[ee ee a JAMES PATTERSON | bought his own jet, a luxury yacht, and a Long Island mansion to go with his expensive Manhattan apartment. Hed also briefly | owned a controlling interest in the New York Post. | To cover his tracks, Hoffenberg had been taking money from q investors and using it to pay previous investors. It was a classic bi Ponzi scheme—one of the biggest in history —and Hoffenberg 4 4 ended up spending nineteen years ina federal prison. 3 4 Why was Epstein not implicated in the case? All that Hoffen- 4 q berg will say when asked is: “Ask Robert Gold.” 4 q Another source suggests that Gold, the former federal prose- A cutor who had helped Epstein recover Ana Obregon’s money, : % kept the US attorney away from Epstein until there were only a 4 4 few weeks left before the statute of limitations ran out. 4 4 Robert Meister: 1985 As for Epstein himself, he would always deny any wrong- q 4 doing. Despite his proximity to Hoffenberg, he managed to avoid a a : the blast radius. 4 a obert Meister, the vic 4 ec R= ge and consulting ; ; in the mid-eighties, 4 q Palm Beach. Both men were ; 4 the other looked familiar. Th 3 4 and Meister filed the conver: 4 q At that time, Les Wexner, w ] ; of Meister’s insurance comp j _ people managing his mo 4 4 Wexner was a billionaire j mere in a tangle. Maybe Epst : would also be grateful for the i pores evidence to suggest th j Pe last Bear Stearns bonus— ; 4 Overed for Ana Obregon— 112 ; 4 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_022081