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Press Release

Attorney Sentenced in Connection with Rothstein Case

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announce that David Boden, 53, of Hallandale Beach, was sentenced today in West Palm Beach by United States District Judge Kenneth A. Marra to 18 months in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release. On October 23, 2014, Boden pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with the operation of the former Fort Lauderdale law firm of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler, P.A. (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.

Boden was an attorney who, in April 2008, began employment at RRA as a non-equity shareholder. In connection with his guilty plea, Boden admitted that, in February 2009, he began assisting broker Richard L. Pearson in the sale of the settlements. Pearson would receive a sales commission from Rothstein derived from the money paid by the investor, and would pay a portion of that sales commission to Boden for his services. Beginning in September 2009, a group of investors (the “Investor Group”) began investing in the confidential settlement agreements following a meeting with Rothstein. Boden and Pearson agreed that the Investor Group would pay a sales commission directly to Pearson. The Investor Group was not informed by Boden or Pearson that they were also receiving an additional undisclosed sales commission from the money paid by the Investor Group to Rothstein. Boden and Pearson, through material misstatements and omissions made to the Investor Group, caused it to incur a loss of approximately $2,400,000.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the IRS-CI and the FBI. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lawrence D. LaVecchio, Paul F. Schwartz, and Jeffrey N. Kaplan.

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.

Updated March 17, 2015