Steven Hoffenberg is escorted by FBI agents in an Arkansas parking garage after turning himself in on Feb. 15, 1996. | AP Photo Convicted Ponzi schemer: I'll conduct $50 million marketing campaign for Trump

A convicted Ponzi schemer on Tuesday filed a curious report with the Federal Election Commission declaring that his super PAC was going to conduct a $50 million digital-media marketing campaign boosting Donald Trump.

Steven Hoffenberg filed paperwork in late April to create a super PAC called Get Our Jobs Back Inc. The PAC, which has yet to disclose any cash donations, filed a report Tuesday indicating that a company called Statware Inc. was making an in-kind donation of services worth $50 million. The PAC listed the services as “Digital Media Marketing, Revenue Sharing,” though there’s little evidence yet of such a campaign.


Statware Inc. is a private company based in Centerbrook, Connecticut, that advises financial brokers on issues related to sensitive or proprietary data. According to its website, the firm does not have outside investors and operates “without distraction or undue outside influences.”

Hoffenberg, a born-again Christian and a former owner of the New York Post, spent more than a decade in federal prison for committing what the SEC called “one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history." In 1995, Hoffenberg pleaded guilty to selling $475 million in fraudulent notes and bonds to multiple investors, and ultimately using some of the profits from separate investors to pay interest owed to the earlier stakeholders. He was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison and required to pay $1 million in fines and $463 million in restitution. Hoffenberg later settled with the SEC for $60 million.

In May, Hoffenberg said in a statement that he intends for his PAC to raise more than $1 billion in support of Trump.

"The Trump Super PAC team staff will raise over $1 Billion Dollars with expert stock brokers in the USA for the White House race victory by Trump now," the statement read.

"Voters don't want any more foolish media TV experts spin, voters need jobs & money right now in the broken USA. The voters need loans to open small companies that are the foundation of the USA industry. Trump is the only expert in Jobs, and the voter's small businesses demanding loans. Media TV experts don't understand the demanded jobs right now by the voters. Trump knows what the voters demand in jobs & voters' loans for the voter's small business to rebuild the broken USA jobs market."

Reached by phone, Hoffenberg initially said he would charge $1 million for an interview, then said he doesn’t do interviews and referred questions to a spokesman.

When a reporter pointed out that it was a federal crime to knowingly report false information on an FEC form, Hoffenberg threatened to sue if the reporter suggested that the FEC form contained false information.

A spokesman, Theodore Fotsis, later called to say that Hoffenberg was “furious” about the phone call and that he was a born-again Christian, so he would not report false information.

“The media has treated him really, really bad over the years,” Fotsis said.