US Virgin Islands says it can’t find Elon Musk to serve a subpoena in Jeffrey Epstein lawsuit

PTI, May 16, 2023, 9:35 AM IST

The government of the US Virgin Islands told a federal judge Monday that it can’t find billionaire Elon Musk to serve him with a subpoena for documents in its lawsuit seeking to hold JPMorgan Chase liable for sex trafficking acts committed by businessman Jeffrey Epstein. It wants to serve his electric vehicle company instead.

Lawyers asked Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan in a court filing to let it serve the subpoena on Tesla Inc. because it has not been able to give the papers to Musk or his lawyers since it issued the subpoena on April 28.

They said they hired an investigative firm to search public records databases for possible addresses for Musk and reached out to one of his lawyers by email but received no response.

A message sent to a lawyer for Musk seeking comment on Monday was not immediately returned.

The government of the US Virgin Islands said it believes Epstein may have referred or tried to refer Musk to JPMorgan.

It sued JPMorgan last year, saying its investigation has revealed that JPMorgan enabled Epstein’s recruiters to pay victims and was “indispensable to the operation and concealment of the Epstein trafficking enterprise”.

The subpoena sought documents from January 1, 2002, to the present reflecting communications between Musk and JPMorgan or Musk and Epstein regarding Epstein or Epstein’s role in Musk’s accounts, transactions or financial management.

It also sought all documents reflecting or regarding Epstein’s involvement in human trafficking and his procurement of girls or women for commercial sex.

And it sought information about fees Musk might have paid to Epstein or JPMorgan and any documents concerning communications between Musk, Epstein and JPMorgan regarding accounts, transactions or the relationship at JPMorgan.

Epstein, 66, took his own life in August 2019 as he awaited sex trafficking charges in a federal jail in Manhattan. Authorities alleged that he recruited and sexually abused dozens of underage girls at his mansions in New York and Palm Beach, Florida, in the early 2000s. He had pleaded not guilty.

Lawyers for JPMorgan did not immediately return messages seeking comment on Monday.

In the past, they have said victims are entitled to justice but litigation attempting to blame the financial institution for Epstein’s actions were legally meritless, directed at the wrong party and should be dismissed.