Epstein Data Wiki

Scott Rothstein

Properties2
tagsperson, lawyer, florida, fort-lauderdale, fraud, ponzi-scheme
aliasesScott W. Rothstein

19 min read

PracticeAttorney, Fort Lauderdale, Florida; the law firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, P.A. (“RRA”)1
Federal convictionPleaded guilty January 27, 2010 to conspiracy to violate the RICO statute, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and two counts of wire fraud1
Sentence50 years, imposed June 9, 2010 by U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn, with three years of supervised release and forfeiture1
Scheme as described at sentencingAbout $1.2 billion obtained from investors through RRA between 2005 and November 2009, partly by selling interests in purported confidential civil settlements that did not exist1
Relation to the Epstein matterNamed as a defendant in Jeffrey Epstein v. Scott Rothstein and Bradley J. Edwards (Fla. Cir. Ct., 15th Jud. Cir., Palm Beach Cnty.), filed December 20092

Scott W. Rothstein is an American former lawyer who practised in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and who pleaded guilty in January 2010 to federal racketeering, money-laundering and fraud conspiracies arising from a Ponzi scheme run through his law firm, Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison in June 2010.1 His fraud and his conviction stand apart from the Epstein matter: the prosecutors’ account of the scheme at his sentencing makes no reference to Epstein.1 The two names meet principally at three points in the released files: Epstein’s own court filings describing an investors’ civil complaint that alleged Rothstein used the civil cases then being litigated against Jeffrey Epstein as material for his pitch; a suit Epstein filed in December 2009 naming Rothstein and the victims’ lawyer Brad Edwards, whom Epstein’s filings describe as a partner at Rothstein’s firm in 2009; and a run of 2011 draft press statements in which Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell used Rothstein’s fraud to attack the credibility of the claims against Epstein.234

Conviction

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida announced on June 9, 2010 that Rothstein had been sentenced to 50 years in prison by U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn, following his guilty plea of January 27, 2010 to one count of conspiracy to violate the racketeering influenced and corrupt organization statute, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and two counts of wire fraud.1 The announcement states that Rothstein admitted at his plea that RRA was the criminal enterprise through which he and others obtained approximately $1.2 billion from investors, and that from about 2005 through November 2009 he induced investors to lend money against promissory notes for non-existent borrowers and to buy anticipated payouts from “purported confidential civil settlement agreements” that did not exist.1 It records that he and his co-conspirators created false bank documents, false settlement agreements and promissory notes, and in one instance a false federal court order purportedly signed by a district judge, and that the money was used to fund RRA, to make political contributions and charitable donations, and to pay for cars, jewellery, boats and bonuses.1 Neither Epstein nor any Epstein case is mentioned in the announcement.1

The Razorback complaint and the “Epstein cases”

Epstein’s court filings record that in November 2009 the law firm Conrad Scherer filed a civil complaint on behalf of investors in the scheme, Razorback Funding, LLC, et al. v. Scott W. Rothstein, et al., Case No. 09-062943(19).32 Epstein’s later court filings describe that complaint as alleging that Rothstein used the civil cases RRA was litigating against Epstein, which Epstein’s counsel called “the Epstein Cases,” to persuade investors that his settlement inventory was real.32 Epstein’s 2013 mediation summary quotes the complaint as alleging that Rothstein offered an investor a stake in a purported pre-suit settlement of $30,000,000 against Epstein, invited him to the office to view thirteen banker’s boxes of case files, showed him a flight log said to contain the names of well-known passengers, and had the firm pursue flight data and depositions of public figures “in a deliberate effort to bolster Rothstein’s lies.”2 These are allegations in a complaint by defrauded investors, quoted in a filing by an adverse party.2

Epstein circulated a link to a copy of the complaint hosted on a document-sharing site. On March 6, 2011 he wrote “forward peggy this link”, with the note that “Pages 12-13, paragraphs 40 and 41 contain the allegations relating to the use of Epstein cases in the Rothstein Ponzi scheme.”5 The same sentence, with the same link, was sent by his assistant Lesley Groff the following day to a journalist who had asked to interview him, and recurs in further copies of the thread.65

Epstein’s suit

In December 2009 Epstein filed suit in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in and for Palm Beach County against Rothstein and Bradley J. Edwards, the lawyer then acting for several of Epstein’s accusers, in an action captioned Jeffrey Epstein v. Scott Rothstein, individually, Bradley J. Edwards, individually, Case No. 502009CA040800XXXXMBAG; the pleadings identify a third defendant only by initials, which this page does not reproduce.27 Marc S. Nurik of Fort Lauderdale appeared for Rothstein.7

Epstein’s mediation summary of October 2013 states that he sued because he believed that Edwards, Rothstein “and other unknown partners of theirs” at RRA had engaged in misconduct connected with the Ponzi scheme, and that Edwards had been lead counsel on the cases used as bait.2 It also records the course of the action: that Epstein’s side took Rothstein’s deposition, and that after rulings restricting his discovery Epstein “dismissed his case against Edwards, without prejudice,” leaving Edwards’s counterclaim for abuse of process and malicious prosecution to be litigated.2 An affidavit prepared for Epstein’s signature in support of his motion for summary judgment on that counterclaim, dated September 25, 2013, sets out the same account, adding that he became aware in November 2009 of the federal Information against Rothstein and of Florida Bar investigations into attorneys at the firm; the signature and notary lines are blank in the copy in the release.3

Epstein later retracted the allegation against Edwards. Epstein and Edwards settled the counterclaim by a settlement agreement dated November 28, 2018, with an exhibit headed “EPSTEIN’S APOLOGY TO EDWARDS” in which Epstein stated: “While Mr. Edwards was representing clients against me, I filed a lawsuit against him in which I made absolutely false allegations about him,” and that the suit “was my vindictive attempt to damage his business reputation and cause Mr. Edwards to stop pursuing cases against me.”8

While the litigation was pending, Epstein was deposed in one of the civil cases against him. Asked whether he felt entitled to sexually abuse “these children,” he invoked the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments and said, “In keeping with your firm’s propensity for filing fellacious (sic), manufactured, sexually charged cases, based on nothing but thin air,” and that the firm had been “accused by the U.S. Attorney of the largest fraud in South Florida’s history, by manufacturing sexual cases.”9 Counsel on the record noted that Epstein’s own action against RRA and Rothstein was separate and that his deposition in it had yet to be taken.9

Contemporary reporting recorded the other side of the case. The Palm Beach Daily News reported on October 16, 2010 that Edwards’s counsel Jack Scarola said the suit was “an attempt to intimidate him so as to abandon the justified prosecution of his claims against Mr. Epstein”; that at a court hearing that Friday Scarola told Circuit Judge David Crow that all the lawsuits had been settled for “very substantial sums of money, which is directly contrary to the assertions that Mr. Epstein made that these cases were fabrications”; that Epstein alleged Rothstein had told investors Epstein would settle abuse suits for as much as $200 million; that Epstein’s counsel Joseph Ackerman said “we believe the Rothstein firm was marketing cases that didn’t exist, not necessarily the ones he settled”; that a Florida Bar complaint Epstein had made against Edwards was dismissed after investigation; that Edwards had worked at Rothstein’s firm for less than a year; and that in July 2010 Edwards received a letter from the U.S. Attorney’s Office identifying him as a potential victim of Rothstein.10

A separate proceeding in the RRA bankruptcy touched Epstein’s name only in a docket entry. Docket entry 1554 in In re Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, P.A., No. 09-34791-BKC-RBR, filed March 18, 2011, is a motion to clarify two earlier orders (an order granting a motion to compel, and an amended order), captioned on the docket itself, without a comma, “Appointment of Special Master Regarding Subpoena of Epstein Related Documents,” filed by creditor Razorback Funding, LLC.11 At a hearing on that motion before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Raymond B. Ray on April 11, 2011, in an excerpt covering that motion and one other matter, counsel identified on the record as Mr. Lehrman, appearing “for LM, Mr. Edwards, and Farmer Jaffe Weissing,” announced that a dispute had been settled: enforcement of “their firm’s Rule 2004 Exam duces tecum” would be stayed, the documents to be produced were his clients’ own, and, in Mr. Silver’s summary of the key term, any wish to use them would go through “Mr. Edwards[‘s] attorney” for consent. In this excerpt Epstein’s counsel does not speak and is not mentioned.12

The Rothstein line in Epstein’s press statements, 2011

In March 2011 Maxwell told Epstein that “The view on the article from uk side is v bad” and that “They want me to make a v robust response and threaten to sue”; he directed repeatedly that the reply be built on Rothstein. He answered her on March 5: “focus on the scott rothstein allegations.”13 On March 8 he put three options to Mike Sitrick, the third being whether to “point out that lawyers in florida Scott Rothstein , are behind many of the more spurious allegations is currently in jail for 50 years.”14 On March 9 he wrote to Maxwell: “focus on scott rothstein,, much stronger,, Bill scherer filed a 1400 page complaint against him and the firm,,”.15 A draft statement in Epstein’s own voice, circulated the same week, asserted that “Scott Rothstein manufactured , fabricated , and =old wild allegations about my behavior and past” (the broken word is damage in the message itself) and that Edwards had been a partner in Rothstein’s firm.16

