Attorney Sentenced In Plot To Conceal And Dispose Of Assets In Connection With Rothstein Case

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Michael J. De Palma, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), announce that Scott F. Saidel, 45, was sentenced to 36 months in prison to be followed by 2 years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Robin S. Rosenbaum. In addition, Saidel was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $515,000.

Saidel pled guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371 on January 30, 2013. Saidel was charged, along with Kimberly Wendell Rothstein, 38, and Stacie Weisman, 49, in September 2012, in connection with certain crimes committed in furtherance of a plot to conceal and dispose of assets which were forfeitable in connection with a Ponzi scheme orchestrated by Scott W. Rothstein. At the same time, in September 2012, Eddy Marin, 50, and Patrick Daoud, 54, were also charged in a separate, but related, matter with obstruction of justice and perjury, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1512(k) and 1621.

According to the documents filed with the court, former Ft. Lauderdale attorney Scott W. Rothstein, who was the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the law firm of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler, P.A. (RRA), used the funds obtained from the operation of a Ponzi scheme to purchase tens of millions of dollars of real estate, vehicles, vessels, business interests, luxury watches, jewelry and sports memorabilia for himself, his wife, Kimberly Rothstein, and others. As part of his plea agreement, Scott W. Rothstein agreed to forfeit to the government all assets acquired with funds derived through the aforesaid Ponzi scheme. On November 9, 2009, agents of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations, went to the Rothstein residence, where Kimberly Rothstein assisted the agents in retrieving what was believed to be all of the available cash, jewelry and luxury watches which had previously been purchased by Scott W. Rothstein with proceeds derived from the Ponzi scheme. However, according to Court documents, before, during and after the aforesaid seizure by federal agents on November 9, 2009, Kimberly Rothstein, Stacie Weisman, and Scott F. Saidel knowingly took action to conceal certain items of jewelry, valued in excess of one million dollars, for the purpose of preventing the government from exercising its authority to take such property into its lawful custody and control. Thereafter, Kimberly Rothstein and Stacie Weisman sold and attempted to sell a portion of this jewelry to and through various persons, including Eddy Marin and Patrick Daoud.

The documents further allege that, in connection with civil proceedings instituted by the Trustee in bankruptcy for RRA, the defendants took steps to obstruct justice by concealing the true location of certain items of jewelry in order to prevent its availability for use in the bankruptcy proceedings. It is further alleged that Marin and Daoud committed perjury during depositions in connection with the bankruptcy proceedings, and that Kimberly Rothstein, Stacie Weisman and Scott F. Saidel sought to have Scott W. Rothstein testify falsely in connection with those proceedings.

Kimberly Rothstein and Stacie Weisman are scheduled to be sentenced on November 12, 2013. Trial in the matter of Eddy Marin and Patrick Daoud is set to commence on October 21, 2013.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI and FBI. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lawrence LaVecchio, Jeffrey Kaplan, Paul Schwartz and Evelyn Sheehan.

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.