FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- As a Fort Lauderdale lawyer accused of stealing millions remained out of sight Friday, his former law partners appeared in court to update a judge on the uncertain status of their firm.

Federal authorities are looking into allegations that Scott Rothstein ran a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. So far, Rothstein is not facing any charges, and federal investigators have remained tight-lipped about the allegations.

Whatever Rothstein is accused of doing and however much money he is accused of stealing -- it could be close to $400 million -- it was apparent in court Friday that tying up the loose ends will be lengthy, complex and expensive.

"It's hard to believe that a week ago, this was a dynamic law firm with attorneys and secretaries and other staff, having a secure future and secure livelihoods and looking ahead to a great future. Their world was shattered by one of the biggest bombshells in Florida legal history," said Kendall Coffey, a lawyer for the firm.

After federal investigators seized financial records and the computer system of the law firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, there is not a lot left to operate, according to court-appointed receiver Herbert Stettin.

"Preliminarily, we know that there is a deficit in a number, if not all, of the trust funds. We know that there is substantially less money in the operating accounts than should be there," said Stettin.

"Every possible source of money was within the access of Scott Rothstein, and he reached in and grabbed plenty of it," Coffey said.

A document Rothstein showed prospective investors explains what some said was a scam, Local 10's Michael Putney reported. Rothstein was selling pretrial settlements in sexual harassment and whistleblower lawsuits, with Rothstein said were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. He said that the minimum return on the investment was 20 percent.

"It was presented to them as being something that was backed by the firm because the firm represented these individual plaintiffs," said Alexandra Sanchez, an attorney for the investors.

"So people other than Mr. Rothstein presented this prospectus, as it were?" Local 10's Michael Putney asked.

"Absolutely. It was not just Mr. Rothstein that was involved in this," Sanchez said.

Sanchez represents a group of Aventura investors who she said lost $5 million.

Coffey said the total losses in the alleged scam could be $400 million, Putney reported.