The claim was queried by a lawyer before it was used. On June 12, 2011 Philip Barden, described by Maxwell as one of “my UK lawyers,” returned an amended draft of a reply to a journalist addressed as “Mr Klein,” writing “See below as amended by me only for factual accuracy and some notes where I am uncertain of the accuracy.”17 Against the words “Mr Edwards’ former partner” he inserted “[check this]”, and against the sentence saying Rothstein “corrupted ex policemen to create faked cases” and “forged the signatures of judges” he inserted “[I am not aware of this level of detail – is it correct?]”.17

Maxwell nonetheless sent Epstein a harder version, asking him to “read it v carefullly to check that what I say is 100% true and provable” because her advisers had told her she would “loose all credibility” if one thing was wrong.4 That draft asserts that Edwards “was working for and a Partner in a now defunct law firm with Scott Rothstein” and that “Scott Rothstein very recently was sent to jail for 50 years for creating false allegations against Mr Epstein and then using those allegations to obtain money by deception,” and repeats the corrupted-police and forged-signature passage.4 It carries an instruction to Epstein in capitals, inside the text, to supply the names of lawyers and “WHAT EVER THE AGREEMENT IS OF THE REALTIONSHOIP EDWARDS HAS WITH THEM SO IT TIES THEM TO THE SCHEM”.4 A version of June 15 kept the substance while dropping the capitals.18 The shortest version, sent to Epstein’s address later that day over Maxwell’s name, reduced the point to a single sentence: “You will be aware of all the circumstances relating to Scott Rothstein, Brad Edwards and [redacted] and how they are all related. It’s all a matter of public record and I’m sure you will want to research the facts.”19 These documents are drafts sent to Epstein for review; what, if anything, was published over Maxwell’s name is not established by them.419

The central assertion in the drafts, that Rothstein was imprisoned for making false allegations against Epstein, does not match the charges he pleaded guilty to or the conduct described at his sentencing, which concerned defrauding investors and makes no reference to Epstein.1

The same argument was pushed to reporters through a publicist. On March 5, 2011 the publicist Peggy Siegal, corresponding with the journalist Alexandra Wolfe about an interview with Epstein, relayed his instruction: “the story for Alexandra is she should review the Scott Rothstein and partners story,, these are the people that made the allegations… he is currently seriving 50 years,, others to soon follow”.20 The next day Siegal asked Groff to send the material on the Scott Rothstein case to Wolfe for a Newsweek story on a next-day deadline, saying Epstein wanted her to have it; Groff forwarded the request to Epstein, asking “Do you want me to send something to Scott Rothstein?”, and Epstein replied “no send alexandra the link i sent you.”2122 Siegal separately forwarded Groff an attachment described as “back story from JE” and named “Civil Suit again Rothstein.”23

Rothstein in Epstein’s files after 2011

Rothstein’s name recurs in Epstein’s correspondence and in his bankers’ files.

  • On October 16, 2009, two weeks before RRA collapsed, a correspondent wrote to Maxwell under the subject “Lawyers” naming “Scott rothstein with Rothstein, Rosenfeldt, Adler,” telling her the firm had “all your stuff” and was doing due diligence on a large upcoming settlement; Maxwell replied ”? I don’t know these people.” Maxwell forwarded the thread to Epstein in March 2011.24
  • On March 15, 2011 Maxwell wrote to Epstein and to his lawyer Darren Indyke that “if this case pops up 2010 it is probably most likely Rothstein related.”25
  • On April 26, 2011 a correspondent told Epstein that a bankruptcy judge had allowed Rothstein to be deposed in the fraud case and urged that his lawyers should be present, as other victims’ lawyers would be.26
  • In April 2011 another correspondent, describing his own litigation to Epstein, listed among his cases “the adversary case - where they want to get all of Rothstein’s money back ($7.5 million).”27
  • On October 28, 2011 an article by Jon Burstein published in the Sun Sentinel the previous evening was forwarded to Epstein’s address under the subject “Rothstein”; the sender’s name is redacted. The article reported a $37.8 million clawback suit by the RRA bankruptcy trustee’s lawyers against the firm’s general counsel, David Boden, and reported that Rothstein was serving a 50-year sentence.28
  • On April 23, 2012 Richard Kahn of HBRK Associates sent Epstein a Wall Street Journal item about Rothstein selling his Fort Lauderdale house.29
  • Deutsche Bank media-screening alerts on Epstein, generated in April and May 2018, list Factiva headlines from 2009 onward pairing the two names, among them “EPSTEIN CLAIMS ROTHSTEIN LINK IN LAWSUITS” and “EPSTEIN LAWSUIT CLAIMS HE’S VICTIM OF ROTHSTEIN,” together with items on the RRA litigation carrying the standing label “ROTHSTEIN FALLOUT.”3031 The alerts list headlines and links; they are not the articles.30

