Scott Rothstein learned Wednesday, just months after his Ponzi scheme imploded, that he will spend the next 50 years of his life in prison.

“I am truly and deeply sorry for what I have done. I don’t expect your forgiveness. I don’t,” Rothstein said in court according to the Sun-Sentinel. “I am ashamed and embarrassed.”

He apologized to investors he stole from, to his law firm colleagues, to his firm’s clients, to the court system, fellow lawyers, to charities.

Mccollrothst In his sentencing, Cohn called Rothstein’s investment scam a “tsunami” that he created through his law firm, his political connections, his charities and ultimately, by forging the signatures of judges in a legal case between auto magnate Ed Morse and an interior decorator.

Rothstein was sentenced Wednesday morning by U.S. District Judge James Cohn in a Fort Lauderdale courtroom.

The Sun-Sentinel said Rothstein “appeared visibly and dramatically changed by his six months in federal custody, much thinner with closely shorn gray hair and a goatee.”

Rothstein, who turns 48 on Thursday, oversaw a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme that collapsed last fall. He was arrested Dec. 1, 2009 after the scheme was exposed. Rothstein’s plan was built on supposedly lucrative investments in faked confidential settlements.

Rothstein asked for mercy in a letter written to the judge in advance of the sentence. Rothstein said he contemplated suicide before returning to the United States to face the federal charges.

The prison sentence, 10 years more than prosecutors recommended, caps the swift downfall of Rothstein, whose now-defunct law firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler was once considered a growing force in South Florida legal circles.

His taste in fancy Italian sports cars, an 87-foot custom yacht, glittering watches and big cigars made him seem larger-than-life, and turned him into a darling of politicians and sports stars. But, Rothstein told the judge in a letter, it was all a facade to feed his own “ego and greed.”

“I did all I could to increase my power, to keep the myth alive, to feed the beast I had created, and to try to keep myself above the law,” Rothstein wrote.

Rothstein pleaded guilty Jan. 27.

The government has seized Rothstein’s assets and is in the process of selling them to pay restitution to victims. There is also an ongoing legal wrestling match over ownership of some of the assets and bank accounts linked to the scam and Rothstein’s law firm.

The London-based Goldman Sachs banker Fabrice Tourre, who is at the centre of a $1bn (£650m) fraud prosecution, came out fighting today with a vigorous rebuttal of “unfounded attacks” on his character and motives.

“I deny–categorically–the SEC’s allegation,” Tourre said. “And I will defend myself in court against this false claim.”

For Tourre, 31, Tuesday’s appearance before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations represented his first public appearance to personally answer the charges against him. Since the SEC unveiled its civil suit against Goldman Sachs, Tourre has been heavily scrutinized, thanks to emails released by the SEC and later, Goldman.

In a brash January 2007 e-mail released by the SEC, Tourre called himself “The fabulous Fab … standing in the middle of all these complex … exotic trades he created without necessarily understanding all of the implications of those monstrosities!!!”

Tourre, who appeared calm during the appearance, testified that he does not recall telling investors that a Goldman hedge fund client was betting against an investment that soured. The hedge fund, Paulson & Co., profited handsomely from the deal.

Tourre said the other investors in the deal, ACA Management LLC and German bank IKB, were “sophisticated” and were ultimately responsible for the outcome of their investments.

In written evidence released ahead of an appearance before a Senate committee in Washington, the Frenchman “categorically” denied accusations by the Securities and Exchange Commission that he misled clients over a 2007 mortgage-backed security named Abacus AC-1 which, he insisted, was not structured to fail.

The investment in question was a collateralized debt obligation backed by subprime mortgage securities. ACA was chosen to select the mortgages that made up the security, but had input from Paulson.

Tourre said that while Paulson made suggestions as to the mortgage securities, ACA had “sole authority to decide what securities would be referenced in the transactions”

“So, while Paulson, Goldman Sachs and IKB all had input into the reference portfolio … ACA ultimately analyzed and approved every security in the deal. Thus, when Goldman Sachs represented to investors that ACA selected the referenced securities, that statement was absolutely correct,” Tourre said.

