New Mexico sues Epstein attorney and accountant, accuses them of hiding sex trafficking operation

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s attorney general sued Jeffrey Epstein’s attorney and accountant on Wednesday, accusing them of concealing his sex trafficking operation at a Santa Fe-area ranch where the disgraced financier once entertained guests.

The lawsuit seeks to stop Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn from accepting any payments from Epstein’s estate. Attorney General Raul Torrez also accused Indyke and Kahn of being aware of sexual abuse of girls and young women at Epstein’s Zorro Ranch.

Indyke worked as Epstein’s attorney for roughly two decades. Both he and Kahn have testified in a congressional committee that they did not know about Epstein’s abuse, though Torrez has a different view.

He said Epstein’s estate holds more than $100 million, and that Indyke and Kahn “stand to benefit substantially” unless a court intervenes.

“Those resources rightfully belong in the hands of survivors,” the attorney general said, referring to victims of Epstein’s abuse.

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Epstein took his own life in August 2019 in a federal jail in New York City, where he was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Epstein’s former girlfriend and close associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, is serving a 20-year prison sentence after her 2021 conviction on sex trafficking charges in New York. Witness testimony at Maxwell’s trial alleged she and Epstein had sexually abused women at the New Mexico ranch.

Epstein purchased the ranch in Stanley, New Mexico, a sparsely populated ranching community about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Santa Fe, in 1993. He built a 26,700-square-foot mansion with a sprawling courtyard, a living room roughly the size of the average American home, and a private airstrip and helipad.

Epstein never faced charges in New Mexico, though the state attorney general’s office in 2019 confirmed that it was investigating and planned to forward its findings to federal authorities in New York. Hector Balderas, who was attorney general at the time, said the state’s outdated laws failed to protect children from abuse.

The property was sold by Epstein’s estate in 2023 — with proceeds going toward creditors — to the family of Don Huffines, a Republican recently appointed Texas’ state comptroller. Huffines said in a social media post the property has been renamed San Rafael Ranch and that his family plans to operate a Christian retreat there.