"Mr. Rothstein's claims that the funds or their managers would lie for him are absolutely false and are flatly inconsistent with his unequivocal statement that the funds were not his co-conspirators," Casas said Dec. 29 by e-mail. "He admits he has no knowledge that anyone at the funds lied for him, and not a single one of the dozens of investors in Rothstein's scheme has said that the funds recommended the investment to them."
Rothstein, Casas said, "also complained to one of his alleged co-conspirators -- but not the funds -- that the funds were refusing to talk to new investors. This is not the conduct of a hedge fund looking to lure in new investors."
Casas cited an exchange in which Lauer, the fund lawyer, questioned Rothstein about a conversation with Nordlicht.
"Your best recollection is that if prospective investors or new investors would contact him, he would not give it a bad rating?" Lauer asked.
'The Right Thing'
"No, he said he would do the right thing," Rothstein replied.
Rothstein acknowledged that he wasn't present when anyone from the hedge funds spoke to new investors. He said the investors told him they had received positive reviews from the funds.
Simony and Nordlicht haven't been charged with any crime.
Victims believed they were buying stakes in settlements of sexual and employment discrimination claims that Rothstein's firm, Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler PA, had investigated for possible lawsuits. The cases and settlements were fictional.
The scheme collapsed at the end of October 2009 and Rothstein briefly fled to Morocco. He returned and surrendered to federal authorities. After pleading guilty in January 2010 to five counts of wire fraud, conspiracy and racketeering, he was sentenced to 50 years in prison.