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Financial Adviser is Sentenced in $1.2B Rothstein Ponzi Scam
Michael Szafranski, the financial adviser of Ponzi mastermind Scott Rothstein, has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for wire fraud. Szafranski, who pled guilty, had already paid $6.5M of restitution to victims of the $1.2B financial fraud through the trustee handling the bankruptcy of Rothstein’s law firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler.
The indictment against Szafranski referred to him as the “independent asset verifier” of the scam. He is accuse of persuading investors to put over $200M into the Ponzi scheme.
Meantime, Rothstein, an attorney, was sentenced to fifty years behind bars in 2010 for money laundering, wire fraud, and racketeering. He was accused of selling discounted stakes in bogus settlements of whistleblower and sexual harassment cases that ranged from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. Investors were told they would get the proceeds when the lawsuits were resolved. Instead, their money was used to bankroll his firm, pay for his expensive lifestyle, and purchase political influence. Rothstein would take newer investors’ money to pay older investors. He and co-conspirators allegedly generated bogus bank statements, settlements, and personal guarantees.
Also, according to InvestmentNews, Rothstein directed employees of his law firm to give some of the money to the campaigns of certain state, local, and federal politicians. These employees were told to do this in a way that allowed him to avoid limits on these types of donations while concealing where the money was coming from. After the allegations against Rothstein became known to the public, many of the campaigns returned the funds.
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