Defendant Sentenced in Plot to Conceal and Dispose of Assets in Connection with Rothstein Case

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and José A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), announce that Eddy Marin, 52, of Davie, was sentenced today in West Palm Beach by U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra to 10 months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release. Issues regarding the forfeiture of certain funds obtained by the defendant through his criminal activity was continued to a later date. Marin pled guilty on October 18, 2013 to conspiracy to obstruct justice, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1512(k).

According to the factual statement admitted by the defendant in connection with his guilty plea, former Ft. Lauderdale attorney Scott W. Rothstein, who was the chief executive officer and chairman of the law firm of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler, P.A. (RRA), used the funds obtained from the operation of a Ponzi scheme to purchase tens of millions of dollars of real estate, vehicles, vessels, business interests, luxury watches, jewelry, and sports memorabilia for himself; his wife, Kimberly Rothstein; and others. As part of his plea agreement, Scott W. Rothstein agreed to forfeit to the government all assets acquired with funds derived through the aforesaid Ponzi scheme. On November 9, 2009, agents of IRS-CI went to the Rothstein residence, where Kimberly Rothstein assisted the agents in retrieving what was believed to be all of the available cash, jewelry, and luxury watches which had previously been purchased by Scott W. Rothstein with proceeds derived from the Ponzi scheme. In fact, before, during, and after the aforesaid seizure by federal agents on November 9, 2009, Kimberly Rothstein, Stacie Weisman, and others knowingly took action to conceal certain items of jewelry, valued in excess of one million dollars for the purpose of preventing the government from exercising its authority to take such property into its lawful custody and control. Thereafter, Kimberly Rothstein and Stacie Weisman sold and attempted to sell a portion of this jewelry to and through various persons, including the defendant Eddy Marin.

The factual statement further alleges that, in connection with civil proceedings instituted by the trustee in bankruptcy for RRA, the defendant took steps to obstruct justice by concealing the true location of certain items of jewelry in order to prevent their availability for use in those proceedings. Marin further admitted that he committed perjury during a deposition in connection with those proceedings.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI and the FBI. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lawrence D. LaVecchio, Paul F. Schwartz, Jeffrey N. Kaplan, and Evelyn B. Sheehan.