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Rothstein’s clients may have clean hands — but does he?

Posted by Jose Lambiet | Breaking News, Broward, Busted, Politicos, Scandals, crash |
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| Wednesday 4 November 2009 9:45 am Print This Post

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.

hands-2

Riviera Mayor Thomas Masters to Charlie Crist: You shoulda called me!

Masters

Masters

Big deal dignitaries, it seems, have a knack for coming to Riviera Beach without notifying the lord mayor, Thomas Masters.

The latest was Gov. Charlie Crist, who visited the city’s Bethune Elementary Friday.

So Masters, whose day job is Baptist preacher, fired off a letter to Crist asking to know why he didn’t give city fathers a heads up.

Masters is a little sensitive about famous people being around without his knowledge. Last year, the then-candidate Barack Obama rested his weary campaigning head at The Resort on Singer Island, and Hizzoner found out a day late — on the news.

This time around, however, Masters wrote to Crist: “. . . I, the Mayor of Riviera Beach, was not notified prior to his arrival. Neither were any of my City Council colleagues . . . Apparently a ‘courtesy call’ was placed to one of our assistant police chiefs at about 6:30 this morning. Is that ‘protocol’ to call police in the host city just a few hours before the Governor’s arrival? And no one else? . . . I am disappointed I was deprived of the honor of welcoming the top leader of our great state of Florida.”

Guess what? The guv’s people agreed that Hizzoner was robbed of his moment with Crist, and asked for forgiveness.

Crist’s director of external affairs, Stephanie Smith, replied with this missive: “I’d like to formally apologize . . . however due to a last minute change of venue this step (notifying public officials) was not completed.”

Said Masters: “I accept the governor’s apology! My faith in the governor is unshattered!”

Lambiet’s Lunch: Sexy PBAU coed returns; Charlie Crist moneybags in expansion

Sierra's ministry

Sierra's ministry

– Miss Florida 2008, Sierra Minott, has re-enrolled at Palm Beach Atlantic University. But it’s unclear how she’ll keep her head in the psych program at West Palm Beach’s Christian school. Minott, according to the university’s website, is working on a book for teens and developing her own talk show for a Christian TV network. Of course, the school also will squeeze Minott for all’s she got. She’s appearing on radio and TV commercials touting the institution (check them out here, here and here). “I’ve always been an advocate for inner beauty. Your beauty has to start from the inside out, not the outside in,” said Minott. The majority of her appearances as Miss Florida so far centered on youth, at churches and schools. “It was a ministry until the very end,” Minott said of her just-ended reign.

Jackson

Jackson

– Big-deal SoFla restaurateur Jack Jackson is joining the Boca-based restaurant chain the BOVA Group as president, the group announced this week. BOVA is co-owned by Anthony Bova and Fort Lauderdale lawyer Scott Rothstein, aka Gov. Charlie Crist’s moneybags. Rothstein owns the lawfirm that employs rookie Palm Beach County Commish Steve Abrams. Jackson, meanwhile, is best-known as actor Burt Reynolds’ partner in Fort Lauderdale’s long ago destination restaurant Burt and Jacks. Jackson has owned a steakhouse named after him on Las Olas for a decade, and a nearby seafood place. Both are being gobbled up by BOVA as part of the deal. In addition to now owning four major eateries in Boca and Fort Lauderdale, BOVA is looking for more. It’s negotiating to take over another Boca place, the sports bar named after Miami Heat superstar Dwyane Wade that closed last year.

– Hightailing it outtahere: Four-time NFL pro-bowler Darren Sharper. The New Orleans Saints safety has put his off-season home in Aventura on the market for $3.3 million, according to South Florida Block Shopper. He bought the four-bedroomer two years ago for $2.8 million.

Lambiet’s Lunch: Charlie Crist’s Hamptons venture; Lenny Kravitz flying away

Todd Rome

Todd Rome

– Not everyone seemed happy to see Gov. Charlie Crist mine The Hamptons for U.S. Senate running money. With Republican Crist now married to New York socialite Carol Rome, the doors and wallets of New Yorkers have opened wide for the people’s governor. But Rome’s ex-husband, NYC aviation exec Todd Rome, explained it like this: “They figure they might as well come to The Hamptons and get the money from people who don’t give a s…,” Todd quipped to a New York Post spy. Lucille Roberts health club mogul Bob Roberts hosted a $5,000-a-plate fundraiser for Crist Saturday at the East Hampton home of The Real Housewives of New York City star Jill Zarin.

Ray's booking mug for today's arrest– Ray Huizenga, son of Miami Dolphins minority owner and Stuart billionaire H. Wayne Huizenga, was popped early this morning in Fort Lauderdale. Cops responded to a 911 call from a woman reporting someone trying to get into her canal-front home. But when they got to the scene, the police found Huizenga leaving in a Jupiter Marine cruiser. He was charged with boating under the influence! To make matters worse, according to the Sun-Sentinel, the 47-year-old Ray’s still on probation for a 2003 DUI accident in which a 71-year-old man suffered a concussion. That conviction was his third for DUI in a decade. Huizenga served three months in prison at that time, then supposedly swore off booze.

Lenny

Lenny

– Rocker Lenny Kravitz is flying away from South Florida after making a mint, a 200 percent profit, on a real estate sale. The singer of American Woman listed in March the modern Miami Beach rock pile he called home for more than a decade. Sold on July 10, according to MLS listings, for $2.45 million. Kravitz bought the 5,700-square-footer in Point Biscayne in 1997. He paid $725,000. No word yet on who’s the buyer. Click here to see the great views on the bay from Lenny’s old swimming pool.