In e-mails released by Goldman Sachs over the weekend, Tourre appeared slightly more conflicted about his role emails to his girlfriend, Marine Serres, though his tone was often joking.

“Anyway, not feeling too guilty about this, the real purpose of my job is to make capital markets more efficient and ultimately provide the U.S. consumer with more efficient ways to leverage and finance himself, so there is a humble, noble and ethical reason for my job amazing how good I am in convincing myself !!!”

He made no mention of a series of emails to his girlfriend, made public over the weekend, in which he appeared to demean his own work as “intellectual masturbation” and as “Frankenstein” financial products.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., facing a fraud lawsuit from U.S. regulators, said it would never intentionally mislead investors.

“We would never intentionally mislead anyone, certainly not our clients or our counterparties,” Goldman Sachs Co-General Counsel Greg Palm said today on a conference call with analysts. “We have never condoned and would never condone inappropriate behavior by any of our people. On the contrary, we would be the first to condemn it and take all appropriate action.

‘‘Our responsibilities as a financial intermediary require it and our commitment to integrity and the firm’s business principles demand it,’’ Palm said.

Palm said Goldman Sachs had ‘‘no incentive’’ for the deal to fail, and lost more than $100 million on the transaction.

Goldman Sachs, led by Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein, finds itself fending off regulatory claims while and cementing its position as the most profitable investment bank in Wall Street history. The Securities and Exchange Commission accused the firm of failing to tell investors in a 2007 collateralized debt obligation that hedge fund Paulson & Co., which planned to bet against the CDO, helped select the underlying assets.

Blankfein, 55, didn’t refer specifically to the suit today, saying in a statement, “In light of recent events involving the firm, we appreciate the support of our clients and shareholders, and the dedication and commitment of our people.”

Shareholders said concern about potential fallout from the accusations would supersede the earnings report. The stock, which fell 13 percent on April 16 after the SEC filed its case, fell $1.17 to $162.15 at 9:38 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

Ralph Cole, a senior vice president in research at Ferguson Wellman Inc., is among investors who said they are concerned the case could hurt Goldman Sachs’s reputation and cause clients to switch their business to other firms. Another worry is that the case could lead to additional lawsuits against the bank and add impetus to financial-reform efforts that would erode Goldman Sachs’s earnings potential.

“I don’t think the cost of this one suit’s the big deal, not certainly compared to what they make,” said Cole, whose firm manages $2.6 billion including Goldman Sachs stock. “It’s what does this do to their reputation and what does this do to the industry because of the current legislation going through?”

In the U.K., meantime, Britain’s financial regulator said Goldman Sachs’s London units will be formally investigated for fraud. “The Financial Services Authority has decided to commence a formal enforcement investigation into Goldman Sachs International in relation to recent SEC allegations,” the FSA said in an e-mailed statement.

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Goldman, Sachs & Co and one of its vice presidents for defrauding investors by misstating and omitting key facts about a financial product tied to subprime mortgages as the U.S. housing market was beginning to falter.

The SEC alleges that Goldman Sachs structured and marketed a synthetic collateralized debt obligation (CDO) that hinged on the performance of subprime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). Goldman Sachs failed to disclose to investors vital information about the CDO, in particular the role that a major hedge fund played in the portfolio selection process and the fact that the hedge fund had taken a short position against the CDO.

“The product was new and complex but the deception and conflicts are old and simple,” said Robert Khuzami, Director of the Division of Enforcement. “Goldman wrongly permitted a client that was betting against the mortgage market to heavily influence which mortgage securities to include in an investment portfolio, while telling other investors that the securities were selected by an independent, objective third party.”

Kenneth Lench, Chief of the SEC’s Structured and New Products Unit, added, “The SEC continues to investigate the practices of investment banks and others involved in the securitization of complex financial products tied to the U.S. housing market as it was beginning to show signs of distress.”

The SEC alleges that one of the world’s largest hedge funds, Paulson & Co., paid Goldman Sachs to structure a transaction in which Paulson & Co. could take short positions against mortgage securities chosen by Paulson & Co. based on a belief that the securities would experience credit events.

