In Jeffrey Epstein's emails published by the US Department of Justice, the expression "tax-deductible" is constantly used, i.e. that something can be deducted from taxes. But that's not all: the financier seems to have been quite adept in this area and traded in these tax tricks, selling them to billionaires in order to make a profit.
Among his most loyal clients was, for example, Leon Black, co-founder and co-owner of the investment company "Apollo", whose fortune is estimated at billions. Since 2012, Epstein has consulted him on tax matters, in particular on inheritance and donations. Black wanted to leave his heirs as much money as possible, minimizing the inheritance taxes due, as is clear from a report by the law firm "Dechert", hired by Black himself.
For his services, Epstein received generous amounts - between 23 and 26 million US dollars per year, a journalistic investigation by WDR, NDR and "Süddeutsche Zeitung" (ZT) found.
First you "donate", then you get your money back
In 2015, Epstein seems to have come up with a trick with which Black was able to reduce his tax burden: Black "donated" 10 million dollars to the financier's charity. Documents were issued stating that the amount was a donation and thus Black was entitled to a tax deduction. Three years later, Black received the same money back from another Epstein company. Thus, his client got back the money from the "donation" and also used tax breaks for it.
The "Dechert" law firm, which after Epstein's death investigated the financial ties between the two men, even found a receipt for a donation, without any such donation having ever been made. Leon Black publicly boasted that thanks to Epstein's tax advice, he had saved at least one billion dollars, and everything was legal, ARD points out.
Sue from the US Virgin Islands
A case from 2020 reveals that Epstein's tax manipulations were apparently systematic. The US Virgin Islands have filed a lawsuit against the two administrators of Epstein's estate. The reason: Through one of his companies, the scandalous financier offered consulting services in the field of bioinformatics - an innovative field that the Virgin Islands encouraged with tax incentives. Thus, Epstein received a 90 percent exemption from income tax and 100 percent from three other taxes.
But in the "Epstein" files there is no trace of the aforementioned innovative consulting services - neither Epstein nor his employees had such qualifications. The Virgin Islands filed a lawsuit for $ 80 million in lost tax revenues against Epstein. The case ended with a settlement.
Money for Epstein's sex crime network
With the proceeds from his tax manipulations, including generous fees from billionaire Leon Black, Epstein paid the women whose sexual services he offered to wealthy clients, bank documents show. The same money was used to hire lawyers and buy Epstein's silence, writes ARD.
As the files show, his tax tricks did not go completely unnoticed. After he was expelled from the American bank "JP Morgan" because of his criminal past and suspicious money transfers, Jeffrey Epstein became a client of "Deutsche Bank" in 2013.
The German bank also quickly discovered irregularities - for example, money transfers of huge sums from the fictitious company, through which Epstein also accepted "donations" from Leon Black. For a long time, Epstein's account manager at "Deutsche Bank" tried to allay suspicions about his client. Only when the bank decided to part ways with him did the employee admit that the fictitious company in question had been used to settle Epstein's "tax issues."
"Deutsche Bank" refused to comment on individual cases related to Jeffrey Epstein, but a bank spokesman said it considered the financial institution's work with Epstein to be a mistake. "Deutsche Bank" had to reach an agreement with US authorities regarding other violations and pay over $100 million, including because of the Epstein scandal.
Authors: Petra Blum (WDR) | Verena von Ondarza (NDR)