In May 2010, Coquina Investments, an investment firm based in Corpus Christi, Texas, brought a lawsuit against

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In May 2010, Coquina Investments, an investment firm based in Corpus Christi, Texas, brought a lawsuit against TD Bank alleging that through the fraudulent actions of its agents, TD Bank is responsible for Coquina’s loss of millions of dollars. At issue in the case is an elaborate Ponzi scheme operated by disbarred attorney Scott Rothstein. As part of this scheme, Mr. Rothstein convinced investors to make cash payments to individuals expecting to receive settlement payments from pending legal disputes. According to Mr. Rothstein, in exchange for these cash payments, these individuals would assign to Mr. Rothstein (and the investors) the right to collect the future, larger settlement payments. Rothstein guaranteed the investors a 20 percent return on their investment. In reality, these settlements did not exist but rather were part of an elaborate Ponzi scheme that Rothstein ran through his law office and in which he channeled money through 38 TD Bank accounts. Rothstein pleaded guilty to racketeering, money laundering, and fraud conspiracy charges and is now serving a 50-year prison sentence. Investors, desirous of recouping millions of dollars of losses, have brought claims against TD Bank alleging that officers of TD Bank facilitated the continued existence of the scheme. The bank maintains that it was the bank for the Rothstein’s law firm, Rothstein, Rosenfeldt, and Adler, and not for Scott Rothstein personally. Explain the differences between the government’s prosecution of Scott Rothstein for criminal violations versus Coquina Investments’ civil lawsuit against TD Bank for the alleged fraudulent actions of its agents. Coquina Investments v. Rothstein, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108712 (S.D. Fla. 2012).

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The Legal And Ethical Environment Of Business

ISBN: 9781454893028

2nd Edition

Authors: Gerald R. Ferrera, Mystica M. Alexander, William P. Wiggins, Cheryl Kirschner, Jonathan J. Darrow

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