U.S.: Attorney bought cars, boat in scheme

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Nov. 10 (UPI) -- A high-powered Florida attorney used ill-gotten gains to buy luxury sports cars, an 87-foot yacht and a $6.45 million home, U.S. prosecutors say.

Court documents filed Monday in the case of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., attorney Scott Rothstein indicate authorities are seeking forfeiture of the items because the funds used to buy them were derived from a Ponzi scheme involving hundreds of millions of dollars, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported.

Rothstein, 47, whose clients and social circle included the state's top politicians and sports figures, has been accused of running a secret investment business out of his attorney's office. Authorities were alerted to it two weeks ago when investors started questioning the status of their funds, the newspaper said.

Prosecutors say Rothstein allegedly forged documents to convince clients that money was being held in bank accounts when it wasn't. The scheme was based on the sale of structured settlements derived from sexual harassment and labor-related cases, the Sun Sentinel reported.

"The investigation has established that no such settlement agreements had ever existed and the entire investment scheme was a fraud," the court documents said.