New Mexico sues two Epstein associates over network of abuse

Jeffrey Epstein's personal attorney Darren Indyke and accountant Richard Khan are accused of helping fund and hide the late financier's abuse of women and girls at Zorro Ranch in Santa Fe.(CN) — New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez sued Darren K. Indyke and Richard D. Khan on Wednesday, accusing the two Jeffrey Epstein associates of facilitating his global sex trafficking operation, including the abuse of women and girls at Zorro Ranch in Santa Fe County.In the first law enforcement against the two men, Torrez says Indyke, Epstein’s personal attorney, and Kahn, his accountant, knowingly participated in Epstein’s operation and used their positions to both finance and conceal the abuse, collecting massive profits from Epstein’s trust all the while.“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,” Torrez said in a press release. “The allegations in this lawsuit describe a network of people and financial arrangements that helped sustain and conceal the abuse of vulnerable girls and young women, including here in New Mexico. Those who allegedly enabled this exploitation should not be allowed to profit from it while survivors continue to live with its consequences.”Both men’s names appear numerous times in the files released by the Department of Justice in February.In the complaint, filed in the federal District of New Mexico, Torrez says the men violated the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and the New Mexico Racketeering Act, which authorize the attorney general to seek relief for those harmed. Torrez also names the estate of Jeffrey Epstein and Epstein’s 1953 Trust, which holds the estate’s assets.Two survivors of Epstein’s network of abuse, Julia Molchanova and Anouska De Georgiou, joined Torrez as he announced the action, and co-signed an accompanying letter with other survivors.“Jeffrey Epstein was not a legitimate businessman,” the survivors wrote. “He was for decades a con man, and a serial sexual abuser who operated behind a carefully constructed façade of respectability. Those who argue that he could not have acted alone are right. His operation depended on the appearance of legitimacy and access to money carefully structured to avoid exposing his crimes.”Both men are named as primary benefactors of Epstein’s trust, each standing to receive tens of millions of dollars.“Now, as co-executors of his estate, they occupy a position of profound and deeply troubling conflict: helping determine what victims receive while standing to gain what is left over after the victims are paid for their damages,” the survivors wrote.Torrez says Indyke and Kahn did far more than provide routine legal and accounting services to Epstein. Both held leadership roles in Epstein-related entities, managed financial accounts and authorized transactions connected to the trafficking operation, he says. Indyke, for example, handled the 2011 transfer of the Zorro Ranch title to a company Epstein controlled.Torrez describes the remote property as a place where Epstein and his associates recruited, transported, isolated, and sexually abused girls and young women over more than two decades. He says some survivors were lured with promises of educational, career, or financial help before being exploited.Between 2011 and 2019, Indyke received more than $16 million from Epstein and related entities, and Kahn received more than $10 million, according to New Mexico authorities.Torrez now asks a federal judge to prevent Indyke and Kahn from receiving estate payments while the case is litigated. The estate is currently valued at more than $107 million, and New Mexico officials claim Indyke and Kahn are eligible for bequests of $50 million and $25 million, subject to the availability of funds after victim payouts.He also asks that the judge restrict their ability to authorize and receive estate payments, require them to divest Epstein-related interests and restrict certain future investment activity, and discourage all of their benefits to survivors alongside punitive damages and restitution payments.“Survivors deserve more than promises that the truth will eventually come to light,” Torrez said in the press release. “They deserve an accounting of what happened. This action is about making sure the pursuit of justice does not end with Epstein’s death.”Both men are still under ongoing criminal investigation as well.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads