More on Bernie Madoff and yet another Ponzi heist, starring Florida attorney (shocking, I know) Scott Rothstein.
Convicted swindler Bernie Madoff, accused of financing a cocaine-fueled work environment and a “culture of sexual deviance.” Bernard Madoff Investment Services was known in the 1970s by insiders as the “North Pole” due to the excessive amount of cocaine used in the work place. The complaint, brought by former investors, alleges that Madoff used stolen money for his extravagant spending, which included escorts, masseuses and topless entertainers at company parties.
Florida attorney Scott Rothstein, who according to The Wall Street Journal is being investigated by the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office for allegedly selling stakes in phony employment-dispute settlements that could rank as South Florida’s largest-ever Ponzi scheme. Known for lavish spending, Rothstein owns several mansions overlooking the canals of Fort Lauderdale, apparently owns a stable of very expensive cars (including a Bentley, a Rolls Royce, a Ferrari and a Bugatti Veyron that retails for more than $1.5 million) and sports some very fancy clothes (including alligator shoes, hand-painted ties and dyed-orange Ostrich-skinned boots). He’s known for being the “life of the party,” including one at his home where he set up a 20-foot-long ice bar, and he makes sure everyone knows he’s buddies with Florida Governor Charlie Crist and pro football legend Dan Marino, who owns the Americana brand of vodka. Rothstein paid $100,000 to a favorite charity of Eagles drummer Don Henley’s for dedicating a song at an Eagle’s concert to him and his wife Kimberly on their one-year wedding anniversary. The song: “Life in the Fast Lane,” the Eagles’ paean to the perils of excess.