Investor group chief charged in Fla. Ponzi scam

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The former head of a Florida investment group has been charged with fraud for his alleged role in disbarred attorney Scott Rothstein’s $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme.

Prosecutors on Monday charged Frank Preve with wire fraud conspiracy, which carries a five-year maximum prison sentence. Preve ran the Banyon Group, which invested in Rothstein’s supposedly confidential legal settlements that turned out to be bogus.