Statements

A search of the released files under the variants Rothstein, Scott Rothstein, Scott W. Rothstein, Rothstein Rosenfeldt and RRA returned no document recording a statement by Rothstein about Epstein. The documents it returned are those described above: Epstein’s own correspondence and court filings, press items held in his files, and bank media-monitoring records.32

Coverage

  • Michele Dargan, Palm Beach Daily News, October 16, 2010.
  • Jon Burstein, Sun Sentinel, October 27, 2011.

Footnotes

  1. “Fort Lauderdale Attorney Sentenced to 50 Years in Billion-Dollar Ponzi Scheme,” U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida, June 9, 2010, archived FBI Miami press release. https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/miami/press-releases/2010/mm060910.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11

  2. Plaintiff/Counter-Defendant Jeffrey Epstein’s Mediation Summary, Jeffrey Epstein v. Scott Rothstein, individually, Bradley J. Edwards, individually, No. 502009CA040800XXXXMBAG (Fla. Cir. Ct., 15th Jud. Cir., Palm Beach Cnty.), filed for the mediation scheduled October 11, 2013, before Judge David Crow. Quotations checked against the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01734350 pp.1, 3–4. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  3. Affidavit of Jeffrey Epstein in support of his motion for summary judgment on Edwards’s fourth amended counterclaim, same case, dated September 25, 2013, paragraphs 4–11. The signature and notary lines are blank in the released copy. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01733722 pp.1–3, 5. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  4. Draft over Ghislaine Maxwell’s name sent to Jeffrey Epstein’s address on June 12, 2011, 4:04 p.m., forwarded again on June 13. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02003019 pp.1–2. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  5. Email from Jeffrey Epstein, March 6, 2011, 3:38 p.m., forwarded the same evening. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02191550 p.1. ↩ ↩2

  6. Email thread, Lesley Groff to Alexandra Wolfe, March 7, 2011, forwarded to Jeffrey Epstein, with the link and note on the following page. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01738952 pp.1–2. ↩

  7. Notice of filing and counsel list served by Jack Scarola of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A., for defendant/counter-claimant Edwards, May 2011. The same production also contains an interview transcript, not cited here. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01657711 pp.1–2. ↩ ↩2

  8. Settlement Agreement and Release between Bradley J. Edwards and Jeffrey Epstein, dated November 28, 2018; Exhibit A, “EPSTEIN’S APOLOGY TO EDWARDS.” The copy in the release carries a single signature, crossing both signature rules; Epstein’s acknowledgment below it is completed and notarized, while the line and acknowledgment for Edwards carry no separate signature and are blank (county, day and notary rule all unfilled). https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00804067 pp.1, 11–13. ↩

  9. Excerpt of a deposition transcript in a civil action against Epstein, at which counsel referred to the separate action “Epstein versus RRA, Rothstein.” https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01695773 pp.25–27 (transcript pp.147–149). Only these pages of the document are cited. ↩ ↩2

  10. Michele Dargan, “Claim: Epstein filed lawsuit to ‘intimidate’ victims’ attorney,” Palm Beach Daily News, October 16, 2010, p. A.5, reproduced in a confidential due-diligence report. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01480957 p.1. ↩

  11. PACER docket, In re Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, P.A., No. 09-34791-BKC-RBR (Bankr. S.D. Fla.), CourtListener docket 4229351, entry 1554, filed March 18, 2011: “Motion to Clarify (Re: 888 Order on Motion to Compel, 1068 Amended Order) re: Appointment of Special Master Regarding Subpoena of Epstein Related Documents Filed by Creditor Razorback Funding, LLC. (Silver, James).” No comma follows “Epstein” on the docket; a comma appears only on the court reporter’s cover sheet for the hearing excerpt cited at 12. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4229351/rothstein-rosenfeldt-adler-pa/ ↩

