The charities of Dwyane Wade and Jason Taylor have both agreed to return tens of thousands of dollars donated by Scott Rothstein before his Ponzi scheme imploded late last year.
The Wade World's Foundation Inc. will return $12,500 and the Jason Taylor Foundation will return $50,000 after a federal court settlement filed Tuesday, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
Wade's charity had received $25,000 from the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm in July 2009, mere months before the scheme was discovered in October. Taylor's charity had received a $100,000 donation in March 2009.
The money is just a small chunk of the millions that Rothstein donated to charities, hospitals and politicians while perpetrated his estimated $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme out of his Fort Lauderdale law firm. Rothstein spent the majority of the money on houses, cars and other pricey toys for himself.
Rothstein is currently serving a 50-year sentence after pleading guilty to fraud, racketeering and money laundering charges.
Four other organizations will be returning portions of donations they received from Rothstein, including $40,000 out of a $95,000 gift to the Jewish Adoption and Foster Care Options, and $25,000 of a $50,000 gift to Family Central Inc.
The money is just a drop in the bucket of recovered funds that will be used to pay back investors, who were bilked out of hundreds of millions in the Rothstein scheme. Investors will likely get back just pennies on the dollar.
