Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York said on Friday that convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, 66, is worth more than $500 million dollars, citing “records relating to the defendant recently obtained by the Government from a financial institution (‘Institution-1’).”
The detail came out in the government’s response to the accused child sex-trafficker’s motion for pre-trial release. Prosecutors have said, in part, Epstein should not be let out ahead of trial because of his “nearly infinite means.” That is, they argued he is a flight risk. (Epstein owns private jets, so he could literally be a flight risk.) Prosecutors specified on Friday that, indeed, Epstein had more than $500 million, and that an unnamed institution’s records showed this.
“It might not be immediately apparent to a reader of the Release Motion that the defendant is extravagantly wealthy and worth, according to records relating to the defendant recently obtained […] more than $500 million,” they said.
Prosecutors also said that while Epstein has not “filled out a financial affidavit, under penalty of perjury […] his token effort to account for his finances makes painfully clear the need for detention.”
“The defendant reports having an extraordinary amount of money in both total assets and cash or cash-equivalent holdings,” prosecutors said. “The defendant is an incredibly sophisticated financial actor with decades of experience in the industry and significant ties to financial institutions and actors around the world.”
Prosecutors argued that if Epstein was let out of jail he could “easily transfer funds and holdings on a moment’s [notice] to places where the Government would never find them so as to ensure he could live comfortably while a fugitive.”
They further said that “Institution-1’s” records showed Epstein still easily rakes in at least $10,000,000 per year.
“[T]here would be little to stop the defendant from fleeing, transferring his unknown assets abroad, and then continuing to do whatever it is he does to earn his vast wealth from a computer terminal beyond the reach of extradition,” they said.
Note that even prosecutors don’t seem to know exactly how Epstein has amassed his wealth or how he continues to do so.
Epstein, the New York Times reported this week, was a client of Deutsche Bank’s until May 2019.
Deutsche Bank, it was reported in June, is being investigating over whether the bank followed laws intended to prevent money laundering and other crimes; employees have claimed that they saw suspicious transactions, but managers hindered them from filing reports about the suspicious activity.
One former employee, Tammy McFadden, said she complained about her employers failing to properly vet powerful clients. For example, she claimed to notice an incident where money moved from Kushner Companies to certain Russian individuals.
The Times reported something similar about Epstein, Deutsche Bank, and employee concerns just two days ago:
In recent years, Mr. Epstein was a client of Deutsche Bank’s private-banking division, which caters to ultrawealthy individuals and families. The bank provided Mr. Epstein with loans and wealth-management accounts, as well as trading services through its investment banking arm, according to two people familiar with the relationship. At one point, compliance officers at Deutsche Bank raised concerns about transactions by Mr. Epstein’s company, because he posed reputational risk to the bank, the people said.
Deutsche Bank managers overruled their concerns, the people said. They noted that there was nothing illegal about the transactions and that Mr. Epstein was a lucrative client.
It makes one wonder if the money angle has a lot to do with the SDNY public corruption unit’s handling of the Epstein trafficking probe. The SDNY, in part, describes the unit as generally investigating crimes of bribery, embezzlement, and frauds committed against local, state, and federal government agencies.
Deutsche Bank, it’s been reported, is laying off 18,000 people; 126 employees will be let go in New York for financial reasons.
President Donald Trump, also a Deutsche Bank customer, has been fighting congressional subpoenas of the embattled financial institution.
Here’s how the Times recently described President Trump’s longtime relationship with Deutsche Bank:
Over the past two decades, it was the only mainstream financial institution consistently willing to do business with Mr. Trump, who had a history of defaulting on loans. The bank lent him a total of more than $2 billion, about $350 million of which was outstanding when he was sworn in as president.
The president distanced himself from Epstein on Tuesday, claiming that the two had a falling out and haven’t spoken for 15 years.
“I wasn’t a fan,” Trump said. Trump was photographed with Epstein on numerous occasions in the past, and was even quoted praising Epstein as a “terrific guy” who was “a lot of fun to be with.” He also noted that Epstein liked “beautiful women,” many of whom were “on the younger side.”
“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with,” Trump said of Epstein in a 2002 interview. “It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it – Jeffrey enjoys his social life.” Epstein was also connected to Bill Clinton and other powerful men.
Trump repeated that he was “not a fan” of Epstein’s on Friday while addressing the press about Alexander Acosta resigning from his Labor Secretary post.
Prosecutors say Epstein worth at least $500 million by Law&Crime on Scribd
Alberto Luperon contributed to this report.
[Image via CBS News screengrab]