Steven Hoffenberg, a confidant of Jeffrey Epstein’s and a former proprietor of The New York Post, passed away at the age of 77.
Hoffenberg gained infamy in the 1990s through the scandal-plagued Towers Financial Corp., a business he co-founded with Epstein and used to defraud 200 victims of $460 million.
Plus, he is also best known for his unsuccessful association with Epstein and his attempt to “rescue” The New York Post from bankruptcy in the early 1990s.
Steven Hoffenberg Surprising Net Worth Before Death
Steven Hoffenberg may have had a million-dollar net worth at the time of his passing. However, the precise figure of his wealth is currently uncertain.
He established Towers Financial Corporation, a debt collecting business that later proved to be a Ponzi scheme, and served as its founder, CEO, president, and chairman.
Besides, he saved the New York Post from bankruptcy in 1993, and for a brief period, he owned the newspaper. When Towers Financial failed in 1993, Hoffenberg admitted guilt in 1995 for defrauding investors of $475 million.
In addition to a $1 million fine and $463 million in restitution, he received 20 years in jail, of which he spent 18 of them.
In the decade before Bernie Madoff’s financial crimes, the SEC regarded his financial crimes as “one of the greatest Ponzi schemes in history.”
New York Post Owner Married To Wife Maria Santiago In 2014
According to his Wikipedia page, Steven married his wife, Maria Santiago. The duo exchanged vows in the year 2014 and remained married until his death on August 23, 2022.
If you look closely at their images, Steven appears to be considerably older than his wife. When he was 69 years old, the 77-year-old man got hitched.
Furthermore, there is no confirmed information concerning Steven’s prior relationship, despite the possibility that this was his second marriage.
In contrast, it is said that Hoffenberg has a daughter and that he was using corporate funds to pay for a private plane and to pay for his daughter’s schooling, according to a post by Daily Mail.
The 77-Years-Old Spend 8 Years in Prison For Ponzi Scheme
Epstein’s former boss Hoffenberg could have been the key to his enigmatical fortune. In a Ponzi scheme he ran through his Towers Financial Corp., Hoffenberg had asserted that Epstein was his partner.
In 1995, after entering a guilty plea to the fraud, he received a 20-year prison term. Epstein is accused of raping underage girls with the assistance of his now-convicted madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, while Hoffenberg sat behind bars.
According to Tower investors, Epstein “knowingly and purposefully utilized cash he fraudulently diverted and gained from this huge Ponzi scheme for his purposes to finance a lavish lifestyle,” based on a lawsuit filed in August 2018 against Epstein.
During a 2019 interview with Quartz, he referred to Epstein as “my coworker nearly daily, seven days a week.”
Former Mentor’s Body Was Discovered At His Home: Cause Of His Death Cause
Yesterday, a concerned associate phoned the police at Hoffenberg’s Derby, Connecticut home. Hoffenberg was discovered unresponsive on his bedroom floor.
Although the exact reason for his death is still unclear, a police source claims that his body showed no outward trauma symptoms.
Because of how badly decayed his body was, investigators think he had been there for at least a week. A medical examiner is currently using his dental records to identify him.
A Derby, Connecticut Police Department spokeswoman, said, “Every clue points to Mr. Hoffenberg.” There is no evidence to imply it isn’t his remains. We think it is him. Just the dental records are needed for now.”
Police stated the body was discovered “in a state where a visual identification could not be made” in a statement shared on Facebook.