Convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein claims a police officer committed "various illegal acts" for him and his former clients, according to new testimony released Thursday.
The testimony comes from a second round of Rothstein depositions which began on June 4 and are expected to take three weeks, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
Although Rothstein didn't name the officer or mention the law enforcement agency for which he works, he detailed how the cop was used in an elaborate scheme to cover up the embezzlement at a cruise line.
According to Rothstein, he and Albert Peter, former CEO of Silversea Cruises, were embezzling money from the Monaco-based company through phony legal billing and splitting the proceeds.
When Peter began to worry that Silversea's owner, Manfredi Lefebvre, was on to the embezzlement, a ruse was concocted to convince Lefebvre he was being investigated in the U.S. for being involved in a prostitution ring, according to Rothstein.
They even sent the uniformed officer to Silversea's office to act like he was looking for Lefebvre, Rothstein said.
"We had the police officer telling people that he had to find Mr. Lefebvre and that he was not going to stop until he was able to get ahold of him," Rothstein testified.
Peter's attorney, Alan K. Marcus, called the claims "absolutely untrue," according to the Sun-Sentinel. He said Rothstein may have been overbilling Silversea but Peter didn't know about it, and added that Rothstein is lying to get his 50-year sentence reduced.
The bankruptcy trustee for Rothstein's former law firm, Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, is suing Peter, claiming he and some of his associates received nearly $8.7 million from the firm.
Rothstein who is serving his sentence at an undisclosed location, is providing the testimony through videoconferencing. In December, Rothstein spent 10 days being questioned by attorneys seeking to claim money from the $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme.
More transcripts from the recent deposition are expected to be released in the coming weeks.
In addition to the cop claims, Rothstein testified about amassing a collection of diamonds to sell on the black market and naming a company -- IDNLGEAH -- for the line "I do not like green eggs and ham" from one of his favorite books by Dr. Seuss.
