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Monday, August 31, 2020

August 31, 2020
Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway / The Daily Beast

The day after Jeffrey Epstein killed himself, a man in a red hoodie and LA Dodger's hat emerged from the mansion of the dead sex offender in Manhattan. His hat and sunglasses obscured his face as he pulled a bold blue gift bag from the huge townhouse where Epstein abused dozens of underage girls for years.

A photographer captured the scene that day in August 2019, and the images were published by the Daily Mail, which identified the mysterious man as Epstein's longtime accountant and co-executive of his $ 634 million estate: 47-year-old Richard Kahn. The bag he was carrying, a well closely associated with Kahn, contained Epstein's burial clothes.

Little is known about Kahn outside of his work for Epstein. Or about his co-executive, 55-year-old Darren Indyke, who served as Epstein's personal attorney for more than two decades and was apparently so close to Epstein that the money manager paid for fertility treatments for Indyke and his wife. Neither man has a public social media account and both avoid press interviews.

However, both could soon be challenged in a lawsuit filed by Jane Doe who claims she was 14 when Epstein and his former girlfriend, British celebrity Ghislaine Maxwell, began grooming and sexually abusing her in 1994. (Doe is suing Indyke and Kahn as co-executors and Maxwell individually.)
Maxwell, who is in federal Brooklyn prison awaiting trial for her alleged role in Epstein's teen sex ring, could also file a lawsuit in Does.


Ghislaine Maxwell
Last week, Doe's attorney wrote to the federal judge overseeing the case, stating that Indyke would be deposed "both in his personal capacity and as co-executor of the Epstein estate" and would be making "extremely relevant statements" regarding her claims.

"In fact, we have reason to believe that he had firsthand knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein's relationship with the Plaintiff when she was a minor and even acted on Jeffrey Epstein's behalf on several occasions to communicate with the Plaintiff," wrote Attorney Robert Glassman to US District Judge Debra Freeman in response to the estate's urge to delay the oath of grilling.
Doe also plans to drop Kahn. In an email thread attached to his letter, Glassman told the lawyer for Epstein's estate: “With regard to Mr. Kahn, who is testifying in his personal capacity, we would like to know what he is saying about Mr. Epstein's criminal enterprise and Mrs. Maxwell knew. We would like to know if Mr. Epstein has ever told him that he sexually abused and raped my client and other underage victims. "
"I trust that you would agree that even if Mr. Kahn started working for Mr. Epstein after Mr. Epstein stopped abusing my client, it does not mean that Mr. Kahn would not know or know about it. Right ? " Glassman added.
The estate asked the judge to postpone Kahn and Indyke's testimony not only because they have not yet provided any discovery materials requested by Doe, but also because Maxwell is requesting a stay on the case pending trial.
Last week, the judge put the testimony on hold until the court resolved Maxwell's motion and instructed Doe's legal team to find a new filing date for Indyke in September in case Maxwell's motion is denied.
Jeffrey Epstein died of suicide after being charged with sex trafficking by federal prosecutors.
Shannon Stapleton / Reuters
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Doe isn't the only survivor who tried to get an affidavit from Indyke. Victims in other lawsuits, including a case filed by Annie Farmer, were supposed to drop him off, but their participation in a victim compensation fund put their cases on hold.

"One of the ironies is that by agreeing to establish this filing process, Epstein's executor may be able to protect himself from detection," a source familiar with the victims' litigation told The Daily Beast. The source said Indyke was "torn out of the dark by Epstein" and described him as the "internal lawyer of Epstein's company".

"He was involved in virtually all of the legal work Epstein did," the source added. "He's probably the most knowledgeable person about Epstein's money, relationships, assets, and legal matters."
"He's a bit of a mystery because he's been with Epstein for so long," the source said. "He's been Epstein's confidante and adjutant for decades. If he had a life outside of Epstein, it was a very private life."

Indyke and his criminal defense attorney Marc Agnifilo, hired by the government as part of the government's ongoing investigation into Epstein and his companies, did not return any messages left by The Daily Beast. His relatives also declined to comment.

