Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, and José A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), announce the filing of charges against Stuart Rosenfeldt, 59, of Boca Raton, for conspiring to commit crimes through the operation of the former Fort Lauderdale law firm of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler, P.A. (RRA). Stuart Rosenfeldt was an attorney admitted to practice law in Florida and was an equity partner in RRA. In 2009, it was discovered that RRA was being utilized by its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Scott W. Rothstein, to commit a massive Ponzi scheme stemming from the sale of fictitious confidential settlements.
The information, which was filed earlier today, charges Rosenfeldt with conspiracy to commit campaign finance fraud, to defraud the United States, to commit bank fraud and to deny civil rights, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. If convicted, Rosenfeldt faces a maximum statutory sentence of up to five years in prison.
According to the information, in order to circumvent campaign finance laws setting limitations on the amounts which donors can contribute, Rothstein enlisted some of the attorneys and administrative personnel of RRA, and other persons associated with RRA, including Rosenfeldt, to make political contributions to various political campaigns which were unlawfully reimbursed to them by RRA. Stuart Rosenfeldt also participated in a scheme to float checks between and among certain bank accounts maintained by RRA in a form of bank fraud commonly known as “check kiting." Additionally, Rosenfeldt arranged with Rothstein to have certain law enforcement officers utilize unlawful threats against the boyfriend of an escort who was threatening to expose an illicit relationship which existed between the escort and Rosenfeldt.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI and the IRS-CI. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lawrence D. LaVecchio, Paul F. Schwartz, and Jeffrey N. Kaplan.
An information is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
