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Kim Rothstein's Size Five Clawback.

Kim Roth Stein Claw Back

I'm starting to come around on Kimmie.

If she didn't know exactly how her husband made his money, and assumed like all the big shmarties in town that Rothstein had legitimate business investments, then maybe she is somewhat of a victim in all this?

Either way Judge Stettin wants the shoes and Botox back:

The lawyers itemized a litany of questionable expenses:

? $880,609.77 on an American Express card paid for by her husband's Fort Lauderdale law firm. Among the charges: plastic surgery treatments, hotel and spa charges, groceries, handbags and vacations.

? $104,223.99 on campaign contributions to GOP presidential nominee John McCain and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which were reimbursed by the firm.

? $153,198.71 for ``professional fees'' paid to her by Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler.

Kimmie says she was in the dark:

Kim downplayed her shopping sprees, arguing they weren't ``frivolous.'' When asked about buying $21,180 in shoes -- including nearly $5,000 on Oct. 23, 2009 online -- she explained: ``I have very small feet, I have to special order.''

She even went shopping -- at Nordstrom's for shoes -- over the Halloween weekend when news surfaced that her husband's law firm had failed amid the collapse of Rothstein's massive investment racket. She denied that she was aware of the media frenzy surrounding her husband.

SHOPPING SPREES

In the deposition, Kim Rothstein comes across as a woman who filled her days with shopping sprees for herself, friends and relatives while being in the dark about her husband's finances and enterprise.

She said she was unaware of much of her husband's spending -- including a $475,000 Weston home for Villegas or the $250,000 in cash stashed at their Fort Lauderdale home.

``I didn't even have knowledge of half those vehicles,'' she told the lawyers after they read her the list of Ferraris and other luxury cars.

Though Kim and Scott socialized with investors, she said she never overheard them discuss the investments.

When asked if she ever overheard such business conversations between her husband and George Levin -- who along with his Banyon investors sank around $775 million into Rothstein's scheme -- Kim described much more mundane conversations between the two men.

``Bagels, lox, the difference between lox and salmon, and cream cheese consistency, like the stupidest things you could think of,'' she said.

Ok, let me stop Kim right there -- there's nothing "stupid" about discussing the difference between lox and salmon.

In fact, if you add a little whitefish to the conversation, these are topics I can (and have) discussed for hours.

Full post as published by South Florida Lawyers on March 11, 2010 (boomark / email).