Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday defended his ad campaign which insinuates opponent gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist as a fraud who shares ties with convicted Ponzi scammer Scott Rothstein.

On one of his Miami campaigns, Scott said the ad narrator - who was later revealed to be Fort Lauderdale investor Dean Kretschmar - was a victim of both Crist and Rothstein, the Miami Herald relayed.

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"Both of them promised things, and they didn't come through," he said, noting Crist's past campaigns against tax and tuition hikes.

He added that Crist and Rothstein received money but lied those who provided it.

The Republican incumbent insists the "ad speaks for itself" but stops short of revealing his belief over Crist's involvement in the Ponzi scam.

The controversial ad, which has so far been run over 4,000 times, talks about Crist and Rothstein's relationship and Rothstein's claim that Crist sold judgeships for campaign donations.

"I got swindled by both Rothstein and Charlie," Kretschmar says in the ad.

However, evidence - or its lack thereof - proves otherwise, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

The judgeship dispute was investigated back in 2010 but was subsequently dropped after federal officials found no evidence to back the allegations, which Crist said were merely fabrications by a convict.

In the ad, Kretschner also fails to mention that his lawyer, William Scherer, is a supporter of Scott and was called by Rothstein once as a "mentor."

Scherer said the Scott's ad campaign was the truth. After all, Rothstein was Crist's campaign donor back when he was part of the Republican Party. However, Scherer also denied that his client implicated the now-Democratic gubernatorial candidate in the Ponzi scheme.

 Later, Crist said Scott's ad campaign a lie and said a publication's report on the ad's omissions "exposes the sheer falsehood of that ad."

Crist's campaign alleges that Scott is trying to deflect the voters' attention from focusing on the latter's former company which was charged a Medicare fraud penalty in the 1990s.

Most of Rothstein's past campaign donations, most of which were granted to GOPs, were returned after the scam was uncovered in the 2009. Aside from Crist, Rothstein used connections with other politicians, sports celebrities and personalities from religious and charitable organizations to dupe investors.

None of these were detailed in the ad.

TagsFlorida gubernatorial race, Scott Rothstein, Dean Kretschmar, William Scherer, Ponzi scam