David J. Stern may be the best-known beneficiary of the foreclosure boom, having made millions in recent years from evictions processed by his law firm, the largest of its kind in Florida, according to an article in today's edition by Julie Crewsell and Barry Meier of The New York Times, "but when he took part of his firm public early last year, he had plenty of help from a constellation of investors also looking to cash in on people losing their homes."

Early in 2010, the article said, the back-office processing operations of Mr. Stern's law firm were converted into a publicly traded company called DJSP Enterprises. Mr. Stern pocketed nearly $60 million from that transaction, public filings show.

"Behind that big-money deal was a curious cast of characters," the article said, "including some with previous run-ins with regulators. Other parties included a small Wall Street investment bank headed by a former presidential candidate, the retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark, and a little-known private equity firm based in New York. Even before the DJSP windfall, Mr. Stern enjoyed a lifestyle that featured grand mansions, flashy sports cars and a yacht called Misunderstood. But the days of easy money are over for Mr. Stern, his law firm and DJSP investors."

As the Florida attorney general's office continues to investigate whether Mr. Stern's law firm falsified documents in order to speed up foreclosures, the article continued, "the firm has lost its biggest clients, including Citibank and Fannie Mae....Shares of the company, which were worth $14 apiece last summer, trade now for about 50 cents on the Nasdaq exchange."

Mr. Stern, who stepped down as chairman and chief executive of DJSP but remains the company's largest shareholder, did not respond to telephone calls seeking comment. He has not been accused of any wrongdoing, and his lawyer has said repeatedly that Mr. Stern did nothing wrong.

The events that led to the creation of DJSP Enterprises started back in mid-2008. At that time, Mr. Stern told The American Lawyer magazine, he was approached by FlatWorld Capital, a small and little-known New York private equity firm, which was interested in a transaction with his law firm.

The article said that the "FlatWorld official who initiated the DJSP transaction was apparently a young New York investment banker named Jeffrey Valenty, public filings show. Mr. Valenty, who at one point worked for CIBC World Markets, did not respond to repeated calls seeking comment. FlatWorld, which does not appear to have made any earlier investments, needed investors with deep pockets to make a deal with Mr. Stern. That need would bring two other firms into the story - an investment banking firm, Rodman & Renshaw, that is headed by General Clark, and a publicly traded company with an odd name, the Chardan 2008 China Acquisition Corporation. According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, an investment banker at Rodman & Renshaw, Ramnarain J. Jaigobind, introduced Mr. Valenty of FlatWorld to an acquaintance named Kerry Propper. Mr. Propper, who is in his mid-30s, runs a boutique investment bank on Wall Street."

After nearly a year of negotiations, Chardan 2008 struck a deal in early 2010 to buy Mr. Stern's foreclosure operations, giving it the name DJSP Enterprises.

Mr. Propper's father, Dr. Richard D. Propper, acted as a "consultant" on the deal and, like his son, wound up with a significant stake in DJSP, public filings show.

In the mid-1990s, Dr. Propper settled with the S.E.C. over disclosure problems with investment partnerships he oversaw. And about five years ago, he and other individuals, including his son, were sued by federal officials in connection with their involvement with an equity fund that received money from the Small Business Administration.

Dr. Propper settled those charges late last year, agreeing to pay $1.5 million, the article said.