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3 oe & ALBERTO PINTO whose identity they could not be allowed to know. But Hoffenberg has claimed the mon- ey came from him, and Towers’s financial statements for that year show a loan to Ep- stein of $400,000. (Epstein has said he can’t remember the details and has dis- puted the accuracy of the Towers financial reports. ) Around the same time, Nederlander and Toboroff let Epstein come in with them on a scheme to make money out of Pennwalt, a Pennsylvania chemical company. The plan was to group together with two other parties to take a substantial declared position in the stock. According to a source, Epstein was supposed th help Nederlander and Toboroff raise $15 million. He seemed to fail to find uther investors, say those familiar with the deal. (Epstein has said he was merely an in- vestor.) He invested $1 million, which he told his co-investors was his own money. But in his 1989 deposi- tion he said that he put in only $300.000 of his own money. Where did the rest come from? Hof- fenberg has said it came from him. in a loan that Nederlander and Toborotf didn't know about. Two things happened that alarmed Nederlander and Toboroff. After the group signaled a possible takeover. the Pennwalt management threatened to sue the would-be raiders. Epstein was reluctant ini- ually to give a deposition about his share of the money. telling Toboroff there were “reasons” he didn't want to. Then. after the opportunity for new investors was closed. co-investors recall Epstein announcing that hed found one at last: Dick Snyder. then C.E.O. of the publisher Simon & Schuster. who want- ed to put up approximately $500,000. (Nei- ther Epstein nor Snyder can now recall the investment. Yet in the 1989 deposition Epstein said that he had recruited Sny- der, whom he had met socially, into the deal.) According to a source, Toboroff and Ne- derlander told Epstein that Snyder was too late. but. without their realizing it. Hotfen- berg has claimed, Snyder wrote a check to Hotfenberg and bought out some ot his in- vestment. But then Snyder wanted out. “Nederlander started to get these irate calls from [Snyder,] who wasn’t part of the deal, saying he was owed all this money,” says someone close to the deal. Toborotf avi Nederlander were baffled. ually, a source close to Hoffenberg S 07/26/1.7enberg paid Snyder off. ust as Nederlander and Toboroff were J growing wary of Epstein, he became in- creasingly involved with Leslie Wexner, whom he had met through insurance executive Robert Meister and his late wife. Epstein has told people that he met Wexner in 1986 in Palm Beach, and that he won his confidence by persuading him not to invest in the stock market, just as the 1987 crash was approach- ing. His story has subsequently changed. When asked if Wexner knew about his con- nection to Hoffenberg, Epstein said that he began working for Wexner in 1989, and that “it was certainly not the same time.” Wherever and whenever it was that Ep- stein and Wexner actually met. there was an immediate and strong personal chem- istry. Wexner says he thinks Epstein is “very smart with a combination of excellent judg- ment and unusually high standards. Also, he is always a most loval friend.” OFFICE SPACE The “office” in Epstein’s house. It has no computers, but it does have a desk that Epstein tells people once belonged to banker J. P. Morgan, and “the largest Persian rug youll ever see in a private home.” Sources say Epstein proved that he could be useful to Wexner as well, with “fresh” ideas about investments. “Wexner had a cou- ple of bad investments. and Jeffrey cleaned those up right away.” says a former associ- ate of Epstein’s. Before he signed on with Wexner. Epstein had several meetings with Harold Levin. then head of Wexner Investments. in which he enunciated ideas about currencies that Levin found incomprehensible. “In fact.” says some- one who used to work very closely with Wex- ner. “almost everyone at the Limited won- dered who Epstein was: he literally came out of nowhere.” “Everyone was mystified as to what his appeal was.” says Robert Morosky. a former vice-chairnPagel3&oflistiied uch of Epstein’s work is related to clean- ing up, tightening budgets, and efficien- cies. One person who worked for Wexner and who saw a contract drawn up between the two men says Epstein is involved in “every- thing, not just a little here. a little there. Everything!” In addition, he says. “Wexner likes having a hatchet man.,.. Whenever there is dirty work to be done he'd stick Jef- frey on it.... He has a reputation for being ruthless but he gets the job done.” Epstein has evidently been asked to fire personal-staff members when needed. “He was that mysterious person that everyone was scared to death of.” savs a former emplovee. Meanwhile. he is also less than popular with some people outside Wexner’s company with whom he now deals. “He ‘inserted’ himself into the construction process of Les- lie Wexner’s vacht.... That resulted in liti- gation down the road between Mr. Wexner and the shipyard that eventually built the ves- sel.” savs Lars Forsberg. a lawyer whose firm at he time. Dickerson and . was hired to deal with titigation stemming from the construction of Wexner’s Liniiless at 315 feet. one of the largest private yachts in the world. Evidently. Ep- stein stalled on paving Dickersen and Reily for ts werk “Its” probably onee or twice in my le- gal career that I've had tO sue a client for payment of services that hed re- quested and wed per- formed ... without issue on the performance.” says Forsberg. In the end the matter was settled. but Ep- stein claims he now has no recollection of it The incident is one of a number of disputes Epstein has become embroiled in. Some are for sums so tiny as to be baffling: for instance. Epstein sued investinent adviser Herbert Glass, who sold him the Palm Beach house in 1990, for $13,444—Epstein claimed this was owed him tor furnishings removed by Glass. In 1998 the U.S. Attorney's Office sued Epstein for illegally subletting the ee home of the deputy consul general of Bee to attorney Ivan Fisher and ogee paid $15,000 a month " ine eae and Department, but he charge she eX! his colleagues $20,000. Though led terms of the agreement are, $cHen court ruled against Epstein. Wexner offers some insight ; “Many umes peor a * Wexner > 4 into his ot. combative style. ~ winning and losing. cael : ot Ns 1en IRublbReGsUe REGED No: 17-208 | DOJ-OGR-00032077