Steven Hoffenberg

Steven Hoffenberg is the former chairman of Towers Financial Corporation, a bill collection agency, that Hoffenburg used in a Ponzi scheme. The firm collapsed in 1993, and in 1995 Hoffenberg pled guilty to bilking investors out of $475 million. Judge Robert W. Sweet sentenced him to 20 years in prison, plus a $1 million fine and $463 million in restitution. He settled a civil suit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for $60 million.^[1][2] He briefly was the owner of the New York Post.

At the time the SEC considered the fraud to be "one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history."^[3]

References

1. ^ Frank, Robert (March 13, 2009). "From Ponzi to Madoff". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123685693449906551.html?mod=article-outset-box#project%3DPONZI1208%26articleTabs%3Dinteractive. Retrieved March 13, 2009. 
2. ^ Eaton, Leslie (March 8, 1997). "Hoffenberg Gets 20-Year Sentence in Fraud Case". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F07E2D71130F93BA35750C0A961958260&scp=3&sq=hoffenberg%2C+Towers+Financial&st=nyt&scp=2&sq=Steven%20Hoffenberg&st=cse. Retrieved March 13, 2009. 
3. ^ "Arrest of Steven Hoffenberg Announced in New York". SEC News Digest: p. 2. February 18, 1994. http://sec.gov/news/digest/1994/dig021894.pdf. Retrieved March 13, 2009.