New Mexico Sues Epstein's Lawyer and Accountant Over Trafficking

New Mexico sued Jeffrey Epstein's longtime lawyer and accountant on Wednesday, asking a court to block payments from the late sex offender's estate and to recover damages for survivors of his alleged abuse. It is the first law enforcement action against the lawyer, Darren Indyke, and the accountant, Richard Kahn, Attorney General Raul Torrez said.

The civil lawsuit, filed in federal court in New Mexico, alleges that Indyke and Kahn facilitated, financed and concealed Epstein's sex trafficking operation, including abuse at Zorro Ranch, his property 30 miles south of Santa Fe. It names the Estate of Jeffrey Epstein and aims to stop his private trust, created days before his death in a Manhattan jail cell, from spending any of the more than $100 million it holds, Reuters reported. The estate is valued at more than $107 million, and the suit says Indyke and Kahn are in line for bequests of $50 million and $25 million.

"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," Torrez said at a press conference in Albuquerque. Two survivors of Epstein's alleged abuse, Julia Molchanova and Anouska De Georgiou, stood with him.

What the complaint alleges

The 49 page complaint says the two advisers managed corporate entities, authorized transactions and supplied cash that supported the recruitment and control of girls and young women. Financial records cited in the suit show more than $6 million in cash withdrawn by Epstein and his associates between 2002 and 2013. Indyke allegedly withdrew more than $200,000 a year from a single bank between 2013 and 2017, years after Epstein pleaded guilty to a sexual offense in Florida and registered as a sex offender. The complaint also accuses Indyke of asking bank employees how to take money out of Epstein's accounts without triggering government reporting rules, and of arranging payments to survivors to secure their silence.

The state brings claims under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act and New Mexico's Racketeering Act. Torrez's office reopened its investigation into activities at the ranch in February, after the state first looked at Epstein's New Mexico links years ago. New Mexico is the only US state to set up a legislative truth commission on Epstein, and it has separately sued the US Department of Justice for access to unredacted files, accusing the Trump administration of stonewalling.

The response

Indyke and Kahn deny the allegations. Their attorney, Daniel Weiner, told CNBC the claims are "categorically false" and said the two men are confident they will prevail in court. He criticized the attorney general's office for filing without first seeking information from them, and said no woman has accused either man of committing or witnessing sexual abuse.

Why it matters and what is next

The case tests whether a state can hold a trafficking network's professional advisers liable years after the central figure's death, and whether money left in an estate can be reached for survivors before it is paid out to the people who ran his finances. The US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York has also opened an investigation into the two men, the Wall Street Journal reported. No court has ruled on the claims, and the injunction the state asks for has not been granted.