October 10, 2014

Former TD Bank Vice President Indicted in Connection with Rothstein Case

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announce that an indictment was unsealed today charging Frank Spinosa, 53, of Ft. Lauderdale, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349, and five counts of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343. If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count.

The indictment, which was returned by a grand jury in Ft. Lauderdale on October 9, 2014, charges that the defendant was a Regional Vice President of TD Bank who, from in or about 2008 through in or about November 2009, conspired to defraud various investors. In 2009, it was discovered that Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler, P.A. was being utilized by its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Scott W. Rothstein, to commit a massive Ponzi scheme stemming from the sale of fictitious confidential settlements.

The indictment charges that Spinosa and Rothstein agreed to utilize the prestige and legitimacy of TD Bank, and Spinosa’s position as Regional Vice President, to give investors in the scheme a false sense of security and induce them into investing in the confidential settlements by fraudulently creating documents that made it appear that certain investment funds were being held in restricted accounts at TD Bank, when they were not, and by fraudulently asserting that certain balances were being held within specified accounts at TD Bank, when they were not.

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

An indictment is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.