Bova received the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Leader of the Year award in 2004 (Palm Beach Post archives)

The scandal that engulfed the well-known Fort Lauderdale law firm of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler has spilled into the Boca Raton restaurant biz.

Tony Bova, 58, a Boca resident and the high-profile owner of a string of area restaurants, counts disgraced attorney and political power broker Scott Rothstein among his partners in at least a half-dozen ventures.

And chief among those are Bova Ristorante, Bova’s pride and joy on Boca’s Federal Highway, and the chain Bova Restaurant Group.

Bova Ristorante, where older guys with slicked-back hair loved to hook up with women too young for them, mysteriously closed its doors shortly before Rothstein took off for North Africa last month.

And no one’s talking.

“Tony Bova has no comment at this point,” a spokeswoman said.

Bova’s association with Rothstein, who’s believed to be the principal in a $500 million Ponzi scheme and just returned to Florida to face the music, surprised observers.

“Tony was a very successful restaurant owner in his own right,” said Tom Prakas, a hospitality-business broker. “I don’t know why he needed Scott Rothstein.”

One strange thing regarding Bova and Rothstein is that their businesses last year spent more than $200,000 on political causes, mostly in a heated race across the Palm Beach County line.

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This is a cellphone picture of a hand sanitizer in the men’s room at the Fort Lauderdale headquarters of the lawfirm Rothstein, Rosenfeldt Adler. The bottle bears the firm’s logo and these words: “OUR CLIENTS come to court WITH CLEAN HANDS.” The nerve! Let’s see if founder Scott Rothstein, one of Gov. Charlie Crist’s sugar daddies, has clean hands when he answers to allegations that he ripped off $500 million from investors to fund his champagne-and-caviar lifestyle! Check out the latest on Rothstein here.

Palm Beach County Commissioner Steve Abrams

Rookie Palm Beach County Commissioner Steve Abrams was called to the Fort Lauderdale headquarters of his private employer, the law firm of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler, for a 9 a.m. meeting today. The meeting is about the future of the 76-attorney company founded by the flamboyantly rich and politically connected Scott Rothstein.

Abrams is one of three attorneys at the firm’s Boca Raton offices. Hired 18 months ago, Abrams specialized in governmental law until he was picked by Gov. Charlie Crist to replace disgraced commissioner Mary McCarty on the commission.

“I’m just part-time now and I don’t do governmental law,” Abrams said. “I don’t know anything about what’s going on. I’m in a satellite office in Boca. We don’t hear anything.”

Abrams said he doesn’t know if he still has a job there. Several lawyers were recently laid off.

Rothstein, a tight buddy of Crist’s and other Republican heavy-hitters like U.S. Sen. John McCain, skipped town last week amid allegations that money borrowed from legal settlements was missing.

Rothstein was known to hire lawyers involved in politics, including Abrams, a former mayor of Boca Raton, and disgraced former Broward County Sheriff Ken Jenne.

Fergie: Adult diapers, please!

Under congressional fire: Miami Dolphins’ celebrity owners!

U.S. Rep. Steve King, a Republican from the boondocks — I mean Iowa — asked NFL Commish Roger Goodell a pertinent question in a Capitol Hill hearing yesterday.

If Palm Beacher Rush Limbaugh is too offensive to be a part-owner of the St. Louis Rams, then why are Fergie and singer/actress Jennifer Lopez?

King, who hijacked a hearing about football injuries, said: “I don’t think anything that Rush Limbaugh said was offensive, but with Fergie and with J-Lo, they have, between the two of them, alleged that the CIA are terrorists and liars. They’ve promoted sexual abuse of women. They’ve used the N-word, verbal pornography, recreational drug use, etc. And they are owners of the Dolphins. And it’s also ironic that Fergie was approved as an owner on the very day that you made your statement on Rush Limbaugh.”

JLo

And King left out a few things.

He didn’t seem to remember the time when Fergie was so drunk she peed on herself during a show. And he left out Dolphins part-owner Serena Williams, the Palm Beach Gardens tennis titan whose obscene tirade at a line judge at this year’s U.S. Open was seen by a worldwide audience.