According to the SEC’s complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the marketing materials for the CDO known as ABACUS 2007-AC1 (ABACUS) all represented that the RMBS portfolio underlying the CDO was selected by ACA Management LLC (ACA), a third party with expertise in analyzing credit risk in RMBS. The SEC alleges that undisclosed in the marketing materials and unbeknownst to investors, the Paulson & Co. hedge fund, which was poised to benefit if the RMBS defaulted, played a significant role in selecting which RMBS should make up the portfolio.

Goldman Sachs has arguably been the most successful firm on Wall Street for decades, with some of the world’s biggest private equity and hedge funds and investment bankers and traders who practically minted money. The bank was humbled along with the rest of Wall Street in 2008 when the financial markets crashed, turning itself into a commercial bank holding company and surviving the meltdown with federal assistance. In 2009 it led the Street’s resurgence and was the first to seek to pay back its bailout money. But its hardball tactics and supersized profits drew new scrutiny and criticism. And in April 2010 the bank was accused of securities fraud in a civil suit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission that claimed the bank created and sold a mortgage investment that was secretly devised to fail.

Local internet users have been advised to be alert following an Internet scam inviting them to a global world conference for Human Rights billed for March 10-12 in Washington DC, in the US.

The mail which is circulating amongst various undisclosed recipients is authored by someone claiming to be working for Global Organization for Human Rights inviting them for the conference.

In the scam recipients are asked to contact the conference secretariat for all visa arrangements and travel assistance.

The Botswana Police Public Relations Officer Senior Superintedent, Dipheko Motube said it had been realised that despite warnings in the past about Inernet scams people have fallen for the trap as they continue to send money to enable them to attend the conference without first establishing the authenticity of such an e-mail and in the process being swindled of their money.

Mr Motube said what had been oobserved is that there are no official letter heads with all the addresses as well as the full particulars of the contact persons.

The organizations and the public are therefore urged to be cautious when dealing with matters of this nature especially where invitations are not done in a transparent manner.

Meanwhile, Senior Superintedent Motube said Interpol has also discovered yet another type of scam whereby criminals unlawfully take control of individuals e-mail (e-mail hijacking) and start sending messages to the contact list in the address book. During the e-mail take over, the subscriber would be denied access to his/her e-mail.

He said the message which appears may indicate that the e-mail is experiencing technical problems and that it will be addressed.

The affected e-mail websites are yahoo and hotmail.

The messages are written as if they are from the owners of the e-mail addresses purporting to ask for urgent financial help.

Some of the reasons advanced are that he/she had lost the entire luggage and other important documents hence they are asking for money to cover traveling expenses and that the money would be reimbursed upon arrival at home.

He noted that these impostors usually claim to be stranded far from home.

Yahoo/Msn Lottery
Incoperation
Baley House, Har Road
Sutton, Greater London
SM1 4te
United Kingdom.

YAHOO /MSN LOTTERY WINNING NOTIFICATION

We happily announce to you the draw of the Yahoo Lottery Intl Inc programs
held on the 8th of OCTOBER 2008 in London. Your e-mail address
attachedto ticket number: 56475600545 188 with Serial number 5388/02 drew
the lucky numbers: 31-6- 2613357, which subsequently won you the lottery
inthe 2nd category. You are therefore, been approved to claim a total sum
of?5,000.000,00 pounds GREAT BRITAIN STELLING for the month of OCTOBER
2008lottery win promotion which is organized by MSN & YAHOO LOTTORY INTL
INC.Every month.Your winning fall in Europe! Please note that your lucky
winning numberfalls within our European booklet representative office in
UnitedKingdom as indicated in your coupon.

In view ofthis, your?5,000.000,00poundsGREAT BRITAIN STELLING would be
released to you by any of our paymentoffices in UnitedKingdom. Our agent
zoned for European paying Bank will immediately commence the process to
facilitate the release ofyour funds as soon as you
contact himYAHOO/MSN, collects all the E MAIL ID of the peoplethat
subscribes to yahoomail,msn, hotmail, aol,altavista,and othersonline,
among the billions that subscribe to us only five
people will be merge for winnings we only select five people every Month
as our winners through electronicballoting System without the winner
applying, we
are congratulating you for having been one of the lucky people that won
for this month.

PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM
You are to contact your Claims Agent on or before your date of Claim,
Winners shall be paid in accordance with his/her Settlement
Centre.

YahooLottery Prize must be claimed not later than 15 days from date of Draw
Notification after the Draw date in which Prize has won. Any prize not
claimed within this period will be forfeited and retrieved.

CLAIMS PROCESSING FORM
First Name:
Last Name:
Sex:
Office/Resident:
Address:
Telephone:
Mobile:
Fax:
Occupation:
Date of Birth:
Nationality:
Country:
Winner’s E-mail:
Annual Income:
Best Regard
Mr Wesley Scholes
Online Claims Agent

To file for your claim send identification and details of claim
to:OverseaPayment and Release Order Department CLAIMS PROCESSING LOTTERY
AGENT With a scanned copy of your international passport or drivers
license for official record and payment files.

(CONTACT EVENTS MANAGER)
Name WESLEY SCHOLES
Email mr_weslly_lottooffice@yahoo.com.hk
Phone:+447011146830

NOTE: YOU ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO KEEP ALL YOUR WINNING AND WINNING
DETAILS CONFIDENTIAL TILL CLAIM IS MADE TO AVOID WRONG CLAIMING. ANY
BREACH OF CONFIDENCIAL DISQULIFIES YOU FROM GETTING YOUR PRIZE.

The best way is to avoid such email is to ignore them and dont reply them.  These all emails are scams and the person who sends them, actually sends it to thousands of people. Those people who actually don’t know about the scams fall vicitm to this shamed fraud.

Feel Free To Comment

Have you applied or did you put your email address on any ticket or any such programs which can actually give you millions without even buying anything?

Why this is the email not from any authorized website?

Why is the email always from free email accounts like yahoo, googlemail, hotmail etc.

Why is this email so poorly structured?

Why are they so much genrous in giving you such a large sum of money?

After answering these question you will come to the conclusion that this a scam email. They ask for your details, once you will reply to the so called agent. They will ask you to for your personal details and in the end you will end they ask for processing fees. If you further think to take the chance the end result will be that you will endup loosing ? These scammers normally send thousands of emails to thousands of people around the world. Lot of people fall victims to such scammers. For the record you can’t do anything legally against these scammers. The location they will mention in the emails will always be fake addresses.

The end of the story is delete the scam emails.

I am pasting the email which I have recieved for information and awarness.

Feel free to Comment

From: tube100@hetnet.nl

Subject:- Confirmation Email Lucky No 2-10-33-44-207

They will then ask you if you could find out what it will cost to deliver the car through an agency that delivers cars. Another offer given to you will be that the cheque will be always more than the price of the car. He/she will then ask you to give the outstanding money to the agency for delivering of the car.

Sometimes the email is sent by an agent and will mention in the email that a client is interested in your car. He will negotiate on the price with you later and give you the same offer of delivery through an agency. The reason he will mention an agency will be that he is far from where you live or he is out of country. He will also mention that the cheque which will be sent to you will include his commission and all you have to do is to take the cheque to the bank and take the price off your car, send him his commission and also pay for the delivery charges.

Now what happens is that you will receive a cheque that is forged. You will then deposit the cheque in your account and you will think that the cash is in your account. But you are wrong, what actually happens is that when the cashier takes the cheque he/she will keep the cheque on hold until it is cleared from the other bank. It normally takes a up to 7 working days.

You will probably send the commission to the agent and also you will give the car for the delivery. Now what happens is that you will lose your car, plus the delivery charges and commission which was paid from your account. The bank will find that the cheque was forged they will complain to the police and this will create a big trouble for you. The only evidence you will have will be the emails with no proper and exact location of the buyer.