The father of two has served as Epstein's personal attorney since the 1990s. He acted as an officer for the financier's charities, handled feuds with unpaid contractors, and represented the affairs of women in Epstein's circle. In 2012, he signed corporate design papers for Sarah Kellen, an alleged Epstein co-conspirator who the Palm Beach Police Department agreed to indict in their 2006 investigation. (Kellen was a named accomplice in Epstein's 2008 plea that protected her from prosecution.)

As The Daily Beast previously revealed, Indyke also represented the women's empowerment business of Lana Pozhidaeva, a Russian model in Epstein's orbit. In 2018, Indyke filed trademark papers and registered the website for Pozhidaeva's business WE Talks. Records show that Pozhidaeva swapped Indyke for another lawyer weeks after Epstein's suicide.

Lana Pozhidaeva

Indyke's name is also on corporate records for the anonymous company that owned Maxwell's townhouse on East 65th Street. In 2000, Epstein's girlfriend, Lynn Forester, reportedly sold the residence to the LLC for $ 4.95 million.

From 2001 to 2010 he was a trustee of the Maxwell Max Foundation until he was replaced by Dana Burns, a woman who is depicted in company photos with Epstein and who also worked for Maxwell's nonprofit, The TerraMar Project.

Meanwhile, from 1998 to 2001, Indyke was listed as the secretary of the Wexner Foundation - a nonprofit founded by Epstein's only known client, ex-Victoria's Secret mogul Leslie Wexner and his wife Abigail. Indyke was also listed as secretary on the nonprofit's tax forms. Two years later, Abigail Wexner gave Indyke power of attorney for her condo at 15 Central Park West.

Friends from high school and throughout Indyke's life were surprised to see his name being linked to Epstein in the press after the hedge fund died.

Indyke grew up in a middle-class family in Glen Cove, a small town on the north coast of Long Island. Childhood friends told The Daily Beast he was a cute, ordinary guy who was actively involved in theater from a young age through high school.

In his 1982 Seniors Yearbook, Indyke wrote that in 20 years he would "run" [his] first case for the Supreme Court, citing Al Pacino, Yahoo Finance reported.

He graduated from Colgate College in 1986 and Cornell Law School five years later. A former friend who grew up on his block said, "Even when he was in high school, he knew he would go to law school."

“He was driven. All he did was become a lawyer. This is what his parents wanted, ”added the friend. When the acquaintance ran into trouble selling ice cream on Jones Beach in the early 1980s, he panicked and told an officer his name was something like "Darrel Endike," and gave an address that was slightly different.

Somehow, the buddy told The Daily Beast, the officers discovered the correct spelling and address for Indyke and showed up on his doorstep for the illegal sale. “His father Bernie was furious,” said the friend, adding, “He marched to my house and confronted my father. I got all kinds of problems. The point was, [Indyke] needed a spotless record because he wanted to go to law school, and something like that could have hurt him, his chances of going to one of the best law schools. "
"I think I must have apologized to him [Indyke]," said the friend. "But it was really his father who was the most upset."

After studying law, Indyke worked for four years at Gold & Wachtel, a now closed boutique law firm, and represented several clients in copyright lawsuits.

Gold & Wachtel represented Epstein at least as early as 1988. Company chief William Wachtel declined to discuss it, but said he hired Indyke as a favor for the younger man's father, Bernard Indyke, whom he referred to as a post office clerk at a financial firm Gold & Keep quail.

Court records show that Indyke's father was actually a manager and board member of Jackie Fine Arts, a client of Gold & Wachtel, who sold low-value art reproduction rights to the wealthy at high prices as calculated tax evasion. Efforts to reach company founder Herman Finesod, once hailed as the king of the tax authorities, were unsuccessful.

"You can find someone successful and hook your car to them," a childhood friend of Indyke, who last saw him when they were in their twenties, told The Daily Beast. "People fall into these situations and cannot free themselves ... That's the benefit of the doubt I would give him."
Indyke may feel indebted to Epstein for his size.

