Nadel victims to get $25M

SARASOTA — Holland & Knight, a well-known global law firm accused of not doing enough to prevent the Arthur Nadel ponzi scheme, will pay $25 million into a victim's reimbursement fund.

Holland & Knight, with more than 1,000 attorneys in nearly 20 offices, including a large presence in Tampa, agreed to the $25 million settlement late Tuesday, according to a release. The settlement, which still must be approved by a federal judge overseeing the Nadel receivership case, would put an end to a lawsuit filed in Sarasota County Circuit Court in 2009.

The suit, filed by Tampa attorney Burt Wiand, the court-appointed receiver in the Nadel case, contended Holland & Knight attorneys wrote memos that appeared to overlook the financier's rocky past. By doing so, the suit alleged, Holland & Knight essentially endorsed the investment funds run by Nadel and his partners.

Those funds, however, were a ponzi scheme that ultimately cost investors $162 million. Nadel pleaded guilty to 15 federal fraud charges in 2010 and was sentenced to serve 14 years in prison. He died in a North Carolina prison April 16. 

Wiand, in the release, says the $25 million Holland & Knight settlement “is an amount that represents a very significant benefit for the receivership estate and defrauded investors.” The settlement, moreover, brings the total amount of recovered money for victims to $51 million. Other suits and clawback negotiations are ongoing.

Read Wiand's motion to the court to approve the settlement here.