Rothstein's cars to be sold

NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) -- A fleet of luxury cars that once belonged to the man responsible for a major Ponzi scheme are now up for bid.

The cars were owned by Scott Rothstein, who has been convicted of spearheading a $1.4 billion Ponzi scheme. Rothstein, a former South Florida attorney, scammed investors in the biggest fraud in Florida history.

The federal government seized the pricey vehicles, which will be auctioned off June 3 at the Broward County Convention Center. Daryl Williams recently caught a glimpse of Rothstein's vehicles. "They're beautiful, beautiful machines," he said. "Works of art."

Rick Levin of the auction company Rick Levin & Associates said, "This is really a classic selection of what you think of when you think of a high-end vehicle auction. There's several Ferraris, Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini, Mercedes and, of course, the Bugatti."

Rothstein's 2008 Bugatti is perhaps the most expensive of the vehicles he used to own; it originally cost about $2 million. "I'm just looking at it now. It's the first time I had the chance of being this close to one, and it's incredible," said Williams.

Levin discussed the purpose of the upcoming auction. "The reason we do these auctions is really to determine the value of the assets in an open, fair, transparent manner," he said.

Williams believed that the investors who lost money in the Ponzi scheme should be allowed to bid on the cars before anyone else. "It's a shame. Those people ought to be the first ones to have an opportunity to bid on this," he said.

Rothstein pleaded guilty to five felony counts of running the scheme. He faces up to 100 years in prison and will be sentenced June 9.

Williams mentioned that although he looked at the high-end vehicles, he probably will not bid on any of them. "I think this is a little bit out of my insurance league," he said.

On Tuesday, residents will have an opportunity to view Rothstein's boats in Broward County.

(Copyright 2010 by Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)