As Indyke wrote in a glowing biography of his boss - prepared for Florida prosecutors - Epstein paid for him and his wife "prohibitively expensive in vitro fertilization cycles".

“Shortly after I started with Jeffrey, I experienced a personal and unexpected tragedy. After five years of marriage, my wife and I learned that I was sterile and that we could not have children the traditional way, ”wrote Indyke in the biography first reported by The Palm Beach Post.

"I meekly approached Jeffrey and asked if it was possible to exclude my wife and me from the company's health insurance for another or cash," Indyke continued. "Confused by my request, Jeffrey naturally asked why. When I told him that he was visibly affected and without thinking for a moment, he told me to seek treatment and send him the bills. Having been with Jeffrey's only a few months, amazed at his generosity, I rushed to my desk to call my wife and share the amazing news. "
Indyke claimed Epstein paid for five in vitro cycles, and Maxwell even offered to consider adoption for his family.

"After completing our fourth cycle unsuccessfully and one failed adoption attempt, my wife and I were at the end of our rope and we didn't want to continue," explained Indyke. "Without Jeffrey's support and stubborn daily encouragement, we would not have done it. He even recruited his then-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, to meet with us to offer assistance with local overseas adoption and adoption processes, and to encourage us to try again . "

“Fortunately, after our fifth cycle, my wife and I were blessed with twin daughters. Although Jeffrey firmly believed we owed him nothing, Jeffrey honored us by agreeing to be the godfather of our children. "

For the past decade, Indyke and his wife have owned two separate properties in Boca Raton, Florida - one of which they still own after buying it without a mortgage for $ 3.1 million in 2015. Another was bought in 2014 and sold four years later. sat in the exclusive enclave of Boca Grove Plantation; The couple had to pay at least $ 70,000 over the purchase price of $ 460,000 for a "social equity membership at Boca Grove Golf & Tennis Club."

Meanwhile, they had a residence in Livingston, New Jersey, which they acquired in 2003 through an LLC for 1.75 million US dollars.

In his recent book Relentless Pursuit, longtime victim attorney Brad Edwards described Indyke as Epstein's "fixer" who "has attended important hearings and my testimony about Epstein over the years." When Edwards sat for a deposit in his year-long court battle with Epstein in 2017, Indyke was there to take notes. "Darren Indyke, who was a fixture at every Epstein event, was in his normal seat at the other end of the table, overseeing everything that happened and reporting to Epstein," Edwards wrote.

"He wasn't a litigator, more of a fixer," remarked Edwards elsewhere. "Indyke had a client: Jeffrey Epstein."

Brad Edwards attorney

Edwards is representing a client named Katlyn Doe, who claims in a lawsuit that Epstein forced her to marry one of his non-civic female recruits - a wedding arranged through Epstein's "longtime New York lawyer".

"The ceremony included not only signing the legal papers prepared by [the attorney], but also putting photos up to create the appearance that the marriage was legitimate," the complaint said. Whether Indyke was that attorney has not been publicly confirmed. Edwards could not be reached for comment.

Kahn is a lesser-known figure in Epstein's world, and his name is barely mentioned in litigation relating to the sex offender's victims.

There were no public pictures of the accountant until the Daily Mail photos showed him carrying the gift bag in August 2019, as well as snapshots of him leaving Epstein's house after a two-hour visit in February 2019.

Days after the Mail posted the pictures, a lawyer wrote to Kahn's lawyers on behalf of a victim asking for materials to be retained.

"Is it true that Mr. Kahn entered Mr. Epstein's town house and removed documents?" The attorney wrote before "requesting a list of documents and / or materials that Mr. Kahn removed from Mr. Epstein's townhouse on that day and on every other occasion after Mr. Epstein's death."

The Epstein Estate attorney declined the mail report and emailed the victim's team: "Our customers take their retention obligations seriously."

One person with knowledge told The Daily Beast that the bag contained funeral clothing and that Kahn "fulfilled his obligation as an executor to attend to the funeral details."