  12. Excerpt from proceedings, In re Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, P.A., No. 09-34791-BKC-RBR (Bankr. S.D. Fla.), hearing before Judge Raymond B. Ray, April 11, 2011, on docket item 1554, filed by creditor Razorback Funding, LLC. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01735151 pp.1, 3–4. ↩ ↩2

  13. Email from Jeffrey Epstein to Ghislaine Maxwell, March 5, 2011, 11:49 a.m., replying to her message of 2:01 a.m. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01836990 p.1. ↩

  14. Email from Jeffrey Epstein to Mike Sitrick, March 8, 2011, 10:53 a.m. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01836788 p.1. ↩

  15. Email from Jeffrey Epstein to Ghislaine Maxwell, March 9, 2011, 3:25 p.m. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01837459 p.1. ↩

  16. Email from Ghislaine Maxwell to Jeffrey Epstein, March 6, 2011, 11:03 p.m., quoting his draft statement of 5:42 p.m. the same day. The “=old” and similar breaks are quoted-printable damage in the document itself. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01791068 p.1. ↩

  17. Email from Ghislaine Maxwell to Jeffrey Epstein, June 12, 2011, 8:12 p.m., forwarding a draft amended by Philip Barden at 4:00 p.m. the same day. Bracketed queries read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02017726 p.1. ↩ ↩2

  18. Draft over Ghislaine Maxwell’s name sent to Jeffrey Epstein’s address, June 15, 2011, 1:43 p.m., subject “Just look at last para..i want to make sure you are happy with it..”. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02001036 p.1. ↩

  19. Draft over Ghislaine Maxwell’s name sent to Jeffrey Epstein’s address, June 15, 2011, 4:35 p.m. Quotation checked against the page image; the name after “Brad Edwards and” is redacted in the image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02000417 p.1. ↩ ↩2

  20. Message from Peggy Siegal of March 5, 2011, 8:39 a.m., in an exchange with Alexandra Wolfe headed “Jeffrey Epstein,” forwarded by Siegal to Jeffrey Epstein’s address on March 7, 2011, 4:09 p.m. Quotation checked against the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01790800 p.2. ↩

  21. Email from Lesley Groff to Jeffrey Epstein, March 6, 2011, subject “Fwd: Newsweek Story,” forwarding Peggy Siegal’s request. Read from the page image; the request as printed carries quoted-printable damage. This copy’s export header reads 10:20 p.m. (UTC); the reply chain quoted in EFTA02191306 gives the local send time as 2:20 p.m. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01779517 p.1. ↩

  22. Email from Jeffrey Epstein to Lesley Groff, March 6, 2011, 5:33 p.m., in the same thread, replying to Groff’s message of that afternoon. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02191306 p.1. ↩

  23. Email forwarding Peggy Siegal’s message of March 6, 2011, 3:05 p.m., with the attachment named “Civil Suit again Rothstein.” https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02191553 p.1. ↩

  24. Email thread of October 16, 2009 under the subject “Lawyers,” forwarded to Jeffrey Epstein by Ghislaine Maxwell on March 7, 2011 and annotated by her on March 24, 2011. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02029153 pp.1–3. ↩

  25. Email from Ghislaine Maxwell to Jeffrey Epstein and Darren Indyke, March 15, 2011, 7:58 p.m. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01798075 p.1. ↩

  26. Email to Jeffrey Epstein, April 26, 2011, 11:03 a.m. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01796770 p.1. ↩

  27. Email thread between Jeffrey Epstein and a correspondent, April 28, 2011. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01866698 p.1. ↩

  28. Jon Burstein, “Rothstein’s general counsel sued for $37.8 million,” Sun Sentinel, October 27, 2011, 6:30 p.m. EDT, forwarded to Jeffrey Epstein’s address on October 28, 2011, 3:12 p.m. Send date and redacted sender read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01990636 pp.1–2. A duplicate copy is at https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01849459. ↩

  29. Email from Richard Kahn to Jeffrey Epstein, April 23, 2012, 3:44 p.m. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01769062 p.1. ↩

  30. Deutsche Bank Private Bank media-screening alert on Jeffrey Epstein, batch date May 30, 2018. The two quoted headlines are on p.30; the “ROTHSTEIN FALLOUT” label is on pp.15 and 42. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01424445 pp.1, 15, 30–31, 42. Other pages of this production are not cited. ↩ ↩2

  31. Deutsche Bank CAR Integration alert on Jeffrey Epstein, alert date April 2, 2018. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01368234 p.1. ↩

  32. Full-text search of the released corpus for the variants named in the sentence, run September 4, 2026. ↩

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