One small problem will give you such a lot of trouble. Whereas the one who sent you the email got your car, free delivery and commission as well. The only way to get rid of this scam is that don’t get excited when you receive this email. A potential buyer will always give you a call; he/she will not have such extra and free time to send you such big emails. An interested buyer will check the car and the documents and will meet you face to face. In some circumstances you will also receive a phone call but do check the number and ask for the cash payment. Don’t fall victim of this scam. These scammers send thousands of emails to the sellers on the auto trader.

Following is the email I have received for my car advertisement.

Received: 28 September 2008 10:44
Customer Details:
NAME: MRS Victoria Brown
TELEPHONE:
EMAIL: vic.bro1@live.com
Vehicle Details:
MAKE: MITSUBISHI
MODEL: COLT
PRICE: £4395

Message:Good Morning,
I am really interested in your Car listed for sale on the auto trader website.
I would like to know if you still have it for sale and if so:
Are you the first owner?
Do you have all the paper work and the receipt of purchase for documentation?
What is the present condition?
Is it an automatic drive or manual drive?
The area of the vehicle and the reason for offering it for sale?
Send more pictures apart from those ones on the website if also available if NOT is okay.
Thanks so much and I look forward to hear back from you today.
I will wait to hear from you soonest.
Cheers
Vicky

This e-mail is sent on behalf of Trader Media Group Limited, registered office: Unit 6, Thatcham Business Village, Colthrop Lane, Thatcham, Berkshire RG19 4LW (Registered in England No. 4768840). This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender.
Good Afternoon,

Thanks for your quick response and am also excited to hear from you the vehicle is still available for sale and thanks for the information you just gave about the vehicle and am quite delighted to hear from you the vehicle is still in great conditions, the reason why I want to purchase this vehicle is because our family is expanding we are expecting our triplet babies in a few weeks time.My self and my husband just need one additional vehicle.

Please would you to email me more pictures if is still available both the exterior and interior.
Due to my condition I would not be able to view the vehicle at present I’m heavily pregnant, and the distance as well.

My personal circumstances do not allow me to travel because the doctor told me that I should not stress myself any more like while my husband is away on a business trip in Texas.
According to the features of the vehicle and the full description of the vehicle I have read on the advert pages I’m fully satisfied with everything.

I will make an offer of £4,600 inclusive the advert fees just because I know the worth of the vehicle and more so what you’ve stated about the vehicle details in the advert page and the maintenance of the vehicle you’ve spent so far since you bought the vehicle.

Presently we are located at Guernsey in Channel Islands, I will take care of the shipment and have already consulted a private shipping company who’s going to handle it professionally for me both the shipping cost and other necessary activities concerning the shipment of the vehicle.

Though the shipping company still have some furniture to ship for me in Western Isles I have made it clear to him that your location will be his first arrival before moving down to any other destination.
Cleared funds would have to be obtained prior to the sale, what I mean is that you will be able to withdraw your money first before you hand over the vehicle.

My preferred method of payment is by bankers draft or Cheque in a (GBP) that’s the only option and safest way for me to transfer CASH which I’m going to instruct my business associate to post you a bankers draft via post office.

The bankers draft is going to clear in your bank within 3 to 5 working days before I shall take the possession of the vehicle.

Thanks so much and I really appreciate your efforts for taking your time to respond to my inquiry, hopefully to hear back from you today in order to proceed further with the payment and shipping arrangements as soon as possible.

In my next email I shall let you know the details that are required from you to enable the bankers draft gets to you by post office.

I look forward to hear back from you today.

Cheers

Vicky.

All your are answers in the email itself. Firstly the email should be addressed to your name, in reality it is addressed to winners. Secondly the email you have recieved is from web.de. Whereas they are claiming that this is a yahoo lottery. If it is from yahoo why is yahoo team using a third party email service.

Why there is nothing about such lottery scheme on news and on yahoo website. Another important thing to know is that over here another third party email service is used which is reddiffmail. Why are they using a free email service? Why are they intereted to know about your details?

I am pasting the email for the awareness. Just ignore and delete the email. Feel free to ask any questions.

