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Showing posts with label FORT LAUDERDALE. Show all posts

Monday, September 8, 2014

Family Of Missing Millionaire Battles Over Estate

Exclusive: Family Of Missing Millionaire Battles Over Estate

August 22, 2014 6:30 PM

Joan Murray

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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) — The family of a millionaire who went missing appeared in court Friday to battle over parts of his estate.
Guma Aguiar disappeared on his boat in June 2012 leaving behind a wife, four kids and a $100 million dollar fortune .
Following his disappearance, a fierce legal battle ensued between his wife and mother for control of his estate.
On Friday, the both appeared in court to battle over $12 million worth of real estate in Israel. Guma Aguiar had purchased two dozen pieces of property. Eight of those properties are in dispute.
“We met in high school,” said Jamie Aguiar, his wife who spoke publicly for the first time about what life was like with her husband as she battled his mother in the courtroom over control of the properties.
READ: Family Feud Continues Over Missing Ft. Lauderdale Millionaire’s Fortune
“When Guma was bipolar, it was horrific and when it was over he would apologize to everyone and me,” said Jamie.
Aguiar’s mother Ellen Aguiar said her son wanted her and his two sisters to have them but Jaime says otherwise.
“He said everything that is mine is yours,” said Jaime.
Click here to WATCH CBS4’s Joan Murray’s report
She said her husband had talked about walking the property before he disappeared because of financial concerns. At the time he was embroiled in a lawsuit.
“The plan was to have them appraised and list them strategically,” said Jaime.
Ellen Aguiar said she hasn’t been able to see her four grandchildren which is as sad as not knowing what happened to her son .
Back in 2012, surveillance cameras captured Aguiar just before he disappeared from his Rio Vista home on June 19th. The video shows Aguiar in his boat heading out to sea in rough waters later that day.
Aguiar’s boat was recovered hours later but Coast Guard crews never found him.
Police had said there was no evidence of foul play.
The next scheduled date of the trial is scheduled for October.

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Former Rothstein partner Russell Adler gets 2 1/2 years in prison

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Ponzi schemer's partner sentenced to 30 months in prison

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Disbarred lawyer and former Scott Rothstein law partner Russell Adler was sentenced to 30 months in prison for making illegal political campaign donations and must surrender in 90 days.

By Paula McMahon, Sun Sentinel

6:51 p.m. EDT, June 27, 2014

When Russell Adler joined Scott Rothstein's growing Fort Lauderdale practice ten years ago, he insisted the law firm change its name – making it Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, or RRA.
As a judge sentenced him to 2 1/2 years in federal prison on Friday, Adler said the name change was the first of a series of decisions he deeply regrets.
"Being the A in RRA turned into an ironic curse that has ruined my name and haunts and humiliates me to this day," he told the judge.

The law firm went bankrupt in late 2009 when Rothstein's $1.4 billion Ponzi scheme was exposed and all three name partners have now pleaded guilty to committing federal crimes.
Adler, 52, who admitted he illegally funneled campaign donations to Republican presidential and Senate campaigns on Rothstein's behalf, began visibly shaking in court as U.S. District Judge James Cohn announced his punishment.

He put his fingers to his eyes and sighed deeply.
When the law firm was "awash with cash" in 2008 and 2009, Judge Cohn wondered aloud what exactly Adler – an experienced attorney and name partner – thought was happening.

