Newly Released DEA Document Raises Questions About Jeffrey Epstein Investigation
A newly disclosed U.S. government document suggests that financier Jeffrey Epstein was the subject of a previously unreported investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
According to the document, which is part of files released by the United States Department of Justice, the DEA opened a case in December 2010 involving Epstein and 14 other individuals in connection with suspicious financial transactions.
The memo, dated 2015 and marked “law enforcement sensitive,” states that DEA reporting indicated the individuals were allegedly involved in “illegitimate wire transfers” potentially tied to illicit drug activity and/or prostitution in the U.S. Virgin Islands and New York City.
Details Remain Heavily Redacted
The 69-page memo remains extensively redacted, concealing the identities of the other individuals under investigation as well as much of the substantive information surrounding the case.
The document appears to originate from a request by the DEA to the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Fusion Center in Virginia. The Fusion Center serves as an intelligence-sharing hub among federal law enforcement agencies.
The OCDETF program was established during the Reagan administration to combat organized crime and drug trafficking. The Fusion Center was later created in 2009 to enhance coordination among agencies handling complex criminal investigations.
Details Remain Heavily Redacted
The 69-page memo remains extensively redacted, concealing the identities of the other individuals under investigation as well as much of the substantive information surrounding the case.
The document appears to originate from a request by the DEA to the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Fusion Center in Virginia. The Fusion Center serves as an intelligence-sharing hub among federal law enforcement agencies.
The OCDETF program was established during the Reagan administration to combat organized crime and drug trafficking. The Fusion Center was later created in 2009 to enhance coordination among agencies handling complex criminal investigations.
Epstein, who was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges, died in custody later that year. His criminal case and associated investigations have generated continued scrutiny regarding his activities and potential associates.
The newly released document adds another layer of questions regarding the scope of federal investigations into Epstein prior to his 2019 arrest.
At this stage, officials have not publicly indicated whether the DEA probe resulted in prosecutions or whether it was ultimately closed without charges.
Another law enforcement source said it likely meant an arrest of someone associated with the case had been made. CBS News could not confirm that because the names of other targets were redacted from the document.
A different case launched in 2018 by the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York ultimately landed Epstein in a lower Manhattan federal jail after he was arrested in July 2019 on charges of sex trafficking.
Sources involved in that case told CBS News the prosecutors were not aware of the earlier DEA investigation.
Epstein was awaiting trial in the sex trafficking case when he died behind bars in August 2019. His death was ruled a suicide.
Financial transactions and other investigations
The DEA document also reveals the existence of other previously unknown investigations with some link to Epstein. Those include an ICE investigation in West Palm Beach, opened in 2006 and closed in 2008; an ICE investigation in Las Vegas, opened in 2009 and listed as “pending/01/27/2010;” an ICE investigation in Paris, opened in June of 2013 and closed months later, titled Operation Angel Watch; and an FBI investigation opened in 2006 that still remained active in 2015.
The document also lists prior law enforcement contact and identifies bank accounts linked to Epstein, including accounts in Switzerland, France, the Cayman Islands and New York.
It details approximately $50 million in suspicious wire transfers from 2010-2015, although the names of the individuals linked to those transactions are redacted.The DOJ appears to have accidentally neglected to redact the name of a Polish fashion model who was identified in connection to approximately $2 million in transfers and named as a target of the investigation.
Emails between that woman and Epstein were included in the release, indicating that they had a personal relationship. CBS News is not identifying the woman at the request of her attorney, who said she was a survivor of Epstein’s. Her attorney did not reply to inquiries about whether she was aware she was a DEA target.
The memo also lists several businesses associated with Epstein that have come under scrutiny in the past. One of those companies was redacted, the other two are SLK Designs LLC and Hyperion Air. Hyperion Air was used by Epstein as a holding company for his aircraft and SLK Designs was run by two women who were included in Epstein’s 2008 so-called “sweetheart” non-prosecution agreement with the federal government and named as potential co-conspirators.
Records show those companies were formed and controlled by Epstein’s attorney Darren Indyke.
CBS News has reached out to an attorney for Indyke and has not received a response. In a prior statement, his attorney Daniel Weiner told CBS News the lawyer “did not socialize with Mr. Epstein, and … rejected as categorically false any suggestion that they knowingly facilitated or assisted Mr. Epstein in his sexual abuse or trafficking of women, or that they were aware of Mr. Epstein’s actions while they provided legal and accounting services to Mr. Epstein.” He added that no judge or court found Epstein’s attorneys committed any wrongdoing of any kind.
Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon who has been pursuing the Epstein investigation as ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, told CBS News that following the money is key to learning more about Epstein’s crimes. .
“It appears Epstein was involved in criminal activity that went way beyond pedophilia and sex trafficking, which makes it even more outrageous that Pam Bondi is sitting on several million unreleased files.” Wyden said.
Neither the DEA or the DOJ responded to requests by CBS News for more information or comment.
