By Peter Franceschina
Sun Sentinel

Kim Rothstein blew through nearly $900,000 on her American Express credit card since 2006, and now the bankruptcy attorneys dissecting her husband's massive Ponzi scheme want it back.

That's according to a claw-back lawsuit filed late Wednesday in federal court in Fort Lauderdale. All told, the lawyers allege Rothstein, 35, owes $1.1 million to creditors of her husband's defunct law firm.

But it could be many million dollars more, because the accountants working for the bankruptcy attorneys have not finished analyzing how much Scott Rothstein spent on his wife. She said in a recent bankruptcy deposition that he bought her so much jewelry she could not list every item.

"It is believed this additional sum is well into the millions of dollars, just on jewelry purchases alone, and not counting personal consumer goods," the suit says.

Kim Rothstein liked expensive shoes, Louis Vuitton handbags, Gucci accessories and evening dresses by Zola Keller. She could burn through thousands of dollars on a shopping outing, or drop nearly $5,000 buying platform shoes from a chic Los Angeles boutique online.

She used the Am Ex card for "jewelry, clothing, shoes, handbags, leather goods, plastic surgery treatments, eyewear, electronics, local hotel room and spa charges, household furnishings, home gym equipment, vacations and personal travel, athletic club charges, groceries, charitable contributions, personal meals, general household and other items," according to the suit.

The suit also seeks repayment of $153,000 in salary she was paid from the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm and $104,000 she made in political contributions that were reimbursed to her by the law firm.

"The third set of payments the Trustee seeks to recover includes payments made by RRA to Mrs. Rothstein, some of which were classified in RRA’s financial records as 'professional fees or fee/cost income,' even though Mrs. Rothstein provided essentially no meaningful services to RRA," the suit says.

"These payments were reflected by numerous checks written by RRA to Mrs. Rothstein over a 4-year period from the RRA payroll or operating accounts. During 2006, Mrs. Rothstein received $78,198.71 in 'professional fees or fee/cost income,' and she also received $75,000 on February 20, 2009. These payments provided no benefit to RRA and thus, RRA received no or less than reasonably equivalent value in exchange for these payments."

Kim Rothstein's civil attorney, Scott Saidel, could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday evening.

As for the political contributions, the suit says she made large donations from her personal savings account and then money was wired into that account from law firm bank accounts to reimburse her.

“For example, on November 8, 2007, Mrs. Rothstein made a political contribution of $28,500 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and on November 13, 2007, a $30,000 wire transfer from an RRA operating account was credited to Mrs. Rothstein’s personal account,” the suit says.

“Similarly, on May 29, 2008, Mrs. Rothstein wrote a check for $70,000 to the John McCain presidential campaign and on May 30, 2008, a $74,223.99 wire transfer was sent from an RRA trust account to Mrs. Rothstein’s personal account. These two political contribution reimbursements totaled $104,223.99.”

Scott Rothstein, 47, pleaded guilty to five counts of racketeering, money laundering and fraud in January. He has been held in federal custody since his Dec. 1 arrest. He faces up to 100 years in prison at his May 6 sentencing.

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