New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez is suing two longtime associates of Jeffrey Epstein, alleging they helped “facilitate and conceal” sexual abuse and human trafficking.
The lawsuit seeks to block the distribution of more than 100 million dollars from Epstein’s estate destined for attorney Darren Indyke and accountant Richard Kahn — in addition to damages, restitution, and more.
Torrez said the men helped facilitate Epstein’s criminal enterprise through corporate entities and financial arrangements.
“None of this could be done by just one man,” he said. “This was something that was facilitated, that was made possible by handlers, by lawyers, by accountants, by others who have yet to face real consequence.”
Torrez said the men “stand to benefit substantially” from the estate unless a federal judge intervenes.
“It is unconscionable in my mind that people who actively participated in the efforts of that trafficking enterprise, that they should in any way benefit from what is left of his estate, those resources rightfully belong in the hands of survivors,” he said. “I am initiating this action in no small part because I feel that the state of New Mexico and, frankly, the United States of America has failed to fulfill its obligation to protect the interests of survivors.”
Torrez called for Epstein’s funds to be diverted directly to survivors like Anouska de Georgiou, who appeared alongside Torrez at Wednesday's announcement.
De Georgiou applauded his actions.
“My abuse did not happen in isolation. It could not have continued for as long as it did without people facilitating it, looking the other way, or choosing to do nothing to stop it, accountability cannot end with Epstein and Maxwell,” Di Georgiou said.
Ghislaine Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking charges filed in New York. Epstein’s death in jail was ruled a suicide.
“It must extend to those who knowingly made their abuse possible, especially those who stand to profit from it,”Di Georgiou said. "That includes anyone who knowingly helped make Epstein appear legitimate to conceal his abuse of women and girls.”
Indyke and Kahn both testified to Congress they were unaware of any of Epstein's crimes. The Associated Press reports an attorney representing the men said they “emphatically reject” the lawsuit’s allegations.
Epstein's former Zorro Ranch, south of Santa Fe, is home to multpile allegations of sexual abuse going back decades, and is currently subject to two separate investigations by the state, which remain ongoing.
Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
