Jeffrey Epstein estate executors investigated: WSJ

Federal prosecutors in New York have opened an investigation into two co-executors of the estate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

No charges have been filed against the co-executors, Epstein’s longtime lawyer Darren Indyke and accountant Richard Kahn.

The Journal said that in recent months, prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York have scheduled interviews with potential witnesses and requested documents about those witnesses’ dealings with Indyke and Kahn.

The Journal also cited a report it published last year saying the two men “were officers of Epstein entities that obscured transactions, arranged cash for Epstein, made payments to women and facilitated Epstein’s immigration schemes.”

Neither Indyke nor Kahn, who have denied wrongdoing, has been charged with any crime.

The Journal, citing documents, reported that Indyke could receive $50 million and Kahn could get $25 million from Epstein’s estate because they are beneficiaries of a trust that will collect Epstein’s remaining assets after claims against the estate are settled.

CNBC has requested comment from a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office and from Indyke and Kahn about the Journal’s report.

Epstein, 66, killed himself in a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019, weeks after he was arrested on child sex trafficking charges.

Epstein’s estate in February agreed to pay out as much as $35 million to settle a class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan that had accused Indyke and Kahn of aiding and abetting Epstein’s sex trafficking of young women and teenage girls.

The proposed settlement does not include any admission of misconduct by either Indyke or Kahn. The judge handling the case on Sept. 18 endorsed a proposal by the suit’s plaintiff to notify potential class members to submit claims on the settlement by conducting a four-week-long social media campaign on Facebook and Instagram.

The estate earlier established a restitution fund for Epstein victims that paid out $121 million to more than 130 women and has paid or committed to pay $48 million to nearly 60 additional women in separate settlements.

Lauren Hersh, CEO of World Without Exploitation, an advocacy group for Epstein survivors, in a statement Wednesday said, “We welcome the news that federal prosecutors are investigating Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn and asking questions that should have been asked years ago.”

“Survivors deserve a full accounting of how Epstein and those in his orbit were able to operate for…