Private securityFort Lauderdale attorney took extra security measures
Under-investigation Fort Lauderdale attorney Scott Rothstein surrounded himself with elaborate security measures which included dozens of hidden microphones stashed in the ceiling along with security cameras, surveillance cameras at his home, double-doors, private elevators, and private security detail for his family; he also paid for a security guard at his favorite restaurant (Bova Prime on Las Olas Boulevard), and carried a gun in an ankle holster underneath his tailored pants
Swipe a security card over a scanner, walk under a hidden microphone and a surveillance camera, and go to an intercom to be buzzed through a second door. Have you just been ushered in to an interview with the director of the CIA? A face-to-face meeting with the president’s national security adviser in the White House’s situation room?
No. Welcome to a meeting with Fort Lauderdale attorney Scott Rothstein. South Florida Sun-Sentinel’s Jon Burstein and Brittany Wallman write that you should also be aware that, underneath his tailored pants there may be a pistol strapped to his ankle.
The secretive world Scott Rothstein hid behind his very public persona was exposed last week after accusations emerged that he ran an investment business that misappropriated hundreds of millions of dollars from clients. Rothstein, 47, now is in hiding after jetting back Tuesday from Morocco and then meeting with federal authorities investigating what investors believe may have been a Ponzi scheme. A Broward judge has frozen him out of the law firm he founded — Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler (RRA).
Angry investors are now wondering if he will be arrested, but when. Kendall Coffey, the former U.S. attorney representing the firm, said federal authorities have offered no hint of when they will take action. They need time to prepare the arresting documents, he said.
Rothstein’s attorney, Marc Nurik, declined to comment Thursday night.
Burstein and Wallman write that attorneys at the firm say they have no idea what happened in Rothstein’s sealed-off office. To demonstrate that point, RRA — now nearly broke — gave the media tours last Thursday to show how Rothstein could have been operating the side business without those even thirty feet away from his office knowing what was happening. “This is the structure of a secretive man,” Coffey said.
Coffey said that inside the law firm are dozens of hidden microphones stashed in the ceiling along with security cameras. Rothstein had his own personal entrance to his office with an elevator discretely just yards away.
He also surrounded himself with photos of himself with the powerful and famous, as well as framed letters from nonprofits thanking him for his money. Within the past two years, Rothstein had become a major political donor and gained a reputation as one of Broward County’s top philanthropists.
Inside his office and just outside, there are no less than fifteen photos of Rothstein with Gov. Charlie Crist,
