en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Hoffenberg
1 correction found
which it valued at $50 billion.
The cited lawsuit did not say Epstein’s hedge fund was worth $50 billion. It alleged instead that The Financial Trust Company had raised more than $50 billion from investors.
Full reasoning
The article attributes a $50 billion valuation to the lawsuit, but the underlying court filings say something different.
In the complaint often cited for these Epstein/Towers allegations, the plaintiffs alleged that The Financial Trust Company "sometime between 1995 and 1997 raised in excess of fifty billion ($50,000,000,000) dollars from investors." That is a claim about money raised, not a claim that the fund itself was valued at $50 billion.
A separate 2018 complaint by Towers investors does support the article's earlier point that stolen investor money allegedly served as start-up/seed capital for Epstein's entities: Hoffenberg's attached affidavit says Epstein used misappropriated funds "as start-up capital for his corporations, including The Financial Trust Company."
So the article appears to merge two distinct allegations:
- misappropriated Towers money was used as start-up capital; and
- The Financial Trust Company allegedly raised more than $50 billion.
Those filings do not support the specific statement that the lawsuit valued Epstein's hedge fund at $50 billion.
2 sources
- Marques v. Epstein complaint (U.S. District Court PDF)
"The Financial Trust Company ... sometime between 1995 and 1997 raised in excess of fifty billion ($50,000,000,000) dollars from investors".
- Gerber v. The Financial Trust Company initial complaint (U.S. District Court PDF)
Hoffenberg's attached affidavit says Epstein "used the monies he misappropriated and earned from his illegal trading activities and used them as start-up capital for his corporations, including The Financial Trust Company."