Steven Hoffenberg dead at 77: Jeffrey Epstein 'fall guy' was former NY Post owner

The police department said his body was 'not in a state where a visual identification could not be made'

UPDATED AUG 26, 2022

Hoffenberg served 18 years in prison for a Ponzi scheme which he claimed Jeffrey Epstein masterminded (Screenshot/YouTube@New York Post)

DERBY, CONNECTICUT: Steven Hoffenberg, a former associate to Jeffrey Epstein and one-time owner of the New York Post, has been found dead. Hoffenberg’s body was discovered by police as they performed a welfare check on him at his home in Derby, Connecticut on Tuesday, August 23. The 77-year-old spent 18 years in prison after being convicted of running a $500m Ponzi scheme in the early 1990s.

The Derby Police Department said they were called to the home in Mount Pleasant St to perform a welfare check at 8 pm on that day, in a statement posted to Facebook that did not identify Hoffenberg. An initial autopsy found no signs of trauma, and a cause of death has not yet been released, according to Daily Mail. It’s unclear when Hoffenberg died, and police are checking dental records to confirm his identity. The police department said his body was “not in a state where a visual identification could not be made”.

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DailyMail reported that one of Epstein’s abuse victims Maria Farmer had contacted police after becoming concerned about Hoffenberg. The two had been friends for years and spoke nearly every day. “He was family to me,” Farmer told The Daily Beast on Wednesday. “I loved him.” She said she became concerned as Hoffenberg had been in poor health after being diagnosed with Covid-19. Farmer’s sister Annie was one of four women to testify against Ghislaine Maxwell during her child sex trafficking trial last year. In Hoffenberg, Farmer saw a kind-hearted person who became another fall guy for Epstein. He was someone who lost his wealth and became estranged from most of his family after his criminal case. In prison, he became a born-again Christian. Farmer says that in recent years, he was one of a handful of people to support her during cancer treatments.

UNSPECIFIED, FL - JULY 25. 2013: In this handout provided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Jeffrey Epstein poses for a sex offender mugshot after being charged with procuring a minor for prostitution on July 25, 2013 in Florida. (Photo by Florida Department of Law Enforcement via Getty Images)

In 1995, Hoffenberg pleaded guilty to running one of the largest Ponzi schemes in US history through the debt collection company Towers Financial Corporation he ran with Epstein. Hoffenberg and Epstein lived the high life for years before the company collapsed, using invester’s funds to purchase homes in Manhattan, Florida and a mansion in Long Island while flying everywhere by private jet. He later sued Epstein, claiming that he had, in fact, been the mastermind of the enterprise, claiming that this was the mysterious source of the late paedophile’s wealth.

After Epstein died in prison while awaiting trial for child sex trafficking in 2019, Hoffenberg told the Washington Post that Epstein had been the “architect of the scam”. “I thought Jeffrey was the best hustler on two feet,” Hoffenberg told the Post. “Talent, charisma, genius, criminal mastermind. We had a thing that could make a lot of money. We called it Ponzi.” Hoffenberg is best known for briefly owning the New York Post during a turbulent period for the paper in the early 1990s.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 14: People hold a banner protesting against Jeffrey Epstein while outside a Manhattan courthouse where media has gathered for the arraignment hearing of Ghislaine Maxwell on July 14, 2020 in New York City. Maxwell, the British socialite, longtime girlfriend and alleged accomplice of deceased, accused sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, was recently arrested in New Hampshire and is charged by New York federal prosecutors with six counts in connection with the ongoing federal investigation into Epstein's accomplices. Calling her a flight risk, prosecutors want Maxwell, 58 and who will appear at the hearing via a video link, remanded. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Hoffenberg’s estranged daughter, who asked not to be named, told The Daily Beast that he was not an active part of her life. They met a few times after his release from prison. “He spent 20 years in prison,” she said. “I grew up with a single wonderful mother and never financially benefitted from any of his business. I had a very good life. He’s not a fixture.” Hoffenberg told Farmer that he felt shame for trusting Epstein and taking him under his wing in the late '80s, after the financier left Bear Stearns. “The world lost a true gentleman with one of the kindest hearts and one of the most loving souls I’ve ever met. He was so loyal. He was always there,” Farmer said of Hoffenberg.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 28: Jeffrey Epstein's alleged victims Sarah Ransome (C) and Elizabeth Stein (L) arrive at Manhattan Federal court for the sentencing of former socialite Ghislaine Maxwell on June 28, 2022 in New York City. Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty on five of six criminal counts and faces decades in prison for her involvement with alleged child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Hoffenberg once rented an entire floor of Trump Tower, and later said of the former president that “Donald’s crowd was my crowd”. His company Towers Financial started out as a debt collection firm, buying unpaid medical bills and collecting as much of the outstanding debt as it could. As the company grew, Hoffenberg launched a hostile takeover of now defunct airline Pan Am in 1987. By that time, he had begun siphoning hundreds of thousands of dollars in investor funds from insurance companies he acquired in the scheme that eventually landed him in prison for nearly two decades.