Federal investigators examining two of Jeffrey Epstein's closest advisers are looking closely at a shell company that survivors say was a site of his abuse, according to new reporting on a probe that could mark a turning point for his victims.
CNN reported Thursday that a source who was interviewed by investigators earlier this year said officials from multiple agencies, including the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, are gathering documents such as emails and checks and speaking with witnesses, among them survivors. The probe targets Epstein's longtime lawyer Darren Indyke and his accountant Richard Kahn, whose federal scrutiny the Wall Street Journal first reported this week.
Among the topics of interest, the source told CNN, is the Florida Science Foundation, one of Epstein's shell companies. The nonprofit was incorporated in November 2007, and multiple survivors have told CNN that Epstein abused them there while he was serving his jail sentence. Survivors and former associates testified to Congress this year about the same operation, describing a Palm Beach office Epstein used during work release, with sheriff's deputies paid to escort him, to continue preying on women. One former Epstein assistant told lawmakers she believed the foundation was essentially a "fake office," set up to give him somewhere to go while he was supposed to be behind bars.
Indyke and Kahn are among the most scrutinized figures from Epstein's inner circle. As co-executors of his estate, they also stand in line to potentially collect millions from his trust, an arrangement survivors have challenged as a conflict of interest. Both have repeatedly denied any knowledge of or role in Epstein's sex trafficking. Indyke told lawmakers this year he "had no knowledge whatsoever" of the crimes, and Kahn testified his relationship with Epstein was "strictly on a professional level," though a legal analyst has since suggested Indyke may have committed perjury in that testimony.
The Justice Department would not confirm the investigation, saying only that "if the evidence presents itself, we will investigate." A spokesperson for the Southern District of New York declined to comment. To date, Ghislaine Maxwell remains the only person prosecuted in the U.S. in connection with Epstein's operation, which survivors' advocates have long called an unacceptable lack of accountability.
