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Wednesday, November 11, 2009 6:28 AM

TD investigates Florida scam

Tara Perkins

A regional vice president at Toronto-Dominion Bank is on leave while the bank conducts an internal investigation into a situation that’s generating a lot of media coverage in Florida.

TD spokeswoman Rebecca Acevedo confirmed Tuesday that Frank Spinosa is on leave, and said that TD has been cooperating and will continue to cooperate fully with authorities. She declined to comment further.

At the heart of the situation is Scott Rothstein, a Florida resident that the U.S. attorney’s office alleges may have conducted a Ponzi scheme that scammed investors by selling fake employment discrimination settlements, although he has not been charged with a crime.

The Miami Herald, which has been following the case closely, reported Tuesday that authorities seized Mr. Rothstein’s fire-engine red Ferrari Spider convertible, his $6.5-million home, a Bentley, a Rolls-Royce, a Cadillac Escalade, and a power boat.

TD held accounts for Rothstein investors. Mr. Spinosa’s lawyer told the Miami Herald that his client has been unfairly mentioned in connection with the situation and broke no laws. Mr. Spinosa was unaware of the scheme and did not participate in it, the lawyer said.

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Andrew Willis

Andrew Willis joined The Globe and Mail in September of 1995. His career has included stints at a number of publications, including The Financial Post, The Financial Times of Canada, Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal, and MacLean's magazine. He also did freelance writing for Investment Executive magazine. He appears on television for BNN TV and CBC Newsworld.

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Boyd Erman

Boyd Erman is a long-time business journalist who has worked at Dow Jones, Bloomberg, and the National Post before joining the Globe and Mail. Over the years, his areas of coverage have included economics, monetary policy, debt markets and corporate finance.

In addition, he is a regular commentator and guest host on Business News Network.

 

Steve Ladurantaye

Steve Ladurantaye wrote about technology companies in Ottawa before reporting for the Peterborough Examiner and Kingston Whig-Standard, where he won a National Newspaper Award for explanatory journalism. After joining the Globe and Mail in 2007, his work has regularly appeared in Report On Business and Globe Investor Magazine.

 
Globe and Mail reporter Tara Perkins

Tara Perkins

Tara Perkins has been a business reporter since 2004, following a brief stint as overnight editor of globeandmail.com. She has been writing for the Globe's business section since the spring of 2007, covering the banking sector during the course of the financial crisis. Prior to that, she worked for the Toronto Star. Tara has a Bachelor of Journalism from Ryerson University and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Guelph.

 
 

Jacquie McNish

Jacquie McNish has been a business writer with The Globe and Mail since 1988. Prior to that she was a reporter with The Wall Street Journal.

During her time at The Globe and Mail, she has served as the paper's New York correspondent and won three National Newspaper Awards. She is the author of The Big Score: Robert Friedland and The Voisey's Bay Hustle and Wrong Way: The Fall of Conrad Black, for which she and co-author Sinclair Stewart won the National Business Book Award. She is a co-host of Market Morning on the Business News Network.