The United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit denied a petition yesterday from TD Bank NA to take a second look at a ruling that investors in Scott Rothstein’s $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme had standing to win a $67 million verdict against the bank. In the court’s order, a three-judge panel decided not to rehear the case and stated that no active judge asked for an en banc rehearing regarding the bank’s assertion that plaintiff Coquina Investments LLC did not have standing on account that it did not suffer personal injury.

Coquina’s attorney was certainly pleased with the decision and is confident about the outcome of the case, stating, “We are of course pleased that the case is one step closer to resolution. The fact that not a single judge on the court was interested in granting TD’s rehearing petition certainly reflects the lack of merit of the bank’s arguments. Eventually, TD will have to pay the piper.”

TD Bank filed a petition on August 19 subsequent to the federal appeals panel’s ruling that Coquina did in fact have standing to bring its claim against the bank on behalf of thirty-one investors, noting that Coquina had made investments in the fraudulent scheme under its own name and using funds from its own bank account.

The Court of Appeals affirmed the $67 million dollar verdict against TD Bank for assisting the fraud on July 29. It also rejected the bank’s opposition to sanctions imposed on it for willful violations during discovery and its attacks on the testimony of former bank Regional Vice President Frank Spinosa, who is believed to have lied to investors in the scheme to sell shares in false legal settlements about how much money was in Rothstein’s accounts and how much access he had to the money.

According to the panel, the “record is replete with evidence that Spinosa, while acting as a regional vice president for TD Bank, knew of and participated in Rothstein’s fraud.”

If you or someone you know has lost money as a result of an investment or Ponzi scheme, please contact Richard Frankowski at 888-741-7503 to discuss your potential legal remedies or complete the contact form.