005.pdf

NOT A CERTIFIED COPY • JEFFREY EPSTEIN, Plaintiff, v. IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA ~ SCOTT ROTHSTEIN, individually, BRADLEY J. EDWARDS, individually, and .M., individually, C, j I C-; I -..J Defendants. .r:- COMPL Plaintiff, JEFFREY EPSTEIN, (hereinafter "EPSTEIN"), by and through his undersigned attorneys, files this action against Defendants, SCOTT ROTHSTEIN, individually, BRADLEY J. EDWARDS, individually, and L.M., individually. Accordingly, EPSTEIN states: SUMMARY OF ACTION Attorney Scott Rothstein aided by other lawyers and employees at the firm of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt, and Adler, P.A. for personal greed and enrichment, in betrayal of the ethical, legal and fiduciary duties to their own clients and professional obligations to the administration of justice, deliberately engaged in a pattern of racketeering that involved a staggering series of gravely serious obstructions of justice, actionable frauds, and the orchestration and conducting of egregious civil litigation abuses that resulted in profoundly serious injury to Jeffrey Epstein one of several targets of their misconduct NOT A CERTIFIED COPY ' • • Epstein v. RRA, et al. Page2 and others. Rothstein and RRA's fraud had no boundary; Rothstein and his co- conspirators forged Federal court orders and opinions. Amongst the violations of law that are the subject of this lawsuit are the marketing of non-existent Epstein settlements and the sanctioning of a series of depositions that were unrelated to any principled litigation purpose but instead designed to discover extraneous private information about Epstein or his personal and business associates (including well-known public figures) in order to defraud investors and support extortionate demands for payment from Epstein. The misconduct featured the filing of legal motions and the pursuit of a civil litigation strategy that was unrelated to the merits or value of their clients' cases and, instead, had as its improper purpose the furthering of Rothstein's misrepresentations and deceit to third party investors. As a result, Epstein was subject to abusive investigatory tactics, unprincipled media attacks, and unsupportable legal filings. This lawsuit is filed and will be vigorously pursued against all these defendants. The Rothstein racketeering enterprise endeavored to compromise the core values of both state and federal justice systems in South Florida and to vindicate the hardworking and honest lawyers and their clients who were adversely affected by the misconduct that is the subject of this Complaint. Plaintiff reserves the right to add additional defendants - co-conspirators as the facts and evidence is developed. GENERAL ALLEGATONS 1. This is an action for damages in excess of $15,000.00, exclusive costs, interest, and attorneys' fees. NOT A CERTIFIED COPY Epstein v. RRA, et al. Page 3 2. Plaintiff, EPSTEIN, is an adult and currently is residing and works in Palm Beach County, Florida. 3. Defendant, SCOTT ROTHSTEIN ("ROTHSTEIN"), is an individual residing in Broward County, Florida, and was licensed to practice law in the State of Florida. In November 2009, ROTHSTEIN voluntarily relinquished his law license in the midst of the implosion of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler, P.A. ("RRA"). He was disbarred by the Florida Supreme Court on November 20, 2009. On December 1, 2009, ROTHSTEIN was arrested and arraigned in Federal Court in Broward County, Florida. 4. At all times relevant hereto, ROTHSTEIN was the managing partner and CEO of RRA. 5. Defendant, ROTHSTEIN and Stuart Rosenfeldt, are and were the principal owners of equity in RRA and each co-founded RRA. 6. Defendant, BRADLEY J. EDWARDS ("EDWARDS"), is an individual residing in Broward County, Florida and is licensed to practice law in the State of Florida. At all times relevant hereto, EDWARDS was an employee, agent, associate, partner, shareholder, and/or other representative of RRA. 7. Defendant, L.M. ("L.M."), is an individual residing in Palm Beach County, Florida. At all times relevant hereto, L.M. was represented by RRA, ROTHSTEIN and EDWARDS in a civil lawsuit against Epstein and was an essential participant in the scheme referenced infra by, among other things, substantially changing prior sworn testimony, so as to assist the Defendants in promoting their fraudulent scheme for the NOT A CERTIFIED COPY Epstein v. RRA, et al. Page 4 promise of a multi-million dollar recovery relative to the Civil Actions (defined below) involving Epstein, which was completely out of proportion to her alleged damages. 8. Non-party, RRA is a Florida Professional Service Corporation, with a principal address of 401 East Las Olas Blvd., Suite 1650, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33401. In addition to its principal office, RRA also maintained seven offices in Florida, New York, and Venezuela, and employed over 70 attorneys and 200 support staff. RRA also maintains an office at 1109 NE 2d Street, Hallendale Beach, Florida 33009-8515. RRA, through its attorneys, including those named as Defendants herein, conducted business throughout Florida, and relevant to this action, conducted business and filed lawsuits on behalf of clients in Palm Beach County, Florida. (RRA is currently a debtor in bankruptcy. RRA is not named as a Defendant). FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS 9. The United States in United States of America v. Scott W. Rothstein, Case No. 09-60331 CR-Cohn, United States District Court, Southern District of Florida, has brought an action for Racketeering Conspiracy, 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d) against Scott W. Rothstein who was the chief executive officer and chairman of RRA. Within the information which was filed, the United States of America has identified the enterprise as being the law firm, RRA, through which Rothstein in conjunction with "his co- conspirators" (not yet identified by the USA) engaged in the pattern of racketeering through its base of operation at the offices of RRA from sometime in 2005 up through and continuing into November of 2009. Through various criminal activities, including mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, the United States of America asserts that NOT A CERTIFIED COPY Epstein v. RRA, et al. Page 5 Rothstein and his co-conspirators unlawfully obtained approximately $1.2 billion from investors by fraud in connection with a Ponzi scheme. The USA further alleges that "Rothstein and co-conspirators initiated the criminal conduct alleged in the instant Information in order to personally enrich themselves and to supplement the income and sustain the daily operation of RRA." In essence, in the absence of Rothstein and his co- conspirators conducting the Ponzi scheme, the daily operation of RRA, which included payroll (compensation to lawyers, staff, investigators, etc.), accounts payable including unlimited improper, harassing and potential illegal investigation on cases, including Epstein-related matters, would in all likelihood would not have been sustainable. A copy of the information is attached as Exhibit 1 to this action. 10. As more fully set forth herein, RRA held itself out as legitimately and properly engaging in the practice of law. In reality, ROTHSTEIN and others in RRA were using RRA to market investments, as described below, so as to bilk investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars. ROTHSTEIN and others in RRA devised an elaborate plan through which were sold purported confidential assignments of a structured pay-out settlements, supposedly reached on behalf of RRA for clients, in exchange for immediate payments to these clients of a discounted lump sum amount. Investors were being promised in excess of a 30%