Tycoon’s cash ‘funnelled for Jeffrey Epstein’
Payments by a Wall Street tycoon to Jeffrey Epstein in the last years of his life may have been used to fund the financier’s sex trafficking, court papers suggest.
Payments by a Wall Street tycoon to Jeffrey Epstein in the last years of his life may have been used to fund the financier’s sex trafficking, court papers suggest.
The claim filed by Denise George, Attorney-General of the US Virgin Islands, alleges that the executors of Epstein’s estate were complicit in a sex trafficking enterprise in the last years of his life, after he served prison time in Florida for a sexual offence involving a child.
It alleges that from about 2011 Epstein “began to focus on procuring and abusing women from eastern Europe” and bringing them to properties including his island in the Virgin Islands. It alleges that his executors, Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, helped to run what it calls the “Epstein Enterprise” and helped to arrange sham marriages so that his victims would not be deported.
Epstein was found hanged in his jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges.
The lawsuit says the main source of funds for the Epstein Enterprise came from a company that the executors managed, called Southern Trust. “Bank records show that virtually all of Southern Trust Company’s income came from a single source,” the suit says. “In all, the single source paid $158 million to … Southern Trust Company from 2013 to 2017.”
The figure matches payments made to Epstein by Leon Black, a founder of Apollo Global Management. A report by law firm Dechert found that Mr Black had paid Epstein $US158m between 2012 and 2017 for advice on his personal finances. It found no evidence that Mr Black was “involved in any way with Epstein’s criminal activities”.
The legal claim filed this week in the Virgin Islands, citing “newly obtained information” alleges that funds from the single source, which is not identified in the complaint, “were funnelled at the direction of Kahn and Indyke” to Epstein’s entities to fund his criminal activities. Mr Kahn and Mr Indyke “categorically rejected allegations of misconduct”.
The Times
Simon’s ‘dream’ world and the stalking sound of silence
In an epic new documentary by Alex Gibney, the musician reveals the roots of the pop duo’s bitter rivalry and opens up about his deafness.
The Queen, Philip and me
Samantha Cohen, who was first entranced by the royals when they visited Brisbane in 1977, became one of the most trusted royal aides.