And he’s got the JLo thing wrong. Her hubby, salsero Marc Anthony, is an owner — JLo isn’t listed on the team’s media guide as one. She does accompany him to games and often ends up in game photos.

As for Fergie, the sale of her shares into the team is pending.

Still, Goodell’s response was little else than a typical D.C. topic-shifting ploy. He talked about Donovan McNabb, the Philadelphia Eagles QB whom Limbaugh once called “overrated.”

On his Web site Wednesday, Limbaugh called Goodell a “total weasel.”

King ended his questioning by telling Goodell to listen to JLo and Fergie songs and report back.

“I’d ask you to go back and take a look at the owners of the Dolphins, and . . . the songs that they recorded, review those lyrics, and I’ll provide some of those lyric songs to you,” he said, “and I’ll ask you to come back and respond to that question after the hearing as to whether you’ll put the same scrutiny on those owners who have really shined a negative light on the NFL as opposed to somebody that the NFL apparently just doesn’t agree with his politics.”

The Limbaugh controversy erupted earlier this month when star conservative radio talker was dropped from a group of investors who bid on the hapless Rams. Goodell spoke against Limbaugh becoming an investor, as did players and current team owners — mostly for things Limbaugh may or may not have said concerning race.

Meanwhile Dolphins majority owner Stephen M. Ross, whose Palm Beach home is two miles south of Rush’s, has stocked the team’s ownership with celebrities. The roster includes tennis star Venus Williams, Serena’s sister, and Miami singer Gloria Estefan and husband Emilio. The Dolphins signed a commercial deal with Palm Beach troubadour Jimmy Buffett and had hip-hopper T-Pain redo the team’s fight song.

Said Dolphins spokesman Harvey Greene: “We have no comment, except to reaffirm that our limited partners were approved through the appropriate process by the NFL.”

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(Courtesy Mattel)

There are, in Palm Beach, dozens of dandies that could have served as the inspiration for the new, $81.99-Ken doll.

The must-have toy goes on the market in April — Fools Day, although it’s no joke. And yes, as the certificate of authenticity will show, the doll’s name really is Palm Beach Sugar Daddy Ken.

The newbie by Matel, maker of Barbie, comes complete with a George Hamilton tan, apple-green jacket, white pants and shoes, swim trunks, tea-cup white pooch with a pink leash and, it’s understood, an attractive bank account.

Sugar Daddy is the latest addition to the popular line of Palm Beach Barbie, which already includes Palm Beach Coral Barbie and Palm Beach Caftan Barbie.

This is how entertainmentearth.com describes Sugar Daddy, for which it’s already taking orders: “Cool sophistication in breezy Palm Beach! Sporting a dashing jacquard-patterned jacket with a light pink polo shirt and crisp white pants, Ken doll is ready for Palm Beach social season, sunning by the pool and a stroll with his little companion.”

Coming up next, Palm Beach Walker Ken!

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Greg Norman and Chris Evert at last year's event (Alan Eyestone/The Palm Beach Post)

Aussie golf legend Greg Norman’s name was quietly dropped from the list of the stars scheduled to appear at the Chris Evert Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic next week.

As Evert’s husband of a little more than a year, the Great White Shark was a lock for the 20th annual Delray Beach/Boca Raton fundraiser. But now that Norman and Evert are splitsville, the lineup for the Nov. 7-8 tournament was altered.

With Norman out, the prettier, and younger, actor Jeffrey Donovan is in. He’ll play tennis at the Delray Beach Tennis Center and should walk the red carpet at the black-tie gala at the Boca Raton Resort.

Jeffrey Donovan, on the set of Burn Notice (Courtesy USA Network)

It’ll be a first appearance at Evert’s wingding for Donovan, the star of USA Network’s Miami-based Burn Notice. His previous first appearance was in a Miami court in July. DUI!

