Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Offices of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler PA, the South Florida law firm at the center of a fraud investigation, were searched by federal agents who seized items including account statements, e-mail and a Ferrari key.

The Fort Lauderdale firm sued its co-founder Scott Rothstein Nov. 2, asking a judge to dissolve the firm and alleging that he ran a fraudulent side business selling nonexistent legal settlements. Rothstein hasn’t been arrested or charged.

The firm is cooperating with authorities and gave Federal Bureau of Investigation agents access to Rothstein’s personal suite in the office, said Kendall Coffey, an attorney representing the firm. It guided investigators through the computer system in a search that lasted eight hours, he said.

“When the feds do a search, they tend to be pretty meticulous,” Coffey said. “They’ve asked to do a search of another facility, and we consented.”

Agents seized e-mail, bank statements, “one white envelope containing significant fund transfers from RRA” and the car key, they said in an inventory of the search.

The firm discovered last week that Rothstein, its chief executive officer and a Republican fundraiser for former president George W. Bush and Florida Governor Charlie Crist, may have stolen millions of dollars from the side business.

70-Lawyer Firm

The firm, founded in 2002, had about 70 lawyers. Rothstein controlled all aspects of its management, the firm said in its complaint against him. Stuart Rosenfeldt, Rothstein’s co- founder, handled the main aspects of the firm’s practice of law, Coffey said today.

The FBI may search the firm’s other offices, including an office in Boca Raton, Florida, Coffey said.

“As long as we are not violating attorney-client privilege, we are open to them,” the lawyer said.

The FBI took documents and a folder titled “settlement statement,” trust statements, deal folders, jewelry certificates, investor promissory notes and an itinerary for an Oct. 26 flight to Morocco, according to the FBI’s inventory list.

It also took deposit slips, and wires related to an account with Coral Gables, Florida-based Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust.

Rothstein’s law firm had bank accounts with Gibraltar for law firm operations, including payroll, Gibraltar said today in a statement. Gibraltar contacted the court-appointed receiver for Rothstein’s law firm and plans to cooperate with prosecutors, according to the bank’s statement.

Investors’ Lawyer

Rothstein’s banking activities are under scrutiny by William Scherer, a lawyer with Fort Lauderdale-based Conrad & Scherer who represents 12 Rothstein investors saying they are owed about $80 million.

Scherer is looking at all banks where the Rothstein firm held accounts, including Gibraltar and TD Bank, a unit of TD Bank Financial Group, the lawyer said today in an interview.

“We cannot discuss a customer’s account based on privacy matters,” TD Bank said today in a statement. “TD Bank will work with the authorities to the fullest extent and as a normal course of business is conducting an internal review.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Carlyn Kolker in New York at ckolker@bloomberg.net; Cynthia Cotts in New York at ccotts@bloomberg.net; Bob Van Voris in New York at rvanvoris@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 5, 2009 17:42 EST