NEW YORK — Even as whispers of underage girls and illicit parties swirled around Jeffrey Epstein in the mid-2000s, the biggest names on Wall Street kept the checks clearing.
Fresh documents from the financier’s estate, now in the hands of Congress, lay bare a decade-plus of cozy banking ties that persisted long after his crimes hit the headlines—prompting a House Oversight Committee subpoena blitz against over 20 major institutions, including Wells Fargo, TD Bank, and FirstBank Puerto Rico.
Epstein, the convicted sex offender who rubbed elbows with presidents and billionaires until his 2019 jailhouse death, wasn’t just a social pariah; he was a financial fixture.
The Wall Street Journal’s deep dive into his estate files reveals how banks weighed legal risks against the allure of a high-rolling client, often opting to look the other way.
How Banks Allowed Shady Activity
JPMorgan Chase, for instance, didn’t shut Epstein’s accounts until 2013—eight full years after Palm Beach cops first probed his abuse of minors in 2005. Deutsche Bank held on even longer, severing ties only in 2018, a year before Epstein’s suicide while awaiting federal sex trafficking charges.
“These banks evaluated legal and reputational risks when deciding whether to retain clients,” the Journal notes, adding that while they’re obligated to flag suspicious activity—like Epstein’s frequent cash withdrawals—sex crimes alone weren’t automatic deal-breakers.
Both JPMorgan and Deutsche have since settled with Epstein’s victims for undisclosed sums, insisting no admission of wrongdoing, but the estate docs paint a picture of institutional blind spots that let the abuse fund flow unchecked.
The revelations go deeper into Epstein’s web of money moves from 2013 to 2019, a period when his Florida plea deal—a cushy 18-month sentence with work release—should have raised every alarm bell. He funneled at least $60 million to hedge fund Honeycomb Partners between 2016 and 2019. From 2014 to 2017, another $38 million went to Boothbay, with $10 million looping back to Epstein by the end.
Even in 2018, as scrutiny mounted, Blockchain Capital—a crypto venture firm—snapped up stakes in Epstein’s private companies through three of its funds.
Then there are the eyebrow-raising payouts to Epstein’s inner circle, some previously under the radar.
Various Figures Profit from Epstein-Connection
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers pocketed just over $1,000 in travel reimbursements for Epstein meetings from 2013 to 2016. Joi Ito, then-director of MIT’s Media Lab, scored a hefty $2.5 million in investments from Epstein between 2014 and 2015.
Norwegian diplomat Terje Rod-Larsen also got $250,000 in 2015 for ‘unspecified work.
These transfers join a rogues’ gallery of confirmed links, including billions to Peter Thiel, Leon Black, and Rothschild family members—reminders of Epstein’s knack for blending philanthropy with predation.
Photos tucked into the files add a glossy layer of discomfort: Epstein grinning with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in 1997, and a 2000 group shot featuring Trump, Melania, Epstein, and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Trump, who once called Epstein a “terrific guy” in 2002 for his taste in “beautiful women… on the younger side,” has dismissed the saga as a “Democrat hoax.” But with the House Oversight Committee gearing up to haul in bank execs for questioning, the past is proving harder to bury.
The subpoenas, targeting Epstein’s full roster of financial partners, signal Congress’s determination to unpack how Wall Street’s watchdogs missed—or ignored—the wolves in their midst. For victims still seeking justice, it’s an overdue reckoning; for banks, a reminder that some clients’ shadows stretch longer than their ledgers.
As one estate filing put it bluntly, Epstein’s money trail wasn’t just transactions—it was a lifeline for an empire built on exploitation.
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