As we await, ever so patiently, the feds to actually arrest more people involved in the Rothstein Ponzi (and they will), I wanted to share an interesting opinion from former RRA security man Bob Scandiffio.
Remember that Scandiffio was one of two close Scott Rothstein associates whom he invited to Morocco. The other was Bill Boockvor, who is better-known as Bill Brock and even better as just "Uncle Bill."
There's been a lot of speculation, including on this blog, about the role Uncle Bill may have played in Rothstein's felonious financial life. He was known, after all, as the guy whose role at RRA was to watch the money. Rothstein, though, told me when I interviewed him at the Captial Grille that Uncle Bill accompanied him to Casablanca for innocent reasons. "He only came with me to provide moral support," Rothstein said. "That was all. He has nothing to do with this."
Scandiffio says that, this time anyway, he believes Rothstein is telling the truth. The bodyguard says that he wasn't privy to the Ponzi either but that his former boss left Uncle Bill in the dark on just about everything.
"Uncle Bill had
nothing to do with any of it," Scandiffio told me. "He handled payroll at the firm, and he had to cover a lot of work. I don't think he ever handled the money in [the Ponzi scheme]. I think that was the other girls in the office. I don't think he ever knew what Scott was doing because we never talked with him about anything ever. Even when we were in Morocco, Scott still didn't talk around Uncle Bill. He always had to be out of the room."
We'll see, but if this is true, then Rothstein could claim an accomplishment in this mess: None of his family members will join him in prison.
-- Mistakes were made. And this time I'm not talking about my own.
The Sun-Sentinel actually made a real good one recently. In a story last weekend about the Dalai Lama visit, the newspaper reported on the Buddhist community in South Florida. Included was an interview with Martha Martinez, president of the Broward Lotus Sangha.
"We're multicultural, multiethnic, multisexual," the newspaper quoted Martinez as saying.
Now let's go to Urban Dictionary to see how multisexual is defined: "When you are not defined by straight, gay, or bisexual, you dont mind how or who you get it from as long as you get 'it.'"
How's that for some swinging Buddhists? Well, Martinez apparently never actually said that. The newspaper ran a correction on Tuesday.
"An article on Page 1 of Sunday's Local section incorrectly quoted Martha Martinez, president of the Broward Lotus Sangha. She said, 'We're multicultural and multiethnic; our membership also includes people of different faith groups and sexual minority groups.'"
The newspaper cleaned up the quote online, but dastardly Google is keeping it alive and well.
