In a blow to the lead counsel in the Rothstein bankruptcy case, Judge Raymond Ray disqualified the Berger Singerman law firm from representing the trustee in a clawback suit against Qtask, a California company in which Scott Rothstein invested millions of dollars in alleged Ponzi proceeds.
The ruling, more than anything, shows what a small world Rothstein operated in as he ripped off dozens of people of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Ray found that Berger Singerman has a conflict because the law firm's IT director, Reinaldo "Rey" Leon, was formerly married to Scott Rothstein's sister, Ronni Leon, and had pushed Rothstein to invest in Qtask. Ronni Leon also worked payroll at the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler firm. In addition, Rothstein showered Rey and Ronni Leon with as much as $337,503 in gifts, according to the judge's ruling.
Rothstein paid Rey Leon for "payment of property taxes, cars for his wife and children, payment of American Express bills, college tuition for one of his children, and trips to the Super Bowl and other travel," Judge Ray wrote.
The judge found that Rey Leon could become a clawback target for the trustee and could also be called as a witness in the Qtask case. That presented a conflict of interest for Berger Singerman.
The judge also mentioned the fact that Berger Singerman's Paul Singerman is an investor in Gibraltar Bank, which is another major target in a clawback suit. The firm Genovese Joblove & Batista, back-up counsel for the bankruptcy trustee, filed that suit.
Inside, Obama to concede Florida in 2012? Can't be.
I can't fathom that Obama will concede the great state of Florida, which he won, in the coming 2012 election, but that's apparently what Broward Democratic officials discussed at a leadership conference on January 29.
I got hold of some notes taken by a participant at the meeting. Here's the text:
Avg Democratic turnout in a primary 16.85% A Statewide Democratic candidate needs a 180,000 vote plurality in Broward in order to win. Alex Sink got 130,000, and lost by 60,000 votes.
Bill Nelson running in 2012, will have no other statewide democratic candidates to share resources with.
Barack Obama may concede Florida to the republicans in 2012 and not campaign here.
The only day of the year that a democratic precinct captain has to perform is on election day. Do not spend the day making $120 working for Brenda Snipes inside of the polling place.
Allan West would not have won if Broward had even an average democratic turnout.
Redistricting: we will not know the new district boundaries until May of 2012.
Other than the Obama news, which again I don't believe will happen, all the rest is what we knew anyway: The big bad Democratic Party in Broward County laid an egg on election day, paving the way for the likes of Rick Scott and Allen West.
It doesn't reflect well on lobbyist Mitch Ceasar, who chairs the Democratic Executive Committee.
But Ceasar is trying to rebound with a big Unity Dinner next month -- and he's landed the esteemed U.S. senator from Minnesota as the event's keynote speaker.
Unfortunately it's not Al Franken, the former SNL funnyman turned senator. It's Minnesota's other white senator, Amy Klobuchar.
Who the hell is Amy Klobuchar?
I already told you, she's Minnesota's other senator. If you want to know why Ceasar chose her to speak at the March 9 dinner, you'll have to ask him.
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