Dear Winners.‏
From: streakmail123 streakmail123 (streakmail123@web.de)

You may not know this sender.Mark as safe|Mark as unsafe

Sent: 26 December 2008 09:25:46
To: streakmail@web.de
Dear Winners.
CONGRATULATIONS
< FONT face="Times New Roman"> We are pleased to inform you of the result of the just clouded annual final draws of
YAHOO FAIR LONDON international programs. You are therefore been approve to claim the sum of 850,000.00Eight Hundred and Fifty Thousand POUNDS.)
You’re-MAIL ADDRESS is one of 7 lucky Addresses that have won in the Weekly Promotion.
&n bsp; PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM
Winners shall be paid in accordance with his/her Settlement Centre.YahooPrize Award must be claimed thought their Accredited Agents in and United Kingdom Any prize not claimed would be forfeited. Stated below are your identification numbers:
BATCH NUMBER: MFI/06/APA-43658
REFERENCE NUMBER: 2006234522
PIN: 1206
SECRET CODE: 1976
These numbers fall within the United kingdom location file, you are req uested to contact our fiduciary agent in SOUTH AFRICA and send your winning identification numbers to him, He is J OHN MORE consortium

Make sure that you call the United kingdom Claim Agent JOHN MORE
First and send him all your wi nning details through email.dont fail to contact him through telephone and through email, it is very important that you call him first be sure of your winning. For further confirmation Please call Claim agent office at
SOURCE: INTRALOT S.A. media release
CONTACT: Financial Analysis & Investor Relations Manager.
SIR. JOHN MORE
< P class=Normal1 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 14.4pt">Phone: +44703-185-1109
EMAIL:johnmore.1776@rediffmail.com
You can as well contact us through our address in UNITED KINGDOM to confirm if you are the real winner.< /STRONG>
Our address and our ENGLAND contacts are below.

Address: 23 Bedford Row, High Osborn, London, and WCLR 4EB, ENGLAND London Contact Person: Remark Walter/SIR JOHN MORE
E-Mail: johnmore.1776@rediffmail.com
SIR. JOHN MORE
Phone: +44703-185-1109
Fax : 44-870- 974-6825

Please you are to choose your payment option at which you want your fund Paid to you; listed below is our payment modalities and option of payment.

1. by electronic transfer using Internet system.
2. BY DIRECT TELEGRAPHICWIRE TRANSFER

The Yahoo Fair London Lottery Licensed Operator shall keep all personal information you give us as strictly confidential and no personal information shall be made available to third parties, unless obliged to do so by law or legal process. You can fill this information below
1. FULL NAME………………………….
2. COUNTRY…………………………….
3. FULL ADDRESS …………….
4. MOBILE NUMBER (……………..
5. COUNTRY OF RESIDENT
5. CITY…………………….
6. OCCUPATION ………………………..
7. AGE………………….
7. SEX ……………………………
8. COMPANY NAME. ccccccccccccc
9. Your position in your Companyccccccccccc.
&nb sp; Congratulations once again.
IT IS OUT OF GREAT TRIBULATION THAT HEROES USUALLY EMERGE.
Regards,
Dr. (Mrs.) Mercy Martins
Zonal Coordinator, UNITED KINGDOM AWARDPROMOTION.
YAHOO FAIR LONDON

Täglich 1.000.000 Euro gewinnen! Jetzt kostenlos WEB.DE MillionenKlick
spielen! https://millionenklick.web.de/?mc=mail@footer.mklick@home

Firstly I have not made any payment by Western Union, secondly it is not common to greet someone in an official letter/email by using “Hello!” now surely these people can do beter than this.

Here is a copy of the email…

Hello!

Attention! The wire sent to Vladimir Kirkorov, Moscow, Russia has been blocked by our security service.
Your credit card issuing bank has halted the transaction by the demand of the Federal Criminal Investigation Service (case No. 74543 since the recipient has been undergoing the international retrieval by the InterPol.

Please contact the closest Western Union office and make sure you have your ID card, the credit card that was used for making the payment and the invoice file with you.

(The invoice file is attached to this message; please print it out and hand it to our agent.)
You can find the address of the closest Western Union agent on our website at www.westernunion.com

Thank you!

The email comes with an attachment named MTCN.zip, the zip file contains an executable file which if run will infect your PC. The best action is to delete it.