Denise George, the U.S. Virgin
Islands attorney general, made the accusation in
an amended lawsuit naming the executors Darren
Indyke and Richard Kahn as defendants, a few
hours after the executors' lawyers filed papers
opposing her bid to freeze the estate's assets.
Both executors "categorically reject the
allegations of misconduct," their lawyers said
in an emailed statement.
"Neither Mr. Indyke nor Mr. Kahn had any
involvement in any misconduct by Mr. Epstein of
any kind, at any time," the lawyers said. "It is
enormously regrettable that the Attorney General
chose to level false allegations and to unfairly
malign the co-executors' reputation without any
proof or factual basis."
George sought the freeze after the Feb. 4
announcement that the administrator of the
Epstein Victims' Compensation Program would
temporarily halt payouts because most of the
estate's estimated $240.8 million of assets,
down from a peak of around $634 million, were
illiquid.
George first sued the estate for civil penalties
and the forfeiture of assets including two
private islands in the Virgin Islands in January
2020, five months after Epstein killed himself
in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial on sex
trafficking charges.
She later dropped her opposition to the payout
program for Epstein's accusers, which according
to the executors' lawyers has paid out $57.8
million of the more than $87 million it has
received from the estate.
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George's additional claims were
detailed in a 76-page complaint she said she
filed with the Virgin Islands Superior Court to
help "ensure the victims, our government, and
our residents obtain the answers they deserve."
They include accusations that the executors,
through performing legal and accounting work for
Epstein before his death, "knowingly
facilitated" at least three "forced" marriages
for victims to secure their immigration status
"so that they could continue to be available to
Epstein for his abuse." In
opposing an asset freeze, the executors' lawyers
said George had not shown the estate had been
"mismanaged."
The lawyers said Epstein's waterfront home in
Palm Beach, Florida has been in contract since
October, while his townhouse on Manhattan's
Upper East Side is "progressing" toward a sale.
They also said Epstein's Virgin Islands
properties cannot be sold because George has put
liens on them, and the value of homes and
aircraft in the estate could "plummet" if sales
were blocked, reducing potential compensation
for victims.
"That helps no one," the lawyers said.
The administrator of the victims compensation
fund was not immediately available for comment
outside business hours.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York;
Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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