"Mr. Adler was at the epicenter, he was at ground zero. Was he blind and deaf as to what was going on?" the judge asked. "The public needs to see that there is a price to pay for conduct such as this."
The former lawyer, who was permanently disbarred last week, must begin serving his prison term on Sept. 29. Sentencing guidelines recommended a prison term of two to 2 1/2 years, followed by two years of supervised release.
Adler, of Delray Beach and Fort Lauderdale, apologized for his crimes and said he was devastated his 27-year career as a lawyer ended with disbarment.
"I leave my profession in shame and disgrace ... But my wounds are self-inflicted," he said.
The judge asked prosecutors Friday if he should consider Rothstein's Ponzi scheme activities at the law firm in sentencing Adler.
Rothstein gave sworn statements alleging that Adler knew about his investment fraud scheme and helped Rothstein keep it afloat. Adler has always denied those claims.
Adler could not "legally be held responsible for the activities of the Ponzi," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence LaVecchio. But he noted Adler was involved in other misconduct – including lying to a co-op board in New York City about borrowing money from the law firm to buy an apartment.
Supporters, including Senior Broward Circuit Judge Richard Eade, spoke on Adler's behalf and praised his professionalism, ethics and generosity.
One former client, Mary Haig, told the judge Adler charged no fee when he won a $1.8 million settlement for her daughter, who suffered a traumatic brain injury.
"He treated my daughter like his own," Haig said.
Adler stayed with her daughter in the hospital in 2003 and held her hand when the parents had to briefly leave her side, Haig said.
And a formerly homeless man, Michael Gudewicz, told the judge Adler saved his life when he invited him to be his roommate in the Point of Americas condo on Fort Lauderdale beach where they lived for months, before moving together to Delray Beach.
Those acts of compassion and charity were laudable, the judge said, but there was other issues about Adler's behavior in recent years that caused him concern.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Woman likely bitten by shark in South Florida

Editor's note: Your ProbateShark notes the word "likely". Florida also hosts barracudas and other biting fish. Lucius Verenus Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

Woman likely bitten by shark in South Florida

CBS Miami

A woman was attacked by what is believed to be a shark, says the Fort Lauderdale Fire Department.

Woman bitten by suspected shark in Intracoastal

By Scott Travis, Sun Sentinel

10:18 p.m. CDT, June 1, 2014

FORT LAUDERDALE - A 22-year-old South Florida woman suffered a large gash to her right leg in a likely shark attack on Sunday afternoon in the Intracoastal Waterway.

Jessica Vaughn was in surgery Sunday evening at Broward Health Medical Center. She is expected to make a full recovery, her friend Peter Hogge said.

Vaughn had been on a boat with Hogge and three other friends. The friends put on life vests and jumped into the water to go inner-tubing.
"She barely made it to the tube when she felt something hit her face. She didn't know what it was," Hogge said. "Then she looked down at her leg and knew there was a problem."
The friends called 911 and took the boat back to shore, where Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue took her to the hospital.
Hogge said Vaughn was conscious and in good spirits prior to surgery Sunday afternoon.
"She's been laughing and joking to everyone and showing her wound to everyone, from the nurses to the paramedics," he said.
Fire-rescue officials said they think this was a shark attack, but they wouldn't speculate on what species.
Hogge said he saw the tail and thinks it was about a four-foot-long bull shark.
"Nothing else would be two miles from the shore in brackish water," he said.
The bull, tiger and great white sharks are the most dangerous to people and account for the largest number of fatalities. In 2013, Florida led the country in shark bites with 23, none of which were fatal, according to the International Shark Attack File.
Most shark attacks usually happen in the ocean, not the Intracoastal, since sharks prefer salt water, said Stephen Kajiura, associate professor of biology at Florida Atlantic University. But if the incident happened just a mile or two away from the Port Everglades entrance to the Intracoastal, it's understandable that a shark swam into the area, he said.
"You were looking at two-feet high tides, so it would not be unusual for a shark to basically follow the wind of the tide and swim up into the Intracoastal," Kajiura said.
The farther away you get from a port, the less likely it is to find sharks in the fresh water canal, he said.
Kajiura said there was nothing Vaughn could have done to avoid an attack.
"It's one of those rare things that happen. No matter what you do, you can't prevent everything," he said. "There's nothing wrong [that] the woman did. She just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. People don't need to change their behavior because of one rare occurrence."
stravis@tribune.com

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Monday, September 8, 2014

Family Of Missing Millionaire Battles Over Estate