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 recommend.
After studying that Epstein stole lots of of tens of millions 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 line with emails and a memo later drafted by prosecutors.
A vitally necessary 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 obtained substantial scrutiny over his affiliation with Epstein since Epstein’s arrest and loss of life by suicide in 2019.
In accordance with ready remarks reviewed by ABC Information, Wexner plans to inform members of the committee that he “by no means witnessed nor had any data of Epstein’s legal exercise.”
“The opposite life he led, that we now know was stuffed with unthinkable crimes, he most rigorously and absolutely hid from me. He knew that I by no means would have tolerated his horrible habits. Not any of it. At no time did I ever witness the facet of Epstein’s life for which he’s now notorious,” the ready remarks acknowledged.
Wexner famous that he “utterly and irrevocably lower ties” with Epstein after studying about an investigation into his sexual abuse and realizing that he stole “huge sums” from his household.
“Epstein agreed to, and did, return a considerable amount of cash, even whereas persevering with to take care of his complete innocence of any wrongdoing, by no means dropping the con. In gentle of his eventual responsible plea and deception of our household, we utterly severed our relationship with Epstein. Epstein was completely and irrevocably out of my life,” Wexner famous.
Les Wexner speaks onstage on the 2016 Perfume Basis Awards introduced by Hearst Magazines, June 7, 2016, in New York.
Nicholas Hunt/Getty Photos
Wexner referred to as Epstein a “grasp manipulator” and claimed he by no means suspected or heard something about Epstein abusing minors.
“As soon as I discovered of his abusive conduct and theft from my household, I by no means spoke with Epstein once more. By no means,” Wexner stated.
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 concerning his involvement,” in line with a recently-released 2019 electronic mail from an FBI agent who was a part of the intercourse crimes investigation.
“The Assistant U.S. Legal professional instructed Mr. Wexner’s authorized counsel in 2019 that Mr. Wexner was neither a co-conspirator nor goal the least bit,” a spokesperson for Wexner instructed ABC Information in an announcement following the discharge of Epstein information by the Division of Justice final month. “Mr. Wexner cooperated absolutely by offering background info on Epstein and was by no means contacted once more.”
Legal professionals 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 had been “extra skilled than social,” in line 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 line 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 price.
“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 a substitute resolved the matter privately, in line with prosecutors.
Wexner was contacted by federal prosecutors in Florida as early as August 2007 concerning the Epstein investigation, in line with handwritten notes launched final month by the Division of Justice. Notes from an August 2007 name between an lawyer for Wexner and a DOJ consultant recommend 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 residence.
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 recommend.
“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 line with emails obtained by DDOSecrets, a transparency web site that obtained a cache of Epstein emails that weren’t included within the DOJ’s disclosures.
“That is odd?? Why” Maxwell responded.
“It is bulls—, she simply needed to let him find out about an investigation is my guess,” Epstein wrote again.
It’s unclear if Wexner was conscious of the investigation into monetary crimes when his lawyer was contacted, however within the following months, Wexner started the method of ending Epstein’s position as his cash supervisor, in line with emails within the DDOSecrets assortment between attorneys for Epstein and Wexner.
“All I can say is I really feel sorry. You violated your personal number one rule … At all times watch out,” Wexler emailed Epstein in 2008 days earlier than Epstein reported to jail for soliciting underage intercourse, in line with paperwork included in DDOSecrets assortment.
“No excuse,” Epstein replied.
‘She just about needs every part’
In accordance 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 an excessively aggressive police chief and a few form of therapeutic massage.”
In accordance with the memo, Abigail Wexner found Epstein “misappropriated a major 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 price.
“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 wish to carry pointless public consideration to the difficulty, in order that they withdrew the ability of lawyer, 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 line with an impartial assessment performed in 2020 of Epstein’s involvement with the Wexner Basis.
“Mr. Wexner terminated Epstein as his monetary advisor, revoked his energy of lawyer, 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 part,” Wexner’s monetary controller instructed an lawyer for Epstein.
Later that 12 months, an lawyer for Wexner pushed the method alongside, telling an lawyer for Epstein that his consumer “is raring to execute paperwork,” in line 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 stress marketing campaign to discredit the prosecutor pursuing a cash laundering investigation into Epstein, in line with emails within the DDOSECRETS assortment. Epstein had signed a non-prosecution settlement in September 2007, however his attorneys 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 below investigation though there was no proof towards Mr. Epstein regarding these fees,” 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 Seashore after reaching the controversial plea deal that allowed him to keep away from federal fees.
‘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 recommend 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. Quite a lot 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 number of,” Epstein wrote within the draft notice. Primarily based on publicly obtainable 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 stress, saying in a letter to his charitable basis that he was “deceived” by Epstein.
“Because the allegations towards Mr. Epstein in Florida had 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, though it clearly pales compared to the unthinkable allegations towards him now,” Wexner wrote.
