JAMES PATTERSON . | Association. By all outward appearances, he could afford it: sev- enty lawyers worked in his firm, which had offices in Florida, New York, and Venezuela. But Rothstein's millions actually The idea that Bradley Edy came from a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme he’d been running since blackmail Leslie Wexner— 2005. | no less—sounds highly ir In April of 2009, Bradley Edwards joined Rothstein's firm. j that Edwards had worked The lawyer brought his papers along, and Rothstein showed } running his own billion-dc those pertaining to Epstein to potential investors. In exchange { Edwards may not have for a lump sum up front, Rothstein said, investors would receive 4 files on Jeffrey Epstein a) a far larger chunk of money later, which Epstein would pay in | Edwards's proximity to Roth future settlements. | been as damaging as Dersh Edwards and Rothstein both say that Edwards had no knowl- 3 but it was damaging noneth edge whatsoever of the Ponzi scheme. (Prosecutors, and the ; he needed to make his argu Florida Bar, agree.) Edwards left as soon as he caught wind of the Pa argument was that it wasn’ scheme, in November of 2009. But the few months he spent in 4 plot to blackmail Wexner. 1 Rothstein’s company gave Dershowitz the opening he neededto after was the idea that a 1 pry open Virginia Roberts's accusations. 4 7 non-prosecution agreement w. It was at Edwards's insistence, Dershowitz would say, as well a 4 erts. That would give Edwa as Paul Cassell’s, that Virginia Roberts added Dershowitz's name a "agreement open. And in that to the list of men she claimed had abused her. @ : pressuring Virginia Roberts | According to Dershowitz, he'd been pulled into a billion-dollar a Perhaps it wasn’t, in this extortion plot Edwards had hatched. And for Edwards and Cas- a 4 felt reluctant to mention De sell, there had been a secondary benefit: Dershowitz had helped 2 | matter of the three hundred to work out Epstein’s confidential non-prosecution agreement a | she woul