Members of the Home Oversight Committee on Wednesday are set to depose retail billionaire Leslie Wexner, whose wealth fueled Jeffrey Epstein’s fortune earlier than an alleged multimillion greenback theft ended their relationship, newly revealed paperwork counsel.
After studying that Epstein stole a whole bunch of hundreds of thousands from him in 2007, Wexner opted to quietly resolve the difficulty with Epstein, who on the time was being investigated by federal prosecutors for each intercourse crimes and cash laundering, in keeping with emails and a memo later drafted by prosecutors.
A vitally essential particular person within the transformation of Epstein from faculty dropout to multimillionaire adviser to the ultra-wealthy, Wexner — a businessman behind manufacturers like Victoria’s Secret and Bathtub & Physique Works — has acquired substantial scrutiny over his affiliation with Epstein since Epstein’s arrest and death by suicide in 2019.
Years after the 2 severed ties, prosecutors in New York initially included Wexner in a gaggle of potential co-conspirators to be investigated after Epstein was arrested in July 2019, although they later decided there was “restricted proof relating to his involvement,” in keeping with a recently-released 2019 e mail from an FBI agent who was a part of the intercourse crimes investigation.
“The Assistant U.S. Lawyer informed Mr. Wexner’s authorized counsel in 2019 that Mr. Wexner was neither a co-conspirator nor goal the least bit,” a spokesperson for Wexner informed ABC Information in an announcement following the release of Epstein files by the Division of Justice final month. “Mr. Wexner cooperated absolutely by offering background data on Epstein and was by no means contacted once more.”
Attorneys for Wexner, in a gathering with federal prosecutors about two weeks after Epstein’s arrest, claimed that Wexner “had no data of any inappropriate or illegal exercise with younger girls by Epstein” and that Wexner’s dealings with Epstein have been “extra skilled than social,” in keeping with a December 2019 prosecution memo summarizing the investigation into Epstein’s potential collaborators.
Wexner’s attorneys stated the 2 ended their relationship after Wexner discovered that “Epstein had stolen or in any other case misappropriated a number of hundred million {dollars}” from him, in keeping with the memo. The memo acknowledged that Epstein personally profited by repeatedly buying properties for the Wexners earlier than shopping for them for himself at a fraction of the associated fee.
“The Wexners then determined to chop off Epstein,” prosecutors wrote within the memo summarizing their dialogue with Wexner’s counsel.
‘All I can say is I really feel sorry’
Epstein was — all through 2007 — the topic of an ongoing investigation in Florida into intercourse crimes involving minors that had expanded to probe potential monetary crimes and cash laundering. The Wexners didn’t report the alleged theft of their funds to legislation enforcement and as an alternative resolved the matter privately, in keeping with prosecutors.
Wexner was contacted by federal prosecutors in Florida as early as August 2007 relating to the Epstein investigation, in keeping with handwritten notes launched final month by the Division of Justice. Notes from an August 2007 name between an legal professional for Wexner and a DOJ consultant counsel that prosecutors inquired about Wexner’s interactions along with his “cash supervisor,” documentation of their conferences, and whether or not Wexner ever visited Epstein’s dwelling.
On the time, prosecutors had begun to broaden their investigation to not solely cowl intercourse crimes but additionally potential cash laundering and wire fraud, paperwork counsel.
“She simply needed to know if Les has been to my home,” Epstein emailed his affiliate Ghislaine Maxwell in August 2007, in an obvious reference to the prosecutor’s contact with Wexner’s lawyer, in keeping with emails obtained by DDOSecrets, a transparency web site that acquired a cache of Epstein emails that weren’t included within the DOJ’s disclosures.
“That is odd?? Why” Maxwell responded.
Les Wexner speaks onstage on the 2016 Perfume Basis Awards introduced by Hearst Magazines, June 7, 2016, in New York.
Nicholas Hunt/Getty Pictures
“It is bulls—, she simply needed to let him learn about an investigation is my guess,” Epstein wrote again.
It’s unclear if Wexner was conscious of the investigation into monetary crimes when his legal professional was contacted, however within the following months, Wexner started the method of ending Epstein’s function as his cash supervisor, in keeping with emails within the DDOSecrets assortment between legal professionals for Epstein and Wexner.