The pros, ex-pros and wannabe pros enrolled: former tennis great Martina Navratilova, Navratilova’s doubles partner Pam Shriver, Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles, Justin Gimelstob and Vince Spadea. The show biz celebs: actress Elisabeth Shue; comic Jon Lovitz; reality TV stars Bruce and Kris Jenner (Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian’s mom and her Olympic hero husband); rocker Gavin Rossdale; and Today host Matt Lauer.

The popular Norman, after all, may not be missed.

“It’s one of the freshest lineups in years,” said event publicist Tip Nunn. “Among the tennis players, you have four former women’s No. 1 players. And there are several new names on the entertainers’ side. Donovan and the Jenners have never been here before. And it’s been years since we saw Matt Lauer.”

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Love at first bite? (Michele Sandberg/Special to Page2Live)

It was Beetlejuice meets high society at Saturday night’s pre-Halloween party in Boca Raton, on the $4.5 million Intracoastal property of shoe king Bob Campbell. One popular guest: The fresh-out-of-prison, tax evading land baron Jim Batmasian, who looked like a poor man’s version of Dracula. More than 200 people paid $175-a-head to visit the Love at First Bite soiree, and bought auction items to benefit The ARC of Palm Beach County. The non-profit is dedicated to improving the lives of people with disabilities. The party kicked off a wild Halloween week in Palm Beach County. The big one is Friday at West Palm Beach’s Ann Norton Sculpture Garden, where the Gentlemen of the Garden hold their yearly Devil’s Night. Until then, check below for the Page2Live gallery of Campbell’s spooky party, by Michele Sandberg:

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Kaya Jones, who’s working on a solo career after her three years on the burlesque/pop act Pussycat Dolls, poses with young fans in Port St. Lucie. Jones, 25, recently performed at the new nightclub La Zen before a packed house. She’s touring to support her single, Hollywood Doll.

– More Bernie Madoff jailhouse news. The Palm Beach swindler is now living in a cell with a drug offender, according to new court papers, and the poor thing Madoff has been relegated to the lower bunk. He’s reduced to eating pizza cooked up by a sex offender. A big change from Chez Jean Pierre, non? As for recreation, Madoff is allowed to use the North Carolina federal prison’s running track after dark, but he’s apparently just walking. As for his buds, he’s spending quality time with the aging Colombo crime family boss Carmine Persico and traitor Jonathan Pollard, who was convicted of spying on the United States for the Israeli government. The info comes through a new filing in a class-action lawsuit brought by investors and cited in today’s New York Post. Also juicy: The papers tell how Madoff, back in the 1970s, would dispatch an employee to fetch cocaine for him and workers at his firm. The office eventually was given the nickname North Pole, in reference to the mounts of coke used.

– SoFla wrestler Hulk Hogan considered suicide in 2007, when his gilded life of media superstar took a nasty turn. His wife, Linda, had just filed for divorce and his son Nick was looking at jail time for his role in a car crash. “There were times when I thought that a whole bottle of pills would go down easy,” Hulk writes in his soon-to-be-released book, Life Outside the Ring. “Then I noticed the gun in my hand. I was careless with it . . . I kept my finger pressed right to that trigger . . . and if I moved that finger an inch in the right direction . . . I would have blown my brains out.” The tome comes out next week.

Michael Veccia, volunteering at a campaign barbecue for Sheriff Ric Bradshaw last year (The Palm Beach Post)

A top executive at the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office under investigation for sexual harassment went on medical leave on the day he was to be grilled by Internal Affairs, Page2Live has learned.

The move by Maj. Michael Veccia, a 25-year law enforcement veteran who’s a member of Sheriff Ric Bradshaw’s cabinet, delayed further an investigation that started six months ago.

A former subordinate nearly half Veccia’s age who moved in with him was questioned in the probe.

Veccia, I reported last month, was placed on administrative leave in May as Internal Affairs started interviewing 30-plus witnesses.

He had been pulling down his $156,000 salary while sitting in his Lake Worth home.

But on Oct. 1, PBSO spokeswoman Teri Barbera said, Veccia suddenly put in Family and Medical Leave Act paperwork. The federal law guarantees workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to tend to medical or family emergencies.

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