With all the scandal and intrigue that followed the fall of Scott Rothstein in early November, it was easy to gloss over the precise instrument he used to commit his billion-dollar-plus fraud. Even for former U.S. Attorneys, like Kendall Coffey. When he sued Rothstein on the firm’s behalf, Coffey incorrectly…
Just before 8 a.m. on April 2, the Boynton Beach police got a call from a neighbor who lived near Dalia and Michael Dippolito.The anonymous caller reported hearing screaming, yelling, and banging coming from the Dippolitos’ house, and said the fighting had been going on since the night before.It’s unclear…
The thief remembered his gun. He brought the cord with which to bind the clerks at GameStop in Pompano Beach. And he had a Christmas shopping list, judging by the roughly two-dozen game systems he stole before the clerks could free themselves from the storeroom and phone police.His single tactical…
If Florida gang members are using Twitter, the new technology didn’t much help Lake Worth MLK member Ricardo Rodriguez. Rodriguez, 24, who lives in a concrete block bungalow decorated with merry Christmas lights at 618 North D Street in Lake Worth, was rounded up by the Palm Beach Sheriff’s office…
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 their money, and doled out a little cash to early investors…
Stephen Febonio’s parents may not feel like they have much to be thankful for this holiday season. Stephen’s 76-year-old father, Edwin, who lives in Boynton Beach with his wife, Margaret, is a retired police detective from Peabody, Massachusetts. But instead of upholding the law, Febonio’s two sons have tangled with…
Jonathan Bleiweiss is the Broward Sheriff’s deputy who in August was arrested on charges he extorted sexual favors out of illegal immigrants. But when the 29-year-old wasn’t on duty, he could often be found in gay chatrooms on AOL. Or at least, that’s where man named Juan claims to have…
He pleaded guilty to running an investment scam. He skipped out on a hearing on drug -related charges in Philadelphia. He was once arrested for soliciting prostitution from an undercover Broward sheriff’s deputy. He allegedly abandoned his son and has not paid child support for 11 years.That’s Michael Dippolito’s rap…
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday morning that it has indicted and arrested 12 members of the MLK gang in Lake Worth after a seven-month investigation, dubbed “Operation Vida Loca.” The MLK gang, whose moniker stands for Makin’ Life Krazy, has been terrorizing Lake Worth neighborhoods since at…
A man lurking in Fort Lauderdale’s Sunview Park Monday evening used a gun to force a 9-year-old into a port-o-pottie, where the boy was sexually assaulted, according to a report by the Broward Sheriff’s Office.The release is here.The children described the man as tall and slim, with white or light…
If you want to be confused, try following Michael Dippolito’s explanation for why he gave his wife, Dalia, tens of thousands of dollars in the months before she allegedly tried to have him killed.Michael told Boynton Beach police that he owed $191,000 in restitution to victims of the foreign currency…
Earlier this month, we told you that El Toro Loco on South Military Trail Road on the outskirts of West Palm Beach had become a frequent site of violence. Slightly less violence than we at first thought — turns out the bar was only associated with two murders, not two…
Dozens of fans on Deerfield Beach boy Michael Brewer’s Facebook page were thrilled to see the new photo his mother posted on Friday, showing Michael looking in good spirits and evidently healing well. Wrote one Facebook friend from Colorado: “I am totally jazzed to see you looking so good! Keep…
Most public servants are good people, even in South Florida. Most commissioners and school board members take sacred the public trust. At least during the holiday season, we try to tell ourselves that. But clearly, especially around these parts, not all our politicians are nice. And when they’re naughty, they’re…
In his interview yesterday with the Sun-Sentinel, Charlie Crist said that he considered Scott Rothstein a “friend.” He said that until Rothstein’s Ponzi scheme was discovered, Crist gave the Fort Lauderdale attorney the “benefit of the doubt.” It appears Rothstein enjoyed the same status with Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank…
The Broward State Attorney’s Office plans to investigate Michael Dippolito’s restitution payments to victims of a foreign currency investment scam he ran eight years ago.At least one victim of the scam, Ohio resident George Nemeth, lost $20,000 to Dippolito yet says he only receives between $8 and $10 a month…
This morning Fort Lauderdale Police found the body of a dead woman at 201 Northwest 20th Avenue. They believe she was murdered. Judging by the press release, they don’t know much more than that.Police and Fire responded to the location and confirmed that they had a deceased person. This is…
The story of Ponzi King Scott Rothstein’s ties to Fort Lauderdale Chief Frank Adderley wasn’t going away. And so the chief just issued a public statement:As the Police Chief and a life long resident of the City of Fort Lauderdale, I associate and have developed relationships with a diverse group…
Recently released discovery documents reveal that 15-year-old Michael Brewer had nine enemies — a ring of boys that surrounded him one October afternoon in Deerfield Beach, doused him with rubbing alcohol when his back was turned, and lit him on fire. But Brewer, still recovering at Jackson Memorial Hospital in…
Just because Daddy’s hedge fund got swallowed by a Ponzi schemer doesn’t mean his little girl can’t have a wedding fit for royalty. This past weekend, Stephanie Sara Levin, daughter of George Levin, dubbed “Rothstein’s whale” by Pulp, married Joseph Thomas Kraeutler in the lobby of one of New York…
The day his wife was arrested for allegedly trying to have him killed, Boynton Beach police officers conducted a lengthy, videotaped, sworn interview with Michael Dippolito. Dippolito talked calmly and openly about the many strange things that had happened since he hired an escort named Dalia Mohammed to come to his office one…
Just because your name is “Merry Christmas” doesn’t mean you can go resisting arrest during the holiday season. That’s allegedly what happened in Boynton Beach, where a 44-year-old woman by that name — who probably grows irritable every year at this time — came out of her home to shout…
