BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- An Alabama state court ordered HealthSouth Corp. founder Richard Scrushy in June to fork over $2.88 billion to shareholders for his role in a massive accounting scam. Then came the hard part for the shareholders -- getting the money out of him.

Mr. Scrushy, who is two years into a seven-year sentence in federal prison in Beaumont, Texas, in a separate political-bribery case, didn't provide much help, the shareholders' lawyers complained. When they visited Mr. Scrushy's Birmingham mansion in mid-August,...