Scott Rothstein — sporting jeans, T-shirt, buzz cut, goatee and a buff physique — testified Monday for the first time about his $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme that shocked South Florida’s legal, charitable and political worlds.

Rothstein, who is serving a 50-year prison sentence on a racketeering conspiracy conviction, took the witness stand for an unprecedented deposition in the bankruptcy case of his now-defunct Fort Lauderdale law firm, which he used to sell fabricated legal settlements to wealthy investors.

Rothstein’s testimony, closed to the public and media, drew about 35 attorneys representing victims to an 11th-floor courtroom in the James Lawrence King Federal Justice Building in downtown Miami. They asked the disbarred 49-year-old lawyer about his credibility, his law firm, the scam, his collaborators and lifestyle — all fair game during the civil deposition, expected to last two weeks.

On the criminal front, a major indictment naming other defendants is expected in coming months.

“I first asked him a little bit about why we should believe him,” said attorney Charles Lichtman, with the Fort Lauderdale law firm Berger Singerman, which is representing the bankruptcy trustee seeking to recover millions of dollars for investors and creditors.

“I think Scott came off as extremely credible,” Lichtman said. “It was a nonstop dialogue about all aspects of the scheme. I guarantee the public has not heard a fraction of what happened. He ties together everything in a logical way.”

Fort Lauderdale attorney William Scherer, who is suing Rothstein and others in a parallel civil case, backed that assessment.

“In my judgment, he’s telling the truth,” said Scherer, who is representing 25 investors who lost $160 million. “It’s much worse than I realized. I’m saddened by some of what I’m hearing about my profession and my town.”

Scherer, Lichtman and other lawyers interviewed outside the federal courthouse were reluctant to reveal the names of potential co-conspirators fingered by Rothstein in his deposition. But they said he spread the blame beyond himself, to colleagues in his former 70-attorney law firm to employees at the firm’s one-time bank, Toronto Dominion.

“It’s obvious to me there are people he’s going after and there are others he’s trying to protect,” said criminal defense attorney Sam Rabin, who is representing TD Bank vice president, Frank Spinosa. Spinosa dealt directly with Rothstein and is under criminal investigation.

Rothstein’s fictitious financial empire crumbled in October 2009 when dozens of investors began demanding millions they had invested in his bogus employment-discrimination and sexual-harassment settlements.

He had used his firm, Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, to play among rich investors, society types, trendy entrepreneurs and prominent politicians.

On Monday, a lineup of lawyers showed up with one goal: To recover as much money as possible for Rothstein’s victims. The disgraced lawyer, who is serving his sentence in the federal witness protection program, stiffed some 320 investors and clients who lost about $360 million.

Before the deposition, a U.S. Marshals Service deputy advised all 35 lawyers that if they had not cleared security beforehand, they were not going to be allowed into courtroom. “If you’re not on the list, you’re not going in,” the deputy warned, reading off names as they got into single file.

Another deputy cautioned them about their conduct in the courtroom. “He’s going to be in one area,” the deputy said. “There’s going to be an imaginary line where you can’t cross over.”

The courtroom was closed to the media, thanks to a ruling by Bankruptcy Judge Raymond Ray, who provided no explanation in his order. All other depositions by bankruptcy trustee Herbert Stettin have been open to reporters.

Moreover, reporters must wait until Dec. 30 to obtain court transcripts of Rothstein’s deposition, according to Ray’s order. Scherer is challenging that order so reporters can obtain daily transcripts.

As for videotaping of Rothstein’s deposition? It’s not allowed either.

U.S. District Judge James Cohn, who is presiding over the Rothstein criminal case that has snared eight defendants so far, granted federal prosecutors’ request to disallow the customary videotaping because of security concerns.

Cohn said prosecutors made the extraordinary move, noting that “Rothstein is in a form of protective custody because of his participation in a law enforcement investigation,” without disclosing its nature.

Two years ago, Rothstein helped the feds in a sting operation against an alleged New York mafia associate, Roberto Settineri of Miami Beach, who was recorded offering to destroy documents and launder money from the lawyer’s investment scam.

Cohn said in court papers that “the need for private parties to videotape Rothstein is outweighed by the security concerns raised by the government.”