[ by Melanie Gretchen ] Hit With Compensatory and Punitive Damages. TD Bank was found guilty for its active involvement with the Ponzi scheme orchestrated by disgraced Florida lawyer Scott Rothstein.  The Miami jury agreed with the plaintiff's contentions that "senior TD Bank officers played an active role in the scheme and facilitated its continued existence." The complaint, filed in 2010 by Corpus Christi-based Coquina Investments, further charged the bank with misleading investors by telling them that funds were "irrevocably 'locked in specially designated accounts," when in fact those funds were being used by the defendants to launder hundreds of millions of dollars.  Coquina claimed it was an unwitting investor in the scheme that Mr. Rothstein admitted to having run from 2005 to 2009. The jury issued an award of $67 million - $32 million in compensatory damages and $35 million in punitive damages for helping Rothstein run his $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme. Rothstein, former CEO of now-defunct the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm, operated his Ponzi through 38 accounts at TD Bank and 4 accounts at Gibraltar Bank, according to documents filed in the criminal case.  The scheme, which involved victims "investing" in fictitious structured settlements, was run through the Fort Lauderdale law firm Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler PA (RRA).  Rothstein and accomplices then diverted and stole the funds.  Rothstein pleaded guilty to racketeering, money laundering, and fraud conspiracy charges in January 2010. TD Bank's Defense. The bank refuted the charges, saying it was Mr. Rothstein - and not the bank - who defrauded investors, while it addresses several other lawsuits brought by groups of investors. The case: Coquina Investments v. Rothstein, 0:10-cv-60786, in the Southern District of Florida. For further details, go to [Reuters, 1/19/12].