Home · Politics · Oct 21 archive
New Mexico Sues Epstein's Attorney and Accountant
· Confirmed
In Short: New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Jeffrey Epstein's attorney Darren Indyke and accountant Richard Kahn, seeking to prevent them from receiving payments from Epstein’s estate.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Jeffrey Epstein's attorney Darren Indyke and accountant Richard Kahn, seeking to prevent them from receiving payments from Epstein’s estate, according to reports from CBS News and The Guardian.
CBS News and The Guardian both reported that the lawsuit aims to stop Indyke and Kahn from receiving any payments from Epstein’s estate, which is estimated at more than $100 million.
According to CBS News, Torrez said the lawsuit targets the two men most responsible for Epstein's appearance and structure, alleging that Indyke and Kahn were enmeshed in the functioning of Epstein's enterprise and provided more than ordinary legal and accounting services.
The Guardian reported that the lawsuit claims Indyke received more than $16 million from Epstein and related entities from 2011 to 2019, while Kahn received more than $10 million.
Both outlets agree that Indyke and Kahn have denied any knowledge or participation in Epstein’s trafficking, with Indyke telling lawmakers, 'Let me be clear: I had no knowledge whatsoever of Jeffrey Epstein’s wrongdoings.'
The lawsuit alleges that Indyke and Kahn facilitated and concealed Epstein’s crimes, and that they stand to benefit substantially from the estate unless a federal judge intervenes.
According to ABC News and The Guardian, Epstein bequeathed $50 million to Indyke and $25 million to Kahn, though it's unclear if the estate will have the funds to pay its beneficiaries.
The Guardian reported that Epstein purchased Zorro Ranch in 1993, building a mansion, airstrip, and helipad on the property, while CBS News noted that Indyke handled the 2011 transfer of the title for Zorro Ranch to an Epstein-controlled company.
Both outlets agree that Epstein’s death did not end the pursuit of accountability for the people who helped make his crimes possible.
The lawsuit seeks to hold these individuals accountable to the fullest extent possible and to ensure that Epstein's assets are distributed to the survivors of his horrific crimes, according to New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez.
The Guardian and ABC News both reported that Epstein's estate has paid hundreds of millions to survivors and in legal fees, and its assets have dwindled from over $600 million to just over $107 million.
The lawsuit is separate to the state's ongoing criminal probe into Epstein, which was re-launched in February, according to the BBC (United Kingdom) and Internazionale (Italy).
What this adds
The lawsuit is the first law enforcement action against Epstein’s longtime personal attorney Darren Indyke and accountant Richard Kahn, according to New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez.
The lawsuit seeks damages, restitution, and restrictions on distributions from Epstein's estate, including payments that could benefit the defendants.
The lawsuit is separate to the state's ongoing criminal probe into Epstein, which was re-launched in February.
Background
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Jeffrey Epstein's attorney Darren Indyke and accountant Richard Kahn, seeking to prevent them from receiving payments from Epstein’s estate.
What's confirmed
- New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said in a statement announcing the suit that "Jeffrey Epstein did not operate alone, and his death does not end the pursuit of accountability for the people who helped make his crimes possible."
- "Those who allegedly enabled this exploitation should not be allowed to profit from it while survivors continue to live with its consequences." Indyke and Kahn said in March testimonies before Congress that they were unaware of Epstein's crimes, beyond a 2008 guilty plea on prostitution charges.
- Lawyers for the men said Wednesday that they "emphatically reject the New Mexico Attorney General's allegations that they were complicit in or in any way knowingly facilitated Mr. Epstein's sexual abuse or trafficking – conduct that by all accounts occurred behind closed doors, in secluded locations, and at times when neither Mr. Indyke nor Mr. Kahn was present."
- The lawsuit seeks to stop attorney Darren Indyke and accountant Richard Kahn from receiving any payments from Epstein’s estate, estimated at more than $100 million, the Associated Press reported.
- Unless the court intervenes, Torrez said, Indyke and Kahn "stand to benefit substantially" from Epstein's estate.
- The lawsuit filed in federal court names Epstein's personal attorney Darren Indyke and accountant Richard Kahn as the two people the attorney general is seeking enforcement action against.
- New Mexico has sued Jeffrey Epstein's longtime lawyer and accountant, accusing them of helping finance his sex trafficking operation, conceal payments to victims, and move millions of dollars through his businesses.
- New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed a federal civil lawsuit on Wednesday against the co-executors of Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, seeking to prevent Epstein’s former attorney and accountant from profiting after Epstein’s death "from the illegal activity that they enabled and furthered," according to the court filing.
- New Mexico lawsuit claims ‘in exchange for furthering Epstein’s criminal project, his associates received generous salaries’ New Mexico lawsuit claims ‘in exchange for furthering Epstein’s criminal project, his associates received generous salaries’ The attorney general of New Mexico on Wednesday filed a civil lawsuit against Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime attorney, Darren Indyke, and Epstein’s longtime accountant, Richard Kahn, accusing them of having “facilitated and concealed” Epstein’s crimes, and is seeking to stop them from being paid by Epstein’s estate while the litigation plays out.
- They serve as coexecutors, and New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said they “stand to benefit substantially” from the estate unless a federal judge intervenes.
- "My abuse did not happen in isolation. It could not have continued for as long as it did without people facilitating it, looking the other way, or choosing to do nothing to stop it," said Epstein survivor Anouska De Georgiou.
- "Accountability cannot end with Epstein and Maxwell. It must extend to those who knowingly made their abuse possible, especially those who stand to profit from it."
What's still developing
- Indyke worked closely with Epstein for decades, and Kahn for more than 10 years, before Epstein's 2019 death in a federal jail, where he was being held on charges of sex trafficking minors.
- "an informal network of associates bound together by a single purpose: knowingly facilitating and concealing his decades-long criminal conduct to preserve and grow Epstein's fortunes and influence."
- Torrez argues that the abuse couldn't have been carried out by Epstein alone, and it could only have been possible with help from his handlers, lawyers and accountants.
- Indyke allegedly withdrew more than $200,000 annually from a single bank between 2013 and 2017, years after Epstein pleaded guilty to a sexual offense in Florida and registered as a sex offender.
- In a statement emailed to Newsweek, attorney Daniel Weiner said his clients "Indyke and Kahn emphatically reject the New Mexico Attorney General’s allegations that they were complicit in or in any way knowingly facilitated Mr. Epstein’s sexual abuse or trafficking."
- Also in August, a commission established by state lawmakers to investigate whether local authorities looked the other way, released a 119-page report that said authorities repeatedly deferred to investigations in New York, Palm Beach, Florida, and the Virgin Islands, while leaving Epstein’s offenses in New Mexico unexamined and unpunished.
- Epstein purchased the Zorro Ranch in Stanley, a sparsely populated ranching community about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Santa Fe, in 1993.
- After Epstein's 2019 arrest, federal prosecutors asked New Mexico to cease its own investigation of Epstein's activities in New Mexico.
- Epstein died in prison in August 2019 as he was waiting for a trial on sex trafficking charges of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.
- The state is seeking damages, restitution and restrictions on distributions from Epstein's estate, including payments that could benefit the defendants.