• ad- to y. se a re- ;ut he 'ion is a / col• epub- who into sized ggest for nth/ 1 y ident :ed rd is tor to nesti- ng ac- 28, is on side- band. roke, 200 m her Sex offender drops lawsuit ByJane Musgrave Palm Beach Post Staff Writer WEST PALM BEACH — Bil- lionaire sex offenderJef- frey Epstein has dropped his lawsuit against convict- ed Fort Lauderdale Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein and one of the disbarred lawyer's former associates. Since Rothstein is serv- ing a 50-year sentence for bilking investors out of $1.2 billion, the focus of Epstein's lawsuit has long been attorney Bradley Ed- wards. The Fort Lauderdale lawyer, who worked at Rothstein's now-defunct firm, became Epstein's nemesis when he filed civ- il suits on behalf of five women who claimed Ep- stein sexually exploited them at his Palm Beach mansion when some were as young as 1.4. While Epstein ultimate- ly settled the suits, along with roughly two dozen more tiled by other wom- en, he claimed Edwards trumped up the allegations to perpetuate Rothstein's fraud. As part of his scheme, Rothstein would falsely tell potential investors that he had reached large settle. ments in various lawsuits and they could share in the riches. In the 2009 lawsuit, Ep- stein said Rothstein falsely claimed he had gotten the billionaire financial man- ager to agree to settle the women's lawsuits for as much as $200 million. Despite three years of trying, Epstein never pro- duced any evidence to shore up his allegations, said attorney Jack Scarola, Billionaire Jeffrey Ep- stein sued a convicted Ponzl schemer and a law- yer. who represents Edwards. Epstein dropped the claims against Edwards on Thursday, a day before Scarola was going to ask a judge to throw out the suit. "He filed these baseless, scurrilous clainis for the purpose of trying to extort Mr. Edwards into abandon- ing the lawsuits on behalf of Mr. Epstein's young vic- tims," Scarola said. Attorney Tonja Haddad Coleman, who represents Epstein, didn't return a phone call for comment. Scarola said the legal battle isn't over. Edwards will pursue claims against Epstein for malicious pros- ecution and abuse of pro- cess. He is seeking punitive damages that could run in- to the millions. As part of a contro- versial non-prosecution agreement, federal prose- cutors in 2008 agreed not to file charges against Ep- stein after dozens of wom- en complained he had lured them to his man- sion for sex. In exchange, he pleaded guilty in state court to two prostitution - related charges. He served 13 months of an 18-month sentence. He also agreed to pay for an attorney to represent • more than 30 women who claimed he paid them for sex when they were mi- nors. tED8/17 'F" Not available• .0•••riew Mae OW TM Post WINK to pros. SR IC1108/16 Thursday Fantasy S 1-2-12-19-29 6- 9•• EFTA01146896