Bill Gates' advisor "shocked" Jeffrey Epstein named him in his will
The source said Kahn "never contacted Epstein" and was unaware of the alleged abuse of Epstein. Kahn met Epstein when he started working for him in 2005 in an office on Madison Avenue he shared with Indyke. (An accountant named Bella Klein and Epstein's personal assistant and suspected co-conspirator Lesley Groff also worked routinely in the New York office.)

"Richard worked outside of the office," added the source. “Did Epstein show up in these offices? Yes. Did Richard see any of the activities that were the focus of press attention? No."
Kahn's name appears on all records for Epstein's nonprofits and corporations and was mentioned in the dismissal of Epstein's Palm Beach property manager Janusz Banasiak, who named him a senior accountant.

"Would you say that Mr. Kahn is a key employee, like a right man from Mr. Epstein?" asked a victim's lawyer. Banasiak replied in the affirmative.

As treasurer of the Financial Strategy Group Ltd. (FSG) listed by Epstein, which applied for approval as an international banking company in the US Virgin Islands in 2013. Indyke was secretary and Epstein president, records show.

FSG, which changed its name to Southern Country International, was approved in 2014 to run a bank that specializes exclusively in offshore clients. In 2018, Erika Kellerhals, Epstein's tax attorney based in St. Thomas, informed area officials that the bank had not yet started business. According to the New York Times, it is unclear whether the bank was actively tracking customers. But months after Epstein's death, the property deposited more than $ 12 million in Southern Country coffers. The bank's year-end value was $ 499,759 two weeks after the transfer, the Times reported, and what happened to the money is not clear.

According to the statutes of the FSG, Kahn became an auditor in 1995. He graduated from Syracuse University in 1994 and earned a Masters in Taxation from Pace University in 1999.
Kahn and his wife Lisa bought a $ 2.8 million cooperative apartment on the Upper East Side in 2008, real estate reports show, and took out a mortgage on the residence in 2016. The couple also own a six-bedroom Hamptons manse, which was purchased for $ 1.5 million in 2015.

Kahn, who refused to comment on this article, has been a senior executive at Epstein's shady nonprofits since at least 2007.

That year, Kahn replaced Maxwell as treasurer of the C.O.U.Q. Founded and held the role until the charity disbanded five years later.

C.O.U.Q. deposited $ 46 million in shares and other assets into Wexner's YLK Charitable Fund in 2008 just before Epstein began his Palm Beach prison sentence. Epstein's nonprofit YLK donated $ 14 million in 2007, according to a CNBC report.

DISCOVERED: We found billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's secret charity
Before C.O.U.Q. Epstein closed in November 2012 and created another hazy entity called Gratitude America Ltd.

The charity's tax returns didn't show revenue until 2015, when Kahn replaced Epstein as president of the group and investor Leon Black donated $ 10 million through an anonymous LLC. The U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General recently issued subpoenas to Black over his relationship with Epstein.

Deutsche Bank AG, with which Gratitude America had an account, is also under fire for its relationship with Epstein. In July, the bank was fined $ 150 million for failing to discover suspicious transactions running into millions, including payments to alleged Epstein co-conspirators and withdrawals of more than $ 800,000 by Epstein's personal attorney.
Much like Indyke, Kahn made political donations to the same candidates Epstein had supported over the years.

In 2007, Kahn and his wife each donated $ 2,300 to the presidential campaign of former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, a friend of Epstein's. Indyke and his wife Michelle Saipher also donated $ 2,300 apiece to Richardson that year. (One of Epstein's victims, Virginia Giuffre, claims Maxwell directed her to have sex with Richardson. He has denied participation in Epstein's human trafficking program.)

Kahn donated a total of $ 5,400 to US Virgin Islands Congressman Stacey Plaskett's campaign in 2016 and $ 2,700 in 2018. He paid $ 2,600 to Plaskett in 2014 (as did Epstein accountant Bella Klein ). After Epstein's arrest in July 2019, Plaskett said she would return Epstein's money, although it is not known whether she intended to return his employees' funds.

In the individual receipts for the 2016 and 2018 donations, Kahn's profession is listed as a "lawyer". However, he was never registered as an attorney in New York State.
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