What the lawsuit alleges
New Mexico's attorney general filed a civil lawsuit Wednesday in U.S. District Court against two of Jeffrey Epstein's closest professional advisers, according to CNBC. The defendants are his longtime personal attorney, Darren Indyke, and his accountant, Richard Kahn. The state says they helped bankroll and cover up a trafficking operation that harmed girls and young women, including at Epstein's Zorro Ranch in Santa Fe County.
The complaint cites the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act, alleging the two took part in a sex trafficking venture. It also invokes New Mexico's Racketeering Act, alleging kidnapping, criminal solicitation and conspiracy.
The state further claims the men profited personally from their work for Epstein. According to the complaint as described by CNBC, Indyke received more than $16 million from Epstein and affiliated entities between 2011 and 2019, while Kahn received more than $10 million.
The estate and the request to freeze payments
Indyke and Kahn serve as co-executors of Epstein's estate and administer the revocable trust known as the 1953 Trust, a name taken from the year of Epstein's birth. They are also beneficiaries of that trust.
Torrez's office said the estate is currently worth more than $107 million. The suit says Indyke and Kahn are eligible for bequests of $50 million and $25 million, depending on whether funds are available. New Mexico is asking the court to prevent the two from receiving any estate payments while the litigation proceeds.
What officials and survivors said
Torrez released a statement as he held a press conference with two survivors of Epstein's abuse, Anouska De Georgiou and Julia Molchanova. "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," he said.
He also said those who allegedly enabled the exploitation "should not be allowed to profit from it while survivors continue to live with its consequences."
De Georgiou said her abuse by Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell "did not happen in isolation." She said accountability "must extend to those who knowingly made their abuse possible, especially those who stand to profit from it."
The defendants' response
Daniel Weiner, an attorney for Epstein's estate, responded in a statement to CNBC. He said both men reject "as categorically false" the claims that they knowingly assisted Epstein's abuse or trafficking, or that they knew of his conduct while providing legal or accounting services. He said they are confident they will prevail.
Weiner also criticized how the state brought its case. He said no one from the attorney general's office asked to speak with Indyke or Kahn before the suit was filed, which he said raised questions about the investigation's thoroughness and the motives behind it. He noted that the two have given multiple depositions in civil cases and testified at length before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and said they have cooperated with investigations when asked.
Related investigations and settlements
The filing follows by about a month a report from The Wall Street Journal that federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York had opened an investigation into Indyke and Kahn. Torrez said his own office is still conducting a criminal investigation into Epstein's trafficking operation, though no charges have been brought from it.
Epstein died by suicide in a federal jail in New York in August 2019, weeks after his arrest on child sex trafficking charges. In February, his estate agreed to pay up to $35 million to settle a class action in Manhattan federal court. That suit accused Indyke and Kahn of aiding and abetting his trafficking. The proposed deal includes no admission of wrongdoing by either man.
Last month, the judge in that case approved a plan to notify potential class members of the claims process through a four-week social media campaign on Facebook and Instagram, CNBC reported.
