Musk subpoenaed in Jeffrey Epstein case
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has been subpoenaed for documents by prosecutors in the US Virgin Islands, who are seeking information for a lawsuit linked to the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and his work with a major American bank.
Filed in a US district court in New York on Monday, the subpoena ordered Musk to turn over all communications he may have had with Epstein or JPMorgan, documents showing any fees he may have paid to the US banking giant, as well as all material “regarding Epstein’s involvement in human trafficking and/or his procurement of girls or women for commercial sex” dating back to 2002.
Authorities in the Virgin Islands, a US territory, have said that Musk was a “high-net-worth individual who Epstein may have referred or attempted to refer to JPMorgan,” though they have not claimed any wrongdoing by the Tesla CEO.
The bank has been accused of having “firsthand knowledge that Epstein conducted a sex-trafficking venture” – namely by way of its former head of asset management, Jes Staley – and knowingly benefitted from Epstein’s crimes.
A complaint filed by the Virgin Islands government earlier this month claimed JPMorgan was “indispensable to the operation and concealment of the Epstein trafficking enterprise,” adding that “at least 20 individuals paid through JP Morgan accounts were victims of trafficking and sexual assault” that allegedly took place on Epstein’s various properties.
Virgin Islands officials say they initially subpoenaed Musk for the documents last month, but have had trouble reaching him. Prosecutors have also struggled to get in touch with Google co-founder Larry Page, who, like Musk, is thought to have been referred to JPMorgan by the disgraced financier.
After his first round of sex crime convictions in 2008 – for which he served just 13 months behind bars – Epstein was arrested by the FBI in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges. Before he could be tried, however, he was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell later the same year, in what was ruled a suicide. Epstein was a client of JPMorgan for around 15 years, including during the period he was accused of luring underage girls for abuse in an organized sex trafficking ring.
