The attorney general of New Mexico on Wednesday filed a civil lawsuit against Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime attorney, Darren Indyke, and Epstein’s longtime accountant, Richard Kahn, accusing them of having “facilitated and concealed” Epstein’s crimes, and is seeking to stop them from being paid by Epstein’s estate while the litigation plays out. The lawsuit, filed in the US district court for the district of New Mexico, names Kahn and Indyke as defendants both in their individual capacity, and in their capacity as co-executors of Epstein’s estate. The complaint also names the Epstein’s estate, and the 1953 Trust, which holds the estate’s assets.
It goes on to allege that “in exchange for furthering Epstein’s criminal project and remaining silent about it, his associates received generous salaries, access to elite social circles, and lavish gifts, including being named beneficiaries of his multimillion-dollar estate”. Lawyers for Kahn and Indyke did not immediately respond to a comment request from the Guardian on the new lawsuit. Previously, Kahn and Indyke have said that they had no knowledge of Epstein’s crimes during their employment.
Among the demands the lawsuit seeks is a court order preventing Indyke and Kahn from receiving estate payments while the case proceeds. The complaint alleges that both men profited personally from their relationships with Epstein. It alleges that from 2011 to 2019, Indyke received more than $16m from Epstein and related entities and that Kahn received more than $10m.
In a statement on Wednesday, Raúl Torrez, New Mexico’s attorney general, said that Epstein “did not operate alone, and his death does not end the pursuit of accountability for the people who helped make his crimes possible”. Several survivors of Epstein’s abuse signed a letter on Wednesday in support of Torrez’s lawsuit “because it can expose what roles Indyke and Kahn played in Epstein’s operation, examine how they handled survivors’ claims, and prevent Epstein’s trusted loyalists from being rewarded for their roles in Epstein’s organization”. Epstein’s chosen confidants should not get the last word – or the money,” they added.
At a news conference on Wednesday about the new filing, Epstein survivor Anouska De Georgiou thanked Torrez for “standing with survivors”. Torrez sued the DoJ in August, accusing the department and Todd Blanche, the attorney general, of “stonewalling” the state’s investigation, which was reopened in February. Torrez asked the court for access to unredacted Epstein-related files held by the DoJ, and said in its filing his prosecutors had requested access to the records but had “faced sustained resistance” from the department.
The case is ongoing and the DoJ recently filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that “decisions about law-enforcement information sharing are committed to the agency’s discretion” and that turning over unredacted files would violate victims’ privacy. Epstein’s Zorro Ranch came under renewed scrutiny after the DoJ’s release of roughly 3m files related to Epstein late last year and early this year. The Guardian reported in early February that the newly disclosed Epstein files contained thousands of references to Zorro Ranch, and numerous photos of men and young girls at the property, and that several survivors of Epstein’s abuse had also previously given testimony about abuse they say they were subjected to there.
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