How Scott Rothstein Spent His Stolen Money
Posted on 06/11/2010 7:25:49 PM PDT by rabscuttle385
Sen. John McCain must personally and publicly explain why he allowed his staff to lie to the media about returning all $1.1 million given to his presidential campaign by a convicted felon; if he accepted even more from the felon's law partners; and why he has not donated all the dirty money to charity as his campaign claimed.
Federal authorities have been investigating 30 lawyers who worked in the now-defunct firm of Scott Rothstein, who yesterday was sentenced to 50 years in prison for running an elaborate Ponzi scheme.
According to his lawyer and media reports, the convicted felon is giving up the names of people involved and has even gone "undercover" which will likely lead to the arrest of lawyers, business associates and perhaps even politicians.
Tomorrow, Rothstein's chief operating officer, who personally gave McCain's political committees at least $30,000, is scheduled to plead guilty to assorted criminal activity.
The lawyers, along with 15 other Rothstein employees, made about $2.2 million in state and federal campaign contributions while he was running the Ponzi scheme from 2005 to 2009.
"McCain is knee-deep in this scandal and he needs to come clean," said Mark Sanders, spokesman for U.S. Senate Candidate J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ). "He first lied to the media when his campaign said the entire $1.1 million Rothstein collected was given to charity and it was old news. Then he tried to cover it up by saying he gave back the few thousand dollars Rothstein and his wife gave directly."
Federal officials are examining Rothstein's use of money from his $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme to pay salaries and give huge bonuses to senior attorneys on the condition that they donate generously to his favorite politicians, including McCain.
"Rothstein and his wife Kimberly held fundraisers for McCain," Sanders said. "His partner Stuart Rosenfeldt and his wife Susanne gave to McCain and to others, including Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.
"McCain likes to say character matters, but he is displaying his lack of it by keeping the $1.1 million and returning to Rothstein two small individual contributions," Sanders said.
One employee close to Rothstein, chief operating officer Debra Villegas, donated about $46,000 to McCain, other politicians and political committees in Florida. They gave the dirty money back, while McCain kept his million.
"Everybody seems to get it but McCain," Sanders said. "He needs to fully account for the distribution of the money he collected from everyone at this corrupt firm and explain to Arizona voters why accepting and keeping money gained from a criminal activity makes him worthy to serve in any public office."
The racketeering charges against Rothstein allege that the firm's donations to politicians and campaign committees were largely illegal because they were funded with money from the now-disbarred lawyer's illegal Ponzi scheme.
"According to media reports, agents for the FBI and the IRS are investigating campaign records to determine how Rothstein used his investment scam to fund the political donations," Sanders said. "Their next stop needs to be in Phoenix to interview McCain. If he didn't know how his top contributor was making money he should have. Ignorance is not a defense when this contributor is the number one donor to the 'McCain Victory 2008' fund and the 'McCain-Palin Victory 2008' fund."
Sanders said McCain should not try to hide behind his spokesman when it comes to answering these questions.
"McCain's mouthpiece is the same guy who lied to the media in the first place and prior to joining the Senator's campaign was the research director for Al Gore while Gore was trying to convince everyone that planet Earth was about to turn into a fireball because of global warming," Sanders said. "It's time for Mr. McCain to step up and personally disavow his acceptance of more than a million dollars he took from a convicted felon."
How Scott Rothstein Spent His Stolen Money
One question I don’t see being asked is why would the Ponzi crook donate so much to McAmnesty? What was expected in return?
Juan ought to start looking for a $ 50 an hour lettuce picking job, that’s all he is qualified to do.
Senator Ponzi McLAME ... Enjoy Your RETIREMENT!!!
You have the right to remain Silent.
The Gold-Plated Scott Rothstein Toilet
When news of the Ponzi scheme broke, someone sent [Bob] Norman [a reporter covering the story] a photo of Rothstein’s his-and-hers toilets. The lids were gold-plated, each estimated to cost $25,000.
Yes.
True. But Romney has ridiculously worse hair!
Kim Rothstein blew through nearly $900,000 on an American Express credit card since 2006, and received another $200,000 in salary and reimbursements for political contributions, according to a lawsuit filed against her Wednesday.
Kim Rothstein liked expensive shoes, Louis Vuitton handbags, Gucci accessories and evening dresses by Zola Keller, she said in the deposition. She could burn through thousands of dollars on a shopping outing, or drop nearly $5,000 buying platform shoes from a chic Los Angeles boutique online, she said.
Scott Rothstein with John McCain at a fundraiser at Rothstein's home
Rothstein's first marriage ended in divorced in 2003, He marriend Kimberly Ann Wendell in January 2008.
It’s true that (his wife) Kim’s spending was an issue for Rothstein. Remember that her husband’s former bodyguard, Bob Scandiffio, said that one of Scott Rothstein’s chief goals every day was avoiding his wife. While she was neglected, she was ringing up purchases on the credit cards.
She would call Rothstein repeatedly and try to get some of his time, but the Ponzi schemer was out playing with other women, including the stripper he kept at the Ritz Carlton on the beach.
When are they gonna investigate the head fraudster for his $800,000,000 of suspicious and outright fraudulent donations received in 2008 ??????
Hmmmmm?
Remember the donations from Mickey Mouse?
and all the Visa Card filters deliberately turned off by his crew
but no one else???
When’s that investigation start?.
Repubs just ROLLED OVER as always
Way to go Repubs!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’am a little surprised that obama is doing this, he still has not released the sources of the 250 MILLION DOLLARS he received from “foreign interest” If McCain was bright(he’s not) he would make a issue of obama campaign funding to force obama to back off.
Too Rich, LOL
★ FREEDOM! ★
Me too. I can not stand McCain. He riminds me of everything bad about RINOS like Charlie Crist the Skunk.
I’m shocked. /s
McCain is a (Keating five) crook? who knew?
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