Fort Lauderdale attorney pleads guilty in fraud that bilked $800 million from thousands of investors

Michael J. McNerney, a once-prominent Fort Lauderdale lawyer, let his love of money get the best of him, and played a central role in a Ponzi scheme that defrauded thousands of investors of more than $800 million, authorities said Thursday. Federal prosecutors said they secured McNerney's cooperation in investigating the Mutual Benefits swindle, a significant development in an extraordinarily