A group of Jeffrey Epstein's victims are suing Ohio billionaire Les Wexner, alleging the retail mogul enabled Epstein to sexually abuse them.
The lawsuit, first filed on March 6 in the New York Supreme Court, cites recent revelations about Wexner's relationship with the convicted sex offender from the Epstein files. Wexner was Epstein's primary client and gave Epstein power of attorney over his fortune, which Wexner later alleged Epstein stole vast sums from.
Les Wexner, his charity The Wexner Foundation and a corporation set up to manage a mansion in Manhattan that was owned by Wexner and sold to Epstein are named as defendants.
The lawsuit names 10 plaintiffs and one anonymous Jane Doe from New York, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey who all claim Epstein committed acts of gender-motivated violence against them. The lawsuit argues several counts under New York's "Gender Motivated Violence Prevention Act."
The plaintiffs allege Wexner financially supported Epstein with $200 million, allowing Epstein to sexually abuse and