When Nevin Shapiro wanted to finance his Ponzi scheme or buy a sports agency, he turned for help to a childhood friend from Miami Beach: Marc Levinson, a tobacco litigator at Shook Hardy & Bacon, according to a negligence lawsuit.

The 92-page lawsuit was filed by the court-appointed bankruptcy trustee for Shapiro’s defunct company, Capitol Investments USA Inc. in state court last month and removed to U.S. District Court in Miami this month before Judge Jose Martinez.