Jeffrey Epstein’s personal lawyer, Darren Indyke went before the House Oversight Committee on Thursday to explain his client’s huge cash withdrawals. Speaking under oath before members of Congress, he tried to explain the late disgraced financier’s problems getting a credit card, reports ABC News.
In his prepared remarks, Indyke explained that Epstein required large amounts of cash to run his several households in New York, the US Virgin Islands, and elsewhere.
“He and his staff required cash to pay for a wide variety of expenses, including maintenance, repairs and daily household needs for his residential properties in New York, Florida, New Mexico, Paris and the USVI, as well as meals, gifts, gratuities and fuel for his private aircraft,” Indyke said in his opening statement.
Indyke also explained that the late financier had problems getting approved for a credit card. This was because JPMorgan Chase cut ties with Epstein in 2013.
“It is undisputed that during this time period Mr. Epstein had difficulty accessing credit cards from major banks,” Indyke said, while speaking of cash withdrawals he made for the disgraced financier between 2013 and 2017.
However, the Epstein Files were made public by the Department of Justice and include documents revealing credit card charges during that time period. Also included were credit reports revealing he had credit card accounts open from 2011 to 2017, with a credit score above 750.
Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide in jail in 2019, while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. During 2008, he pleaded guilty to lesser sex crimes in Florida after several young women, some in their teens, reported to authorities that they gave Epstein “massages” that turned into sexual abuse, for which he paid them in several hundred dollars in cash.
Meanwhile, lawyers for the late financier’s accusers in civil lawsuits against banks that handled his accounts have noted large cash withdrawals from his accounts after the 2008 conviction. They argued for their clients that, given news reports about Epstein’s payments to women, the banks should have flagged large cash withdrawals that they believe allowed him to continue his sex-trafficking operation.
Among the banks, JPMorgan Chase cut ties with Epstein after employees repeatedly raised concerns over the large cash withdrawals. The bank settled a class-action lawsuit from the victims for $290 million. Epstein moved his accounts to Deutsche Bank after JPMorgan cut ties, which settled a separate lawsuit for $75 million.
In his appearance, Indyke stressed that he didn’t try to circumvent the banks’ policies on cash withdrawals, and that he didn’t believe the cash was used for “improper purposes.”
“For a person in Mr. Epstein’s financial position – with five multimillion-dollar residences staffed by dozens of employees and with an extensive travel itinerary – it did not strike me as unusual that Mr. Epstein’s business, household and personal needs required large amounts of cash on a regular basis,” he explained.
Meanwhile, other people, including accountants Richard Kahn, who appeared before the House Oversight Committee last week, and Harry Beller, had access to the disgraced financier’s accounts and withdrew cash from them.
Indyke also said in his statement that after his 2008 conviction, his client appeared “extremely contrite,” but he now regrets having believed in him. He added that he didn’t personally know of any sexual abuse until after Epstein died.
“After he pled guilty in 2008 to procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution, Mr. Epstein appeared to me to be devastated and extremely contrite,” Indyke said before the House Oversight Committee.
“He was adamant that he had no idea anyone involved was underage, and personally assured me he would never again let himself be in that position. I believed him, and I made the mistake of believing Mr. Epstein that he would not again commit a crime. I deeply regret doing so. Most importantly, I feel horrible for those women whom Mr. Epstein abused.”
