FILTHY RICH Hoffenberg began paying twenty-five thousand dollars per month for Epstein’s expertise as a consultant. The SEC had already looked into Hoffenberg’s affairs, settling with him out of court in a matter relating to unregistered securities. But Hoffenberg was dangling a very big prize. In the 1980s, several major financial players were involved in the greenmailing of publicly traded companies. What greenmailing means, in practice, is that a brokerage house or group of investors will start buying shares in companies that seem to be vulnerable to takeover attempts. To ward off the attempts, executives at those companies will buy the shares back at a premium. It’s risky, but very often the investors stand to make a handsome profit. Yet another thing Hoffenberg wanted was to take over Pan American World Airways. The iconic airline had already entered its downward trajectory, but it was still a giant. For Hoffenberg, the greenmailing profits could have been huge. According to Hoffenberg, Epstein handled the attempted takeover of Pan Am-a deal that went sideways almost immediately. Steven Hoffenberg still has a lot to say on the subject. But in listening to him, one must bear in mind that in 1995, he pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy and fraud charges involving a $460 million swindle, a familiar scheme to anyone who followed the Bernie Madoff case. Like so many others, Hoffenberg had tried to fly very high without the necessary updraft. And despite all the hours he spent at the office, he’d also developed a taste for the high life. He 110 111 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_009262 CHAPTER 27 1987 loff, there was Steven Hoffenberg. ras the head of Towers Financial hat bought debts, such as unpaid scount while pressing the debtors the company fifteen years earlier nd just a handful of employees work ethic, he’d turned that into a elve hundred employees and stock But Hoffenberg still spent fifteen k, in his office. berg was a Wall Street outsider. A out, like Epstein. anted was respect. The other was th Wall Street’s inner workings. Jef options for Bear Stearns, fit the bill¶
JAMES PATTERSON bought his own jet, a luxury yacht, and a Long Island mansion to go with his expensive Manhattan apartment. He’d also briefly owned a controlling interest in the New York Post. To cover his tracks, Hoffenberg had been taking money from investors and using it to pay previous investors. It was a classic Ponzi scheme - one of the biggest in history-and Hoffenberg ended up spending nineteen years in a federal prison. Why was Epstein not implicated in the case? All that Hoffenberg will say when asked is: “Ask Robert Gold.” Another source suggests that Gold, the former federal prosecutor who had helped Epstein recover Ana Obregón’s money, kept the US attorney away from Epstein until there were only a few weeks left before the statute of limitations ran out. As for Epstein himself, he would always deny any wrongdoing. Despite his proximity to Hoffenberg, he managed to avoid the blast radius. Robert Meister: 1985 R Robert Meister, the vickerage and consulting in the mid-eighties, Palm Beach. Both men were the other looked familiar. Tb and Meister filed the conven- At that time, Les Wexner, w of Meister’s insurance comp the people managing his mo Wexner was a billionaire were in a tangle. Maybe Epst would also be grateful for the theres evidence to suggest th his last Bear Stearns bonusrecovered for Ana Obregón- 112 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_009263¶