He was the founder, CEO, president, and chairman of Towers Financial Corporation, a debt collection agency, which was later discovered to be a Ponzi scheme.

[8][9][3][10] In February the Securities and Exchange Commission began a civil action against him and others, and in March 1993 Towers Financial filed for bankruptcy.

[13][14] In 1987, he met Jeffrey Epstein through a British defense contractor named Douglas Leese (died 2011), who Hoffenberg claimed was an arms dealer.

[15] Leese was, with Saudi Adnan Khashoggi and Prince Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, architect in the billion dollar Al-Yamamah arms deal, Britain's biggest arms deal ever concluded – earning the prime contractor, BAE Systems, at least £43 billion in revenue between 1985 and 2007.

Their bid failed, in part because of the 1988 terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, which ultimately contributed to the airline's bankruptcy.

[3][18][19] Hoffenberg began using Towers Financial funds to pay off earlier investors and pay for a lavish lifestyle that included a Locust Valley, New York, Long Island mansion, as well as homes on Sutton Place (in Manhattan) and in Florida, and a number of cars and planes.

[21][22] Epstein left Towers Financial before it collapsed and was never charged for being involved with the massive investor fraud committed.

The lawsuit also alleged that the millions in stolen investments were the seed capital for Epstein's hedge fund, which it valued at $50 billion.

[2] Epstein accuser Maria Farmer said she called police to check in on Hoffenberg after she failed to reach him over the phone during the preceding week.

[27] His body was in an advanced state of decomposition, and a Derby police officer estimated that he had been dead for roughly a week by the time his remains were found.