buy this round. Obviously, whoever joins the ponzi ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 3, 2006

    Support A Fellow Journalist

    I just learned a new and brilliant noun from urbandictionary.com. The word is Ponzi Crawl: A pub crawl that adds a new person to buy a round at each location. Each new person is promised that they will get free drinks at all the future bars if they buy this round. Obviously, whoever joins the ponzi ... More >>

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