New Mexico attorney general files civil lawsuit against two Epstein advisers

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez on Wednesday filed a civil lawsuit against two of Jeffrey Epstein’s closest advisers, accusing them of having “facilitated and concealed” Epstein’s crimes.

The advisers, Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, have faced scrutiny over their ties to the late sex offender since the Justice Department released files related to Epstein late last year.

Indyke, a longtime Epstein employee and attorney, and Kahn, Epstein’s longtime accountant, are the co-executors of Epstein’s estate. Earlier this year, Torrez’s office began investigating the property Epstein owned in the state, known as Zorro Ranch, after allegations about it were included in files.

The two advisers have denied any knowledge of or involvement in Epstein’s sex trafficking operation.

Torrez said during a news conference on Wednesday that the civil lawsuit aims to prevent Indyke and Kahn from getting any money from Epstein’s trust. CNN has previously reported that as part of Epstein’s will, Indyke was left with $50 million and Kahn was left $25 million.

“Frankly, if anyone is entitled to a recovery of Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, it’s the survivors,” Torrez said, adding, “There should be no distribution of Mr. Epstein’s remaining assets to people like Mr. Indyke and Mr. Kahn for participation in what I think is one of the most horrific criminal enterprises in modern American history.”

CNN has reached out to lawyers for Indyke and Kahn for comment.

Wednesday’s civil lawsuit comes as Indyke and Kahn are also reportedly under federal investigation . They have additionally faced multiple lawsuits from survivors for compensation.

In February, Torrez reopened New Mexico’s criminal investigation into Zorro Ranch after the files released by DOJ included a 2019 email received by a local radio host that alleged that “somewhere in the hills outside the Zorro, two foreign girls were buried on orders of Jeffrey and Madam G.”

As part of the probe, New Mexico authorities have searched the property . Torrez has also filed a lawsuit against DOJ and US Attorney General Todd Blanche, accusing the department of “hiding information about Epstein and his co-conspirators” and “stonewalling” the state’s investigation.

Separately, a bipartisan commission of New Mexico lawmakers are also looking into the allegations of criminal activity surrounding Zorro Ranch and have issued multiple subpoenas , though not to Indyke and Kahn.

Earlier this year, Indyke and Kahn sat for closed-door depositions with the House Oversight Committee, during which they said that they were unaware of Epstein’s crimes, despite having worked for Epstein for decades and being intimately involved in Epstein’s business dealings and finances.

“Let me be clear: I had no knowledge whatsoever of Jeffrey Epstein’s wrongdoings,” said Indyke, who began working for Epstein in 1996, during the March deposition. “My complete lack of involvement in that misconduct is a matter of record. Not a single woman has ever accused me of committing sexual abuse or witnessing sexual abuse, or claimed at any time that she or anyone else reported to me any allegation of Mr. Epstein’s abuse.”

Meanwhile, Kahn, who began working for Epstein in 2005 and said he only saw him approximately every three weeks, then told lawmakers, “We did not interact socially, and I never attended any of his parties of his social functions. While Epstein was alive, I never observed any sexual abuse or trafficking of women and never received a complaint – either by one of Epstein’s victims or anyone else – of such abuse or trafficking.”

Both men also said during the depositions that if they had known about Epstein’s trafficking of women and girls while working for him, they would have cut ties with him immediately.

CNN’s Em Steck and Annie Grayer contributed to this report.

新墨西哥州总检察长劳尔·托雷斯周三对杰弗里·爱泼斯坦的两名最亲密的顾问提起民事诉讼，指控他们“协助和掩盖”了爱泼斯坦的犯罪行为。

自司法部去年底公布与爱泼斯坦有关的文件以来，顾问达伦·因迪克和理查德·卡恩就因与这位已故性犯罪者的关系而受到审查。

长期担任爱泼斯坦雇员和律师的印迪克，以及爱泼斯坦的长期会计师卡恩，共同担任爱泼斯坦遗产的执行人。今年早些时候，托雷斯办公室开始调查爱泼斯坦在该州拥有的名为“佐罗牧场”的房产，此前有文件披露了有关该房产的指控。

这两位顾问否认对爱泼斯坦的性交易活动知情或参与其中。

托雷斯周三在新闻发布会上表示，提起民事诉讼旨在阻止因迪克和卡恩从爱泼斯坦的信托基金中获得任何资金。此前，CNN曾报道，根据爱泼斯坦的遗嘱，因迪克继承了5000万美元，卡恩继承了2500万美元。

“坦白说，如果说谁有权获得杰弗里·爱泼斯坦的遗产，那应该是他的幸存者，”托雷斯说，“爱泼斯坦先生的剩余资产不应该分配给像印迪克先生和卡恩先生这样的人，因为他们参与了我认为是美国现代史上最骇人听闻的犯罪活动之一。”

CNN已联系Indyke和Kahn的律师寻求置评。

周三提起的民事诉讼正值印迪克和卡恩据报道也正在接受联邦调查之际。此外，他们还面临着多起幸存者提起的赔偿诉讼。

今年 2 月，托雷斯重启了新墨西哥州对佐罗牧场的刑事调查。此前，司法部公布的文件中包含了一封 2019 年当地电台主持人收到的电子邮件，邮件中称“在佐罗牧场外的某个山丘上，两名外国女孩被杰弗里和 G 夫人下令埋葬”。

作为调查的一部分，新墨西哥州当局搜查了该处房产。托雷斯还对司法部和美国司法部长托德·布兰奇提起诉讼，指控司法部“隐瞒有关爱泼斯坦及其同谋的信息”并“阻挠”该州的调查。

另外，新墨西哥州两党议员组成的委员会也在调查佐罗牧场相关的犯罪活动指控，并已发出多份传票，但并未传唤印迪克和卡恩。

今年早些时候，印迪克和卡恩接受了众议院监督委员会的闭门质询，期间他们表示，尽管他们为爱泼斯坦工作了几十年，并且与爱泼斯坦的商业交易和财务有着密切联系，但他们对爱泼斯坦的罪行毫不知情。

“我要明确说明：我对杰弗里·爱泼斯坦的罪行毫不知情，” 1996年开始为爱泼斯坦工作的印迪克在3月份的证词中说道。“我完全没有参与这些不当行为，这一点有据可查。没有任何一位女性指控我实施或目睹过性虐待，也没有任何女性声称她们或其他人曾向我报告过任何关于爱泼斯坦先生虐待行为的指控。”

与此同时，卡恩于2005年开始为爱泼斯坦工作，他表示自己大约每三周才与爱泼斯坦见面一次。卡恩随后告诉议员们：“我们没有社交往来，我也从未参加过他的任何派对或社交活动。在爱泼斯坦在世期间，我从未目睹过任何性虐待或贩卖妇女的行为，也从未收到过任何关于此类虐待或贩卖的投诉——无论是来自爱泼斯坦的受害者还是其他人。”

两人在作证时还表示，如果他们在为爱泼斯坦工作期间知道他贩卖妇女和女孩，他们会立即与他断绝关系。

CNN的Em Steck和Annie Grayer对本报道亦有贡献。