Feds seize Florida attorney's assets

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Court records released Monday allege Florida attorney Scott Rothstein used a massive Ponzi scheme to cover payroll for his Fort Lauderdale law firm.

The law firm of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler had payroll expenses of $18 million in a recent year, but generated only $8 million that year, The Miami Herald reported.

Rothstein has not been charged with a crime. However, in early November, soon after his return from Morocco, where he has $12 million in a bank account, federal officials began to seize his assets, including the Morocco bank account, 15 real estate properties, three Ferraris, two Rolls Royces, restaurants and millions of dollars donated to political campaign funds and charities, the newspaper said.

The allegations he ran a Ponzi scheme were spelled out in a forfeiture complaint, which also listed an 87-foot yacht, four other boats and a $1.5 million Bugatti sports car as part of Rothstein's holdings.

Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale said it would return a $1 million gift from Rothstein.

The allegations Rothstein ran a Ponzi operation arose after an investment fund of legal settlements Rothstein sold to wealthy clients collapsed in October, the newspaper said.