NEW YORK (AP) — The government of the U.S. Virgin Islands is trying to subpoena billionaire Elon Musk for documents in its lawsuit seeking to hold JPMorgan Chase liable for s*x trafficking acts committed by businessman Jeffrey Epstein.
Musk has never been publicly accused of any wrongdoing related to Epstein, who killed himself in 2019 as he awaited s*x trafficking charges in a federal jail in Manhattan.
But over the years, there had been unconfirmed speculation — encouraged by Epstein himself — that Epstein had advised Musk on certain business matters.
Spokespeople for Musk have denied those reports, but the
government of the U.S. Virgin Islands said in a court filing that it
believes Epstein may have referred or tried to refer Musk to JPMorgan as a
potential client.
The Virgin Islands, where Epstein had an
estate, sued JPMorgan last year, saying its investigation has revealed that
the financial services giant enabled Epstein’s recruiters to pay victims and
was “indispensable to the operation and concealment of the Epstein
trafficking enterprise.”
Lawyers for JPMorgan did not immediately
return messages seeking comment Monday.
In the past, they have
said victims are entitled to justice but litigation attempting to blame the
financial institution for Epstein’s actions were legally meritless, directed
at the wrong party and should be dismissed.
Authorities alleged that Epstein recruited and s*xually abused
dozens of underage girls at his mansions in New York and Palm Beach,
Florida, in the early 2000s. He had pleaded not guilty.
Lawyers
for the Virgin Islands told a federal judge Monday that they haven’t been
able to locate Musk to serve him with the subpoena.
They asked
the court to serve Tesla, his electric vehicle company, instead.
They
said they hired an investigative firm to search public records databases for
possible addresses for Musk and reached out to one of his lawyers by email,
but received no response.
A message sent to a lawyer for Musk seeking comment Monday was
not immediately returned.
The subpoena — one of several sent to
prominent business figures — sought documents from Jan. 1, 2002, to the
present reflecting communications between Musk and JPMorgan or Musk and
Epstein regarding Epstein or Epstein’s role in Musk’s accounts, transactions
or financial management.
It also sought all documents reflecting
or regarding Epstein’s involvement in human trafficking and his procurement
of girls or women for commercial s*x.
And it sought information about fees Musk might have paid to
Epstein or JPMorgan and any documents concerning communications between
Musk, Epstein and JPMorgan regarding accounts, transactions or the
relationship at JPMorgan.
