US Department of Justice
- Jeffrey Epstein's longtime lawyer, Darren Indyke, was called before the House Oversight Committee.
- Indyke sought to explain Epstein's large cash withdrawals starting in 2013.
- Epstein used cash to cover his sex-trafficking operation, victims and their lawyers have alleged.
Speaking under oath before members of Congress on Thursday, Jeffrey Epstein's personal lawyer attempted to explain some of the now-dead financier's large cash withdrawals.
In his prepared remarks, Darren Indyke told members of the House Oversight Committee that Epstein required large amounts of cash to run his many households, from New York to the US Virgin Islands.
"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, a copy of which was obtained by Business Insider.
Indyke also said Epstein had trouble getting approved for a credit card after JPMorgan Chase severed ties with the convicted sex offender in 2013.
"It is undisputed that during this time period Mr. Epstein had difficulty accessing credit cards from major banks," Indyke said, referring to cash withdrawals he made for Epstein between 2013 and 2017.
The Epstein files made public by the Justice Department include documents with credit card charges from that time period. They also include credit reports showing he had credit card accounts open between 2011 and 2017 and a credit score above 750.
A representative for Deutsche Bank declined to comment. An attorney for Indyke didn't respond to a request for comment.
Epstein died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges in New York.
In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to lesser sex crimes in Florida after numerous young women, some of them teenagers, told the authorities that he paid them several hundred dollars in cash for "massages" that turned into sexual abuse.
Lawyers representing Epstein's accusers in civil lawsuits against banks that maintained Epstein's accounts have pointed to the large cash withdrawals from Epstein's accounts following his 2008 conviction. They argued that, given the news reports about Epstein's payments to women, the banks should have flagged cash withdrawals that they say allowed Epstein to continue his sex-trafficking operation.
JPMorgan Chase — which cut ties with Epstein after employees repeatedly raised concerns over the cash withdrawals — settled a class-action lawsuit from Epstein victims for $290 million. Deutsche Bank, where Epstein moved his accounts after JPMorgan severed ties, separately settled a lawsuit for $75 million.
Indyke said he never tried to circumvent the banks' policies on cash withdrawals and that he never believed the money 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 said.
Other people working for Epstein also had access to his accounts and withdrew cash from his accounts, including accountants Richard Kahn, who testified before the House Oversight Committee last week, and Harry Beller.
Indyke said in his statement that Epstein appeared "extremely contrite" after his 2008 conviction and regretted believing in him. He said he wasn't personally aware of any sexual abuse until after Epstein's death.
"He led two entirely separate lives, his professional one and the other, a private, personal one that caused many others to suffer," Indyke said. "That I did not know what my client did in his private life may be difficult for some to believe, but it is true."