Written by Attorney Neil T. O’Donnell and Attorney Connor Graham

Long-time Epstein associates sued west of the Mississippi.

New Mexico Lawsuit Against the Estate Co-Executors

New Mexico recently filed a civil suit against the co-executors of Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, his former lawyer and accountant.¹ The state alleges that the two men, Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, were heavily involved in Epstein’s expansive human trafficking network, including within Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico. Indyke, as the lawyer, allegedly arranged payments to victims that were credited to Epstein. Kahn would monitor their spending and prepare tax returns. Epstein’s will named the two beneficiaries of the Estate, making them eligible for the following: $50 million to Indyke and $25 million to Kahn, assuming the funds are available after the numerous suits against the Estate. The relevant will’s most recent amendment was August 8, 2019, two days before Epstein’s death. In it, Epstein transferred all “property, real and personal, wherever situated” to a Trust.

The Estate and its co-executors are represented by attorney Daniel Weiner. In a statement emailed to Newsweek, attorney Weiner stated that “Indyke and Kahn emphatically reject the New Mexico Attorney General’s allegations that they were complicit in or in any way knowingly facilitated Mr. Epstein’s sexual abuse or trafficking.”²

Indyke and Kahn’s Involvement with Epstein

Indyke was Epstein’s personal attorney from the mid-1990s until the now-infamous death.³ Kahn, who joined in the mid 2000s, personally vouched for Epstein’s credibility in the face of bank compliance officers.

The suit provides numerous allegations in its attempt to recover gains made in association with Epstein, and ensure estate assets are given to the victims. The Complaint ties both to the Zorro Estate through their service as “officers and directors to virtually every corporate entity that Epstein created to fund and conceal his illicit activities,” as well as “signatory authority or power of attorney for many of Epstein’s bank accounts.”⁴ Epstein paid both men millions of dollars from their work through his accounts.

The Zorro Ranch Investigation

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez will be aided by the plethora of depositions and Congressional testimony provided by Mrs. Indyke and Kahn throughout the fallout of the Epstein case. New Mexico’s initial attempt to investigate the Zorro Ranch were halted by federal prosecutors in New York in 2019.⁵

Dispute Over Access to Epstein Files

The New Mexico Department of Justice (NMDOJ) later sued the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ) for blocking accesses to underacted Epstein files.⁶ In that Complaint, the NMDOJ alleges that the USDOJ “continues refusing to share information while publicly insisting that cooperation is forthcoming.”⁷ A spokesperson for the USDOJ told Newsweek that “The Epstein Files Transparency Act does not require, and the protective orders in place in the Southern District of New York do not permit, disclosure of victim-identifying information carte blanche, and New Mexico has provided no lawful basis to justify such sweeping disclosures.”⁸

The case is proceeding.