New Mexico AG accuses Epstein's lawyer, accountant of concealing crimes

The New Mexico attorney general filed a lawsuit Wednesday against two of Jeffrey Epstein's closest confidants, seeking to stop them from receiving payments for serving as executors of his estate.

The lawsuit claims attorney Darren Indyke and accountant Richard Kahn "facilitated and concealed" sex trafficking by Epstein at his Zorro Ranch, outside Santa Fe.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said in a statement announcing the suit that "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." 

"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," Torrez said. "Those who allegedly enabled this exploitation should not be allowed to profit from it while survivors continue to live with its consequences."

Indyke and Kahn said in March testimonies before Congress that they were unaware of Epstein's crimes, beyond a 2008 guilty plea on prostitution charges. Lawyers for the men said Wednesday that they "emphatically reject the New Mexico Attorney General's allegations that they were complicit in or in any way knowingly facilitated Mr. Epstein's sexual abuse or trafficking – conduct that by all accounts occurred behind closed doors, in secluded locations, and at times when neither Mr. Indyke nor Mr. Kahn was present."

"Neither the New Mexico Attorney General nor anyone from his office asked to speak with Mr. Indyke or Mr. Kahn to seek relevant information from them before filing this baseless lawsuit, raising serious questions about the thoroughness of the Attorney General's investigation and the motivations for his lawsuit," they said.

Indyke worked closely with Epstein for decades, and Kahn for more than 10 years, before Epstein's 2019 death in a federal jail, where he was being held on charges of sex trafficking minors. The medical examiner determined his death was suicide.

The lawsuit claims Indyke and Kahn were central to "an informal network of associates bound together by a single purpose: knowingly facilitating and concealing his decades-long criminal conduct to preserve and grow Epstein's fortunes and influence."

Survivors of Epstein's abuse have claimed Indyke and Kahn were key figures in the management of dozens of interconnected companies used to make payments on Epstein's behalf. The men recently settled a lawsuit in which they were accused of facilitating sham marriages in which foreign-born victims married Americans whom Epstein abused, for immigration purposes.

Six survivors lauded the New Mexico lawsuit in a statement Wednesday.

"Those who argue that [Epstein] 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," said Marina Lacerda, Anouska De Georgiou, Julia Molchanova, Courtney Wild, Jena Lisa Jones and Chauntae Davies. "This lawsuit is aimed at the two men most responsible for that appearance and structure."

Epstein purchased Zorro Ranch in 1993, building a mansion, airstrip and helipad on the property. He was under investigation in the state at the time of his death and Torrez reopened the investigation this year.