Between 1988 and 1993, Towers Financial raised over $400 million by selling bonds and promissory notes to investors, luring them in using false financial statements.[12][13][3] Hoffenberg and his associates then used the money they had raised to pay operating costs, repay earlier investors, and to pay themselves.[1] Hoffenberg began using Towers Financial funds to pay for a lavish lifestyle that included a Locust Valley, Long Island mansion, homes on Sutton Place in Manhattan and in Florida, and a number of cars and planes.[4][14] The Ponzi scheme was the largest financial fraud in American history prior to Bernie Madoff's being uncovered.[1]