“All I can say is I really feel sorry. You violated your individual number one rule … All the time watch out,” Wexler emailed Epstein in 2008 days earlier than Epstein reported to jail for soliciting underage intercourse, in keeping with paperwork included in DDOSecrets assortment.
“No excuse,” Epstein replied.
‘She just about needs every thing’
In keeping with a 2019 prosecution memo, Wexner’s spouse started to look into Epstein’s administration of their cash after Epstein claimed he was “having authorized issues involving a very aggressive police chief and a few kind of therapeutic massage.”
In keeping with the memo, Abigail Wexner found Epstein “misappropriated a big quantity of the household’s funds,” together with by buying property on the Wexners’ behalf earlier than promoting it to himself at a fraction of the associated fee.
“When confronted, Epstein tried to persuade Wexner’s spouse that she didn’t perceive the financials and insisted that he had the Wexners’ finest pursuits at coronary heart,” the memo stated. “The Wexners didn’t need to carry pointless public consideration to the difficulty, so that they withdrew the ability of legal professional, and employed counsel to barter a non-public settlement with Epstein.”
Epstein resigned from the inspiration and all of his roles with Wexner in September 2007, in keeping with an unbiased assessment carried out in 2020 of Epstein’s involvement with the Wexner Basis.
“Mr. Wexner terminated Epstein as his monetary advisor, revoked his energy of legal professional, and directed that he be faraway from all financial institution accounts,” a spokesperson for Wexner stated in an announcement to ABC Information.
As early as October 2007, emails point out that Epstein started transferring belongings again to Wexner.
“When talking with [Abigail Wexner], she just about needs every thing,” Wexner’s monetary controller informed an legal professional for Epstein.
Later that yr, an legal professional for Wexner pushed the method alongside, telling an legal professional for Epstein that his consumer “is keen to execute paperwork,” in keeping with the DDOSecrets cache.
Prosecutors wrote in a 2019 memo that Epstein returned $100 million to Wexner by January 2008.
Although the dispute with Wexner was privately resolved by January 2008, Epstein’s attorneys appeared to have mounted a strain marketing campaign to discredit the prosecutor pursuing a cash laundering investigation into Epstein, in keeping with emails within the DDOSECRETS assortment. Epstein had signed a non-prosecution settlement in September 2007, however his legal professionals continued to barter with the federal government over its phrases for a number of extra months.
“In what can solely be seen as an try and intimidate Mr. Epstein, Ms. Villafana [an assistant U.S. Attorney] then added money-laundering and unlicensed wire-transmittal to the checklist of violations beneath investigation although there was no proof in opposition to Mr. Epstein regarding these prices,” attorneys for Epstein wrote in a letter to the Workplace of Skilled Duty dated Feb. 11, 2008.
By June 2008, Epstein started his jail sentence in Palm Seaside after reaching the controversial plea deal that allowed him to keep away from federal prices.
‘You and I had gang stuff for over 15 years‘
Though Epstein and Wexner seem to have severed ties following Epstein’s plea deal, paperwork launched by the DOJ counsel that Epstein might have tried to rekindle their relationship in subsequent years by drafting a letter reminding Wexner of shared experiences and alleged secrets and techniques. Within the letter, Epstein wrote that he protected him when he was questioned by Wexner’s spouse about his administration of their cash.
“You and I had ‘gang stuff’ for over 15 years. A substantial amount of it, that she was unaware of. I had no intention of divulging any confidence of ours, it doesn’t matter what accusations she made. And he or she made fairly a couple of,” Epstein wrote within the draft notice. Based mostly on publicly out there paperwork, it’s unclear whether or not Epstein ever despatched the notice to Wexner.
Wexner publicly addressed his relationship with Epstein in August 2019 amid mounting public strain, saying in a letter to his charitable basis that he was “deceived” by Epstein.
“Because the allegations in opposition to Mr. Epstein in Florida have been rising, he vehemently denied them. However by early fall 2007, it was agreed that he ought to step again from the administration of our private funds. In that course of, we found that he had misappropriated huge sums of cash from me and my household. This was, frankly, an amazing shock, although it clearly pales compared to the unthinkable allegations in opposition to him now,” Wexner wrote.
