NEWS
Dozens of companies asked to preserve records in Epstein probe
Letters indicate wide-ranging investigation into activities at Zorro Ranch
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New Mexico Department of Justice investigators have sent letters to dozens of companies asking them to preserve records related to the late Jeffrey Epstein and others in connection with the state's investigation into activities at Zorro Ranch.
Companies targeted by the "preservation letters" include banking giants JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, both of which have reached financial settlements with New Mexico to help pay for investigations into human trafficking in New Mexico.
Other companies asked to preserve records include Apple, Google, Microsoft, seven airlines and travel-related companies such as Expedia and Airline Reporting Corp. The letters, obtained by the Journal through a public records request, all are dated May 15.
The letters ask the companies to preserve records related to Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a federal prison sentence for sex trafficking.
State investigators also sent letters to more than a dozen communications firms, including AT&T, Earthlink, T-Mobile, Verizon, WhatsApp and Yahoo pertaining to email accounts connected with Epstein, Maxwell and others whose names are redacted.
New Mexico Attorney General Ra煤l Torrez announced in February that he was reopening an investigation into activities at Epstein's former ranch near Stanley. Torrez said he was prompted to reopen the investigation by information contained in nearly 3 million pages of documents released early this year by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Those records show that the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York sought subpoenas in 2020 seeking financial and travel records from some sources now being targeted by the New Mexico Department of Justice.
A separate investigation is underway by a state House truth-finding commission into Epstein's activities at Zorro Ranch.
That commission, formed by lawmakers early this year, issued 14 subpoenas June 1 to state and federal agencies, JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, the estate of Jeffrey Epstein, the Santa Fe Institute and the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office.
The NMDOJ also sent a preservation letter to a law firm hired by the truth commission, Fadduol, Cluff, Hardy & Conaway, pertaining to any investigative records swept up in the commission's investigation.
Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while in custody on sex-trafficking charges, purchased the 7,500-acre Zorro Ranch in 1993. At least five girls or young women have alleged they were sexually abused and trafficked at the ranch, according to the truth commission website.
Federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York asked former Attorney General Hector Balderas in 2019 to halt the state's investigation into Epstein's activities to avoid "risks of parallel investigations" that defense attorneys could exploit, Balderas said in March.
That request "gutted" New Mexico's investigation, and federal prosecutors failed to provide information to New Mexico investigators that could have led to criminal prosecutions here, Balderas said.
The letters sent last month by the New Mexico Department of Justice also pertain to any records provided to the FBI or the U.S. Department of Justice.
Investigators also sent letters to four financial institutions other than JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, including First Bancorp in Puerto Rico, American Express, PayPal Inc. and Western Union.
"Financial records associated with potential offenders are expected to be relevant and material to the ongoing investigation," the letters said. "This letter serves as a formal request for the preservation of relevant records pending the possibility of further legal process."
Still other letters were sent to New Mexico agencies, including the Secretary of State, Tax and Revenue and the Department of Workforce Solutions, seeking protection of employment and business records for three corporate entities related to Zorro Ranch and Cypress Inc., a corporation owned by Epstein in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Olivier Uyttebrouck covers the court system. You can reach him at olivier@abqjournal.com.
