David Boden, an ex-Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler PA attorney pleaded guilty yesterday in a Florida federal court to one count of wire fraud in connection to Scott Rothstein’s $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme. Boden admitted that he played a role in causing investors to lose $2.4 million. He also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, stating that he acquired commissions straight from a group investing in Rothstein’s scheme but failed to disclose to the group that he was also receiving commissions from Rothstein. Richard L. Pearson, the broker involved in the scheme, also pleaded guilty to a count of wire fraud last week.
Boden and Pearson are looking at potential maximum sentences of five years imprisonment and may be forced to pay up to $250,000 in restitution. They will both be sentenced on January 9, 2015.
Boden had been brought on as a nonequity shareholder at Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler in 2008. Pearson came in roughly a year later as a broker for settlements Rothstein offered to investors. Rothstein gave investors the opportunity to provide possible plaintiffs in sexual harassment and other lawsuits an upfront payment in turn for the right to cash in on bigger settlement installments. Those settlements, however, never existed. Boden, allegedly, assisted Pearson in the selling of the settlements and received a portion of Pearson’s commission.
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.