Commentary: Epstein’s money left a record. New Mexico is right to demand it

Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes took more than one man. Someone had to manage the properties, handle the paperwork, move the money and keep quiet. New Mexico’s attorney general says those people were Epstein’s lawyer and his accountant, and he is asking a federal court to stop the estate from paying them tens of millions more.

The lawsuit against Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, the first law enforcement action brought against either man, alleges they helped finance and conceal a trafficking operation that included the abuse of girls and young women at Zorro Ranch in Santa Fe County. The state says Indyke received more than $16 million and Kahn more than $10 million from Epstein and his entities between 2011 and 2019. Through their attorney, both men deny any knowledge of or participation in the trafficking. The allegations have not been proven in court.

What strikes me is how ordinary the alleged mechanics are. According to the complaint, the two men held or managed at least 140 bank accounts tied to Epstein and his businesses by 2005. The state alleges some of those accounts moved money between entities, while others paid girls and young women who were abused or recruited. Epstein or people acting for him withdrew more than $6 million in cash between 2002 and 2013, the complaint says. It also alleges Indyke structured withdrawals to avoid federal reporting requirements, taking out more than $200,000 a year from Epstein’s Deutsche Bank accounts between 2013 and 2017. The state argues that these activities went beyond ordinary legal and accounting services.

I spent years as New Mexico state auditor tracing how money moves and who benefits when it moves the wrong way. I am also a Certified Fraud Examiner. That experience taught me to look beyond individual transactions and examine how they fit together. Bank accounts, corporate filings and property transfers can show how money moved between people and businesses, and whether those arrangements served a legitimate purpose or helped conceal wrongdoing. In this case, the records may help establish what Indyke and Kahn knew and what they did with that knowledge.

Zorro Ranch itself shows why those questions matter in New Mexico. According to the complaint, Indyke handled the 2011 transfer of Zorro Ranch’s title to Cypress Inc., an Epstein-controlled company where Kahn served as treasurer and a director. Another company, Zorro Development Corp., ran the property’s operations, and Indyke was its secretary and an authorized signatory on its bank account from 2016 to 2019. The state alleges that corporate structure helped conceal transactions tied to the trafficking. When the estate sold the ranch in 2023, Kahn oversaw the sale.

The questions for the court are what these men knew, what they should have known and what they did with that knowledge while they were being paid.

That is why the request to freeze payments matters. Indyke and Kahn are co-executors of the estate and administrators of the trust, and the complaint says they are eligible for bequests of $50 million and $25 million, subject to available funds. The estate was valued at roughly $577.7 million after Epstein’s death in August 2019. As of June 30, 2026, probate records cited in the complaint put it above $107 million. The state named the trust as a defendant for a practical reason: It holds assets that could satisfy a judgment. Survivors have also objected publicly to an arrangement in which the men help oversee payments to survivors while standing to receive millions themselves.

This is a civil case, not a criminal prosecution, and the state’s separate criminal investigation continues. New Mexico seeks damages, restitution and the return of any profits tied to the alleged trafficking, along with limits on the men’s authority over estate distributions.

The case also raises a question about professional responsibility. Lawyers and accountants often have access to financial information that can reveal how a client operates. Professional status should not shield anyone from scrutiny when evidence suggests their work may have helped conceal exploitation. If the allegations are proven, the people who helped make the operation possible should be held accountable for their own conduct.

As Attorney General Raúl Torrez put it, “Jeffrey Epstein did not operate alone, and his death does not end the pursuit of accountability for the people who helped make his crimes possible.” Survivors have called for answers under oath. New Mexico should pursue the evidence to establish what happened at Zorro Ranch and whether the financial and corporate arrangements surrounding the property helped conceal the alleged abuse. The records may show who was involved and what role they played. The state is right to demand that accounting.