Irene Shannon Charged with Conspiracy to Launder Money, Fort Lauder…

Fort Lauderdale, FL – In a stunning turn of events, Irene Shannon, the former Chief Financial Officer of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler, P.A. (RRA), has been charged with conspiracy to launder money and defraud a financial institution in a Ponzi scheme that has shocked the nation.

Irene Shannon, now 50 years old and living in Miami, was at the center of a massive fraud operation orchestrated by Scott W. Rothstein, the notorious Chairman and CEO of RRA. The scheme involved the sale of fictitious confidential settlements, which netted over $1.2 billion from unsuspecting investors.

According to United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Wifredo A. Ferrer, Shannon is accused of overseeing the accounting functions of RRA and transferring hundreds of millions of dollars to pay off prior investors while keeping the scheme afloat. She is also charged with utilizing her position to float checks between various bank accounts in what is known as ‘check kiting,’ a form of bank fraud.

“Once again, the information filed today reaffirms that Rothstein’s massive fraud could not have been the work of one person,” stated U.S. Attorney Ferrer. “Shannon played an important role in carrying out Rothstein’s fraud and concealing it from investors.”

George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Miami, highlighted Shannon’s role in the scheme: “Scott Rothstein was the mastermind of a massive Ponzi scheme, but he needed a trusted agent to shuffle money to keep the scheme running. Irene Shannon transferred millions and floated innumerable checks to make it look legitimate.”

IRS Special Agent in Charge José A. Gonzalez emphasized the importance of following the money trail: “By following the money trail, IRS agents were able to determine that Shannon assisted Rothstein by conducting numerous fraudulent financial transactions designed to deceive investors.”