ENTERTAINMENT & MEDIA

Potential N.Y. Post Buyer Accused of Fraud: The Securities and Exchange Commission tried to freeze the assets of businessman Steven Hoffenberg, charging that the would-be publisher of the New York Post fraudulently sold more than $215 million in unregistered securities. The SEC said his victims included widows, disabled people and pensioners. Papers filed in Manhattan federal court say that millions of dollars in the scheme, which allegedly benefited Hoffenberg’s bill-collection agency, Towers Financial Corp., are unaccounted for. Hoffenberg said he could not comment because litigation is pending, but did say in a statement, “I believe I am right, and I intend to defend myself.” U.S. District Judge Whitman Knapp refused to order that the assets be frozen, pending a hearing Feb. 24.