Hoffenberg hired Jeffrey Epstein in 1987 to help with the Towers Financial Corporation.[1][2] Hoffenberg set Epstein up in offices in the Villard Houses in Manhattan, and paid him $25,000 ($57,000 in current dollar terms) per month for his consulting work.[8] They unsuccessfully tried to take over Pan Am in a corporate raid with Towers Financial as their raiding vessel. Their bid failed, in part because of the 1988 terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, which ultimately contributed to the airline's bankruptcy. A similar unsuccessful bid in 1988 was made to take over Emery Air Freight Corp.[8]