Virgin Islands Will Subpoena Leon Black, Billionaire Investor in Epstein Case

The attorney general is seeking documents from Mr. Black related to Southern Trust and other companies and organizations that were controlled by Mr. Epstein, who died last summer in federal custody while facing federal sex-trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.

The requests represent a significant step in Ms. George’s efforts to unravel the mystery of how Mr. Epstein amassed an estate valued at more than $600 million. They are part of a civil forfeiture suit she filed against his estate in January, claiming Mr. Epstein had misled government officials in the Virgin Islands to secure lucrative tax breaks for his businesses while engaging in sex trafficking and the abuse of underage girls.

Ms. George has also sent subpoenas to banks that handled Mr. Epstein’s money, including JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank. Some of the payment information involving Mr. Black surfaced during a review by Deutsche Bank, according to one of the people briefed on the matter. Deutsche Bank recently reached a settlement with regulators in New York who found the bank had done little to vet Mr. Epstein’s financial dealings.

Mr. Black knew Mr. Epstein for more than two decades. Mr. Epstein was one of the original trustees of the Debra and Leon Black Family Foundation, which Mr. Black established in 1997, and stayed on the board for a decade.

Some prominent business figures — including Leslie H. Wexner, the retail mogul behind Victoria’s Secret — cut ties with Mr. Epstein after his 2008 conviction in Florida on a charge of soliciting prostitution from a minor, but Mr. Black did not.

In 2015, a company tied to the Black foundation donated $10 million to one of Mr. Epstein’s charitable organizations. And at Mr. Epstein’s urging, Mr. Black gave an anonymous $5 million donation to the MIT Media Lab, according to a university report, and several million to professors at Harvard University.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/23/business/jeffrey-epstein-leon-black-virgin-islands.html