Lawsuit Blames Accounting Firm for $450M in Bankrupt Rothstein Law Firm Losses
A lawsuit seeking $450 million has been filed against an accounting firm that worked with the now-bankrupt South Florida law firm formerly operated by now-convicted Ponzi schemer and ex-attorney Scott Rothstein.
A trustee overseeing the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler bankruptcy contends in the suit, among other allegations, that Berenfeld Spritzer Schechter & Sheer combined law firm operating and client trust funds when preparing tax returns, thus providing an inaccurate picture of its finances, and was aware of “wildly inaccurate RRA bookkeeping,” reports the South Florida Business Journal.
The lawsuit echoes a similar action against Berenfeld filed by Rothstein creditors seeking $200 million.
An accounting firm partner says it conducted its work for RRA conscientiously. Meanwhile, a lawyer for Berenfeld Spritzer argues that the bankruptcy trustee has already acknowledged that Rothstein was RRA’s alter ego. Hence, regardless of what the accounting firm did or didn’t tell Scott Rothstein, “no one could hurt or cause legal damage to RRA because it had already killed itself,” attorney Jane Moskowitz tells the business publication.
