New Mexico's attorney general filed a lawsuit Wednesday against two advisers to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in an effort to stop them from benefiting from Epstein's multi-million-dollar estate and accusing them of concealing his sex trafficking operation.
"Those resources rightfully belong in the hands of survivors," said Attorney General Raul Torrez during a press conference announcing the lawsuit.
Torrez accused Darren Indyke, Epstein's attorney, and Richard Kahn, Epstein's accountant, of being complicit in Epstein's sexual abuse of girls and young women at his Zorro Ranch near Santa Fe.
The lawsuit claims Indyke and Kahn were part of a criminal enterprise operation that "facilitated and/or knowingly participated in the targeting, recruitment, transportation, confinement, and sexual exploitation of vulnerable girls and young women for Epstein’s personal gratification and trafficking by him to other wealthy, influential men."
It seeks to stop the two men, who are co-executors of Epstein's estate, from benefiting from his trust that holds "in excess of $100 million." He said Indyke and Kahn "stand to benefit substantially" from Epstein's estate unless a court intervenes.
"If anyone is entitled to a recovery of Jeffrey Epstein's estate, it's the survivors, the Epstein survivors who were targeted and trafficked here in New Mexico and beyond," Torrez said.
“None of this could be done by just one man,” Torrez added. “This was something that was facilitated, that was made possible by handlers, by lawyers, by accountants, by others who have yet to face real consequences.”
Epstein killed himself in August 2019 in a federal jail in New York City, where he was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
His former girlfriend and close associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, is serving a 20-year prison sentence after her 2021 conviction on sex trafficking charges in New York. Witness testimony at Maxwell’s trial alleged she and Epstein had sexually abused women at the New Mexico ranch.
Epstein purchased the Zorro Ranch in Stanley, a sparsely populated ranching community about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Santa Fe, in 1993. He built a 26,700-square-foot mansion with a sprawling courtyard, a living room roughly the size of the average American home, and a private airstrip and helipad.
Epstein never faced charges in New Mexico, though the state attorney general's office in 2019 confirmed that it was investigating and planned to forward its findings to federal authorities in New York. Hector Balderas, who was attorney general at the time, said the state’s outdated laws failed to protect children from abuse.
Torrez reopened the state’s investigation this year. In August, he sued the Justice Department, accusing it of blocking the state from investigating alleged sex crimes at the ranch. The government said it was not releasing some information to the state to avoid disclosing victim-identifying information.
Also in August, a commission established by state lawmakers to investigate whether local authorities looked the other way, released a 119-page report that found that authorities repeatedly deferred to investigations in New York, Palm Beach, Florida, and the Virgin Islands, while leaving Epstein’s offenses in New Mexico unexamined and unpunished.
The ranch was sold by Epstein’s estate in 2023 to the family of Don Huffines, a Republican who is the Texas state comptroller. The money was set aside for creditors.
Probate proceedings related to Epstein’s will and assets are being handled in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