The lowdown: Philbin, Flay, Gertrude Maxwell . . .

regis. . . Now that his sidekick Kelly Ripa’s left the area until next horsey season, Regis Philbin is being spotted all over Palm Beach –- including at Publix. Why? The star of Live with Regis and Kelly is staying at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, and I’m sure toothpaste and oranges are cheaper at Publix . . .

 

bobby. . . I don’t know how superstar TV chef Bobby Flay found his way to Dolce de Palma the other day, but he did. Flay, a regular on CBS’ The Early Show, paid a visit to local up-and-coming kitchen virtuoso Anthony de Palma’s new place last week. It’s set up in a warehouse district on Old Okeechobee Road in West Palm Beach . . .

 

gertrude11. . . More than 100 well-wishers are expected at Mar-a-Lago Sunday to celebrate Palm Beach animal activist Gertrude Maxwell’s birthday. It’s a big one: The moneyed supporter of Gov. Charlie Crist is turning 98, which means she was born at the dawn of the administration of President William Taft . . .

 

 

B’day bash at antique dealer Cedric Dupont’s

Posted by Jose Lambiet | Hotties, Jocks, Parties |
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| Saturday 11 April 2009 11:52 am Print This Post

 

It was party time at antique dealer Cedric Dupont’s Intracoastal crib Friday night for the annual shindig that celebrates a dual birthday: his and public relations maven Shamin Abas‘. 

Birthday girl Shamin Abas dancing it up with Polo player Luis Ansola

Birthday girl Shamin Abas dancing it up with Polo player Luis Ansola

While neither would reveal their ages, there were numerous candles on that birthcake. Helping the two blowing them out at Dupont’s $4 million Point Manalapan home: Kelly Heyniger, Gov. Charlie Crist’s former galpal; Wellington polo stars Martin Pepa, Fernando Maciel Talavera and Luis Ansola; and big deal Palm Beach Realtor Jack Elkins.

For more Michele Sandberg pictures, click (Read more…)

Objection! McAuliffe’s prosecutors looking for jobs

Posted by Jose Lambiet | Politicos |
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| Tuesday 24 February 2009 5:45 pm Print This Post

scales_of_justiceAngst at the office of rookie State Attorney Mike McAuliffe?

More than 10 percent of McAuliffe’s stable of lawyers seem to want out. They’ve applied for two open county judgeships.

Along with 68 other candidates, 12 of McAuliffe’s 100 prosecutors are in the running for the seats vacated by judges Cory Ciklin and Don Hasele.

And among the 12, four prosecutors are well-known major violent crimes specialists with high-profile jobs, including Craig Williams and Angela Miller. That’s half the unit.

What’s going on? (Read more…)

Commish wannabe has conflict-of-interest past

Posted by Jose Lambiet | Scandals |
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| Tuesday 3 February 2009 1:12 pm Print This Post

Pamela Goodman, the woman whom local Democrats asked Gov. Charlie Crist to appoint to the Palm Beach County Commission seat vacated by Mary McCarty, may have had a conflict-of-interest similar to the one that felled McCarty.

Pamela Goodman

Pamela Goodman

Questions about Goodman arose in the private sector, as she helmed the giant clothing-chain Express. Goodman resigned abruptly from her $1 million-a-year job after an internal investigation.

“I did nothing wrong,” she said.

Goodman, 52, tells Page2Live she had an epiphany last month when McCarty resigned. McCarty’s expected to plead guilty to corruption-related criminal charges that could send her to jail for five years.

“I’m appalled by the the lack of integrity on that commission,” Goodman said about the accusations that McCarty’s decisions helped line the pockets of her bonds-trading husband, Kevin McCarty. “I was one of the first people who sent my application to the governor. We just need to improve government.”

Yet just before Goodman moved to Florida in 1996, if you believe a story in Forbes that year, it’s the purchasing habits of Goodman’s Express that could have been improved. Forbes claims that Express’ purchases of certain textiles cost parent company The Limited $15 million in markdowns.

According to the business mag, the fabric – at times of substandard quality and more expensive than similar products from competitors – came from Channel Textiles, a company owned by one Barry Goodman.

Yep, Barry was Pamela’s then-new hubby. (Read more…)

What’s the future for Carole and the guv?

Posted by Jose Lambiet | Hookups, Politicos, Polls |
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| Monday 15 December 2008 1:17 pm Print This Post

Gov. Charlie Crist got hitched Friday night to multi-millionaire socialite Carole Crist.

The wedding is:

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Gov. Charlie Crist’s wedding: The Lowdown . . .

. . . Gov. Charlie Crist and his bride, Carole Crist, spent so much time mingling with the 200-plus guests at their wedding reception Friday night that they forgot to give the wait staff the nod to have the main course served. Result: Fifty to 60 people left after the poached-lobster appetizer. Pretty rude, if you ask me. One had a good excuse: state senate President Jeff Atwater. “I’ve got to go to a funeral in Palm Beach County,” he said. “It’s been great being here, but I can’t stay.” About 11 p.m., four hours after the exchange of vows, those left behind were served the main course, citrus-braised ribs and grouper. The traditional cake-cutting came after midnight, for 50 or so people . . . (Read more…)

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