New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez speaks at a news conference Wednesday in Albuquerque where he announced a civil lawsuit in the Jeffrey Epstein case. Torrez said the lawsuit aims to “shed light on individuals in Jeffrey Epstein’s orbit” who took part in “an ongoing criminal enterprise that facilitated human trafficking and sexual abuse at Zorro Ranch and beyond.”
The New Mexico Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit Wednesday against Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime attorney Darren Indyke and accountant Richard Kahn, alleging the two helped facilitate Epstein’s crimes, including at Zorro Ranch.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico, alleges Indyke and Kahn “facilitated and concealed” Epstein’s sex abuse and trafficking. Epstein’s estate and trust are also named defendants.
At an Albuquerque news conference Wednesday, Attorney General Raúl Torrez said the lawsuit aims to “shed light on individuals in Jeffrey Epstein’s orbit” who took part in “an ongoing criminal enterprise that facilitated human trafficking and sexual abuse at Zorro Ranch and beyond.”
“None of this could be done by just one man,” Torrez added.
Epstein owned the sprawling Zorro Ranch in Santa Fe County from 1993 to 2019, when he died in federal custody awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Indyke and Kahn, co-executors of Epstein’s estate, are in line for $50 million and $25 million, respectively, underEpstein’s trust— if enough money remains after the estate settles outstanding claims.
The lawsuit asks the court to bar Indyke and Kahn from making any distributions from the estate while the case is pending. The state is also seeking unspecified damages, which the lawsuit states would be awarded “to those injured by Defendants.”
“Those resources rightfully belong in the hands of survivors,” Torrez said.
Indyke and Kahn denied the lawsuit’s allegations.
“Both Mr. Indyke and Mr. Kahn reject as categorically false the allegations that they knowingly facilitated or assisted Mr. Epstein in his sexual abuse or trafficking of women, or that they were aware of Mr. Epstein’s actions while they provided legal or accounting services to him,” their attorney, Daniel Weiner, wrote in an email Wednesday, adding that the two men are “confident that they will prevail on the claims asserted against them.”
Indyke and Kahn have cooperated with “any and all investigations when asked to do so,” Weiner wrote, including giving depositions in civil lawsuits and testifying before a U.S. House committee.
