Gibraltar is attempting to stave off a subpoena of its president, Steven Hayworth.| South Florida Business Journal

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Banks not off hook yet in Rothstein case | South Florida Business Journal: "Should those banks where disgraced attorney Scott Rothstein’s Ponzi scheme laundered his ill-gotten gains be held accountable? And can victims of his $1.2 billion scheme be allowed to sue them?
“You can’t steal $1.2 billion in a complex Ponzi scheme without help,” said William Scherer, attorney for Rothstein’s investors. “They helped him …. They knew what he was doing was illegal.”
Scherer made his argument Thursday morning, during a hearing in which attorneys for Toronto-based TD Bank and Coral Gables-based Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust asked Broward County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Streitfeld to dismiss a $160 million lawsuit filed against them by the investors.
The lawsuit details numerous overdrafts and account transfers by Rothstein, and e-mails showing that bank officers raised concerns about the activity.
“You cannot, if you are a responsible lending institution with even the most fundamental understanding of banking laws, permit a law firm to put trust fund money in your own operating account, much less your personal account – and that is what you’ve alleged,” Streitfeld said.
Scherer acknowledged that the suit does not allege the bank knew Rothstein was running a Ponzi scheme, but that it should have detected illegal conduct.
Gibraltar is also attempting to stave off a subpoena of its president, Steven Hayworth.
Attorneys were also arguing over attempts to obtain records from Gibraltar."