FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Sept. 3 (UPI) -- A federal judge sentenced disbarred Florida attorney Howard Kusnick to prison for his role in the hoodwinking of a victim in a major Ponzi scheme.
Kusnick admitted he wrote a letter that included the forged signature of another federal judge and was used to fool a client of fellow Fort Lauderdale, Fla., lawyer Mark Rothstein, who was convicted in a $1.4 billion investment scam.
Kusnick has maintained he knew nothing of Rothstein's fraud but agreed to help him throw the angry client, Florida car dealer Ed Morse, off the track with the letter. The document said Rothstein was pursuing a lawsuit to recover some of the $57 million Morse and his wife had invested with Rothstein.
Kusnick, 59, was ordered to surrender for sentencing Nov. 4 and was also ordered to pay $310,000 in restitution.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel said Kusnick was the latest Rothstein associate to be sentenced in the scandal. Rothstein is serving 50 years in prison and, the newspaper said Saturday, a new indictment against his alleged co-conspirators in the case was expected by the end of the year.
