美国国家公共电台 NPR Jeffrey Epstein's Former Business Associate: I Want To Assist Victims

 

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Jeffrey Epstein has also been accused of other crimes. One of his former business partners says Epstein got away with financial crimes. Steven Hoffenberg spent 18 years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme. And he says Epstein was complicit in those crimes but was never prosecuted¹. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports.

JIM ZARROLI, BYLINE²: At 74, Steven Hoffenberg spends a lot of time reflecting on his long and disreputable past. And these days, one person on his mind is Jeffrey Epstein.

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STEVEN HOFFENBERG: There's so much going through my mind about me and Epstein. It's a lifetime of errors. How do you correct a lifetime of errors?

ZARROLI: Hoffenberg spoke³ this week by telephone from his hospital bed, where he was preparing for surgery. In the 1980s, Hoffenberg ran a company called Towers Financial. Around that time, he says, a British business acquaintance introduced him to Epstein. Hoffenberg says he was immediately impressed.

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HOFFENBERG: He appeared to be brilliant, extraordinarily⁴ gifted and talented in convincing people to buy from him and a criminal mastermind.

ZARROLI: Hoffenberg says he hired Epstein, and they became very close. Hoffenberg became a kind of mentor⁵ to him. Epstein helped him raise money on Wall Street.

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HOFFENBERG: He knew many people in the brokerage business that sold securities, and they gave him access to investors⁶.

ZARROLI: And he says the two of them conspired⁷ in the scheme that would later send Hoffenberg to prison. Hoffenberg's firm acquired the parent company of two Illinois insurance companies. Then, he says, they used the company's money to launch a failed attempt to buy the airline Pan Am. He says they also drained hundreds of millions of dollars from Towers Financial investors for personal use. Hoffenberg acknowledges his role in the scheme.

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HOFFENBERG: This was a criminal investment enterprise, so I'm not trying to state to you that there was a purpose that should be complimented.

ZARROLI: Hoffenberg would plead guilty in 1995 to mail fraud, tax evasion⁸ and obstruction⁹ of justice. He says he told federal prosecutors¹¹ about Epstein's role in the scheme.

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HOFFENBERG: There is no question that I told him. Makes no sense. Like, his whole life makes no sense. His death makes no sense.

ZARROLI: But Epstein would never be charged. Why that is remains¹² unclear. The federal prosecutor¹⁰ who handled the matter declined to discuss it, saying he never comments on past cases.

One former prosecutor who did speak was Amy Millard who's now in private practice at the law firm Clayman & Rosenberg. She came into the case late. And 25 years later, she doesn't remember a whole lot about it. But she says Hoffenberg didn't exactly seem like a trustworthy witness.

AMY MILLARD: I remember that at the point that I met him and having dealings with him, I did not believe that he was credible¹³ in his statements.

ZARROLI: Millard says thousands of people who had put money in Towers Financial were hurt when the firm declared bankruptcy¹⁴ after Hoffenberg was charged, and Hoffenberg's demeanor¹⁵ in the courtroom seemed less than sympathetic.

MILLARD: He was extraordinarily arrogant¹⁶, not taking responsibility for what he had done and that there were a huge number of victims who were hurt by his behavior.

ZARROLI: Now out of prison, Hoffenberg acknowledges that his crimes cost a lot of people their retirement¹⁷ savings¹⁸. Before Epstein's death, he says, he actually called some of the victims of his fraud. He told them Epstein had walked away with money from the fraud, and Hoffenberg encouraged the victims to sue Epstein. He even offered to testify on their behalf.

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HOFFENBERG: I'm the first one in line to assist the victims. At 74, I'd like to go to the pearly gates assisting the victims.

ZARROLI: One of the victims he contacted did file a class action suit against Epstein last year, and Hoffenberg sued Epstein himself. But Epstein's attorneys argued that the statute¹⁹ of limitations had run out on whatever crimes were committed. And the suits were later withdrawn²⁰.

Jim Zarroli, NPR News, New York.

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1 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

5 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

6 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

7 conspired   

密谋( conspire的过去式和过去分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致

参考例句：

• They conspired to bring about the meeting of the two people. 他们共同促成了两人的会面。
• Bad weather and car trouble conspired to ruin our vacation. 恶劣的气候连同汽车故障断送了我们的假日。

8 evasion   

n.逃避，偷漏(税)

参考例句：

• The movie star is in prison for tax evasion.那位影星因为逃税而坐牢。
• The act was passed as a safeguard against tax evasion.这项法案旨在防止逃税行为。

9 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

10 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

11 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

14 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

15 demeanor   

n.行为；风度

参考例句：

• She is quiet in her demeanor.她举止文静。
• The old soldier never lost his military demeanor.那个老军人从来没有失去军人风度。

16 arrogant   

adj.傲慢的，自大的

参考例句：

• You've got to get rid of your arrogant ways.你这骄傲劲儿得好好改改。
• People are waking up that he is arrogant.人们开始认识到他很傲慢。

17 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

18 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

19 statute   

n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例

参考例句：

• Protection for the consumer is laid down by statute.保障消费者利益已在法令里作了规定。
• The next section will consider this environmental statute in detail.下一部分将详细论述环境法令的问题。

20 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。