Scott W. Rothstein

Scott W. Rothstein (born June 10, 1962) is an American disbarred lawyer, convicted felon, and the former managing shareholder, chairman, and chief executive officer of the now-defunct Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm.

He funded an extravagant lifestyle with a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme, one of the largest such in history.

The family moved to Lauderhill, Florida in 1977.

His grandmother used her life savings to help put him through school.

"I grew up poor. I'm a lunatic about money."

"I have a deep faith in Judaism that I derive tremendous strength from. Putting on Tefillin is a means of connecting with G-d. It keeps me grounded in a world that can easily cause you to lose your internal balance. Believe me. ... I have lost my way enough times to know."

Rothstein was a large contributor to a synagogue off Las Olas with his name affixed to the front facade: The Rothstein Family Downtown Jewish Center Chabad.

A 1988 Juris Doctor graduate of Fort Lauderdale's Nova Southeastern University's Law School, the Shepard Broad College of Law, and a 1984 Bachelor of Arts graduate of University of Florida, Rothstein's law career began in 1988 and, for nearly fifteen years, he was relatively unknown.

In the early 1990s, Rothstein first partnered with attorney Howard Kusnick.

First located in Plantation, Florida, Kusnick & Rothstein, P.A. subsequently moved to Ft. Lauderdale.

In 2000, Rothstein joined with Rosenfeldt as a name partner at the Hollywood firm, Phillips Eisinger Koss & Rosenfeldt, P.A., which became known as Phillips Eisinger Koss Rothstein & Rosenfeldt, P.A.

In February 2002, Rothstein and Rosenfeldt started their own firm, first known as Rothstein & Rosenfeldt, P.A. Within a month, Pancier was added as a name partner.

In July, 2002, adding Susan Dolin, a well-regarded employment lawyer, the firm became known as Rothstein, Rosenfeldt, Dolin & Pancier, P.A. In late 2004, the firm became known simply as Rothstein Rosenfeldt, with Adler being added in March 2005.

Melissa Britt Lewis, who was murdered in March, 2008, was with Rothstein from the firm's beginning.

In seven years, he and his partners expanded the firm to 70 lawyers, including former Boca Raton Mayor and sitting Palm Beach County Commissioner Steve Abrams; former judges Julio Gonzalez, Barry Stone, and former Palm Beach circuit judge, William Berger; TV and radio legal commentator and former prosecutor, Ken Padowitz; Carlos Reyes, former South Broward Hospital District commissioner and lobbyist; Arthur Neiwirth, a bankruptcy expert; and Les Stracher, former legal counsel for Morse Auto Group, who represents major auto dealers.

In August 2008, Governor Crist appointed Rothstein as a member of the 4th District Court of Appeal Judicial nominating commission, a body which is responsible for selecting new judges for appointment to the Court.

An observant Jew, Rothstein grew up in a small Bronx apartment, sharing a bedroom with his sister.

His father was a salesman "back in the days when you carried a bag up and down the streets of New York."

On December 1, 2009, Rothstein turned himself in to authorities and was subsequently arrested on charges related to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

Until he was permanently disbarred by the Florida Supreme Court on November 25, 2009, Rothstein was a member of the Florida Bar and admitted by the United States Supreme Court.

He had been given an AV Preeminent peer review rating by Martindale-Hubbell.

On November 3, 2009, Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Department of the Treasury agents served a warrant to search the firm's Fort Lauderdale offices.

Rothstein sent an email in recent weeks to firm lawyers asking them to investigate which countries refused to extradite criminal suspects to either the U.S. or Israel, and firm lawyers responded that Morocco is one such country.

Rothstein had wired $16 million to an individual in Casablanca and left for Casablanca on October 26, 2009.

On October 31, 2009, he sent a suicide text message note to all of his law partners:"Sorry for letting you all down. I am a fool. I thought I could fix it, but got trapped by my ego and refusal to fail, and now all I have accomplished is hurting the people I love. Please take care of yourselves and please protect Kimmie [Rothstein's wife]. She knew nothing. Neither did she, nor any of you deserve what I did. I hope God allows me to see you on the other side. Love, Scott."

On November 3, 2009, after many texts from Stuart Rosenfeldt, the president of the firm, urging him to "choose life", Rothstein returned to Fort Lauderdale on a chartered jet, from Casablanca.

On November 2, his law firm with only $117,000 in its operating account filed suit against him, asked a judge to dissolve the firm, accusing him of misappropriating hundreds of millions of dollars from investor trust accounts in a Ponzi scheme from an investment business he covertly ran out of his law office.

In 2009, Rothstein resided at the Federal Detention Center, Miami in Downtown Miami, but was later moved to an undisclosed location and his inmate number removed from the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator webpage.

Rothstein was born in the Bronx and moved with his parents to Lauderhill, Florida as a teenager.

Although his arraignment plea was not guilty, Rothstein reversed his plea to guilty of five federal crimes on January 27, 2010.

Rothstein was denied bond by U.S. Magistrate Judge Robin Rosenbaum, who ruled that due to his ability to forge documents, he was considered a flight risk.

He was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison.

On June 9, 2010, Rothstein received a 50-year prison sentence after a hearing in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, although federal prosecutors initially filed a motion notifying the court they would be seeking a sentence reduction for Rothstein.

His firm had 70 lawyers and 150 employees, with offices in Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Tallahassee, Florida, New York City and Caracas, Venezuela.

The firm focused on labor and employment matters, civil rights, intellectual property, internet law, corporate espionage, personal injury, wrongful death, commercial litigation, real estate, mergers and acquisitions, and governmental relations.

His client list included Citicorp, J. C. Penney, Ed Morse Automotive Group, National Beverage, Silversea Cruise Lines, Supra Telecom, and Wells Fargo.

On September 8, 2011, U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn granted the government's motion to prohibit videotaping Rothstein during a scheduled deposition of him, citing "serious harm" and "security reasons that are unusual in nature."

The exact reasons for the judge's decision were sealed.

On June 8, 2011, federal prosecutors filed a motion with the sentencing judge informing him that they would be asking for a sentence reduction for Rothstein.

However, on September 26, 2017, prosecutors withdrew their motion for a reduced sentence, saying that he had provided "false material information" in violation of his plea agreement.