Epstein Executors Added to Virgin Islands Racketeering Suit

(Bloomberg) -- The two executors of Jeffrey Epstein’s estate were added as defendants to a civil racketeering lawsuit brought by the U.S. Virgin Islands, which claims they acted as “captains” of the late financier’s alleged scheme to traffic in girls.

Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise George said her office had “newly-obtained evidence” showing that Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn had “direct participation” in almost all of Epstein’s business operations and financial activities -- including the alleged sex trafficking network -- and that they facilitated forced marriages among his victims to ensure their immigration status.

Indyke and Kahn didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, nor did a lawyer representing them in civil litigation brought by George in the Virgin Islands.

The filing comes as George and the estate are locked in a battle over money for a victims compensation fund.

Restitution for Women

George filed suit against the estate last year alleging violation of the territory’s Criminally Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and seeking civil penalties, damages, forfeiture of Epstein’s private islands in the territory and restitution for local women who accused him of abuse. The suit has effectively frozen the estate’s assets.

Epstein, who owned two private islands in the U.S. Virgin Islands, was arrested and charged by federal prosecutors in Manhattan in July 2019, accused of sex-trafficking of girls. He was found dead in his federal jail cell a month later while awaiting trial, in what authorities ruled a suicide.

The suit also cites Epstein’s Southern Trust Co., a consulting firm of which he was the sole owner. According to the complaint, the main source of funds for Epstein’s alleged trafficking scheme was Southern Trust, which claimed to be focused on “biomedical and financial informatics.” Indyke and Kahn allegedly controlled the day-to-day activities of Southern Trust.

“Bank records show that virtually all of Southern Trust Co.’s income came from a single source,” according to the suit. In all, that source, which the complaint doesn’t identify, paid $158 million to Southern Trust from 2013 to 2017, or 85% of its revenue in that time, the complaint says.

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