Billionaire Leslie Wexner can be served a subpoena about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein via certified mail, a federal judge ruled in the US Virgin Islands’ lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase & Co.
(Bloomberg) — Billionaire Leslie Wexner can be served a subpoena about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein via certified mail, a federal judge ruled in the US Virgin Islands’ lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase & Co.
US District Judge Jed Rakoff ruled on the issue Monday after the US territory complained in a filing late last week that it had tried at least seven times to serve the Bath and Body Works Inc. founder by hand.
The USVI said process servers were turned away twice by security guards at Wexner’s Ohio home. A lawyer for Wexner also refused to accept the subpoena, and a process server who went to the offices of the billionaire’s foundation was told he was only there two or three times a year.
Once Epstein’s largest client as a money manager, Wexner has previously stated that he cut ties with Epstein in 2007 and accused him of misappropriating “vast sums of money from me and my family.” He has denied any knowledge of Epstein’s sexual abuse.
Lawyers for Wexner didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The USVI is suing JPMorgan for allegedly facilitating Epstein’s sexual abuse by allowing him to use its banking services as a client from the late 1990s until 2013. The territory’s subpoena is seeking information about Wexner’s ties to Epstein, including a $124,000 payment the billionaire received from a charity tied to the late sex offender.
According to the USVI, the payment, which was processed by JPMorgan, was one of many it says are evidence of “Epstein’s wrongdoing.” The territory didn’t describe the alleged wrongdoing connected to the payment in its suit.
The bank has asked a judge to dismiss the suit, calling it a “masterclass in deflection.”
The case is USVI v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, 22-cv-10904-UA, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
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