Former Epstein mentor, New York Post owner Steven Hoffenberg dead
3 Min Read
After being convicted of orchestrating a $500 million Ponzi scheme, the 77-year-old spent 18 years in prison.
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Former Epstein mentor and New York Post owner Steven Hoffenberg dies.
Steven Hoffenberg, the infamous billionaire and longtime mentor of Jeffrey Epstein, was discovered dead Tuesday during a health check by Connecticut police, according to The Washington Post.
Hoffenberg, who served 18 years in prison for orchestrating a $500 million Ponzi fraud, was discovered dead in his house around 8 pm Tuesday. It is unknown exactly when he died. Police had been called to his home in Derby, Conn., at the request of a friend.
There was no early indication of harm on his body, according to authorities, who stated that the cause of death is not yet released. Police are checking dental records to confirm his identity, but a Derby Police Department spokesperson said, "Every indication is that it is Mr. Hoffenberg.”
“There’s nothing to suggest that it isn’t. We believe it’s him. We’re just waiting for dental records.”
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In a statement posted to Facebook, police said the body was found “in a state where a visual identification could not be made.” Epstein's enigmatic money could have been linked to Hoffenberg, who was formerly his supervisor.
Hoffenberg alleged Epstein was a co-conspirator in a Ponzi scheme he ran through his Towers Financial Corp.
In 1995, he pled guilty to the plan and was sentenced to 20 years in jail. While Hoffenberg was imprisoned, Epstein was convicted for raping underage girls with the assistance of his now-convicted mistress, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Tower investors have claimed in an August 2018 lawsuit that Epstein “knowingly and intentionally utilized funds he fraudulently diverted and obtained from this massive Ponzi scheme for his own personal use to support a lavish lifestyle.”
“He was my colleague daily, seven days a week,” he said of Epstein in a 2019 interview with Quartz.
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From January to March 1993, Hoffenberg served as The Post's court-appointed manager, rescuing the newspaper from bankruptcy. The announcement was made with an iconic Post cover that read, "Last-minute bargain saves The Paper...Hoffenberg Saves The Post," referring to him as the paper's "white knight".
However, the workers eventually revolted against Hoffenberg, and the daily was briefly handed over to Abe Hirschfeld before being purchased for the second time by Rupert Murdoch, the present owner.
Hoffenberg, a former Trump Tower resident, was an early supporter of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign before withdrawing his support. He became a born-again Christian in prison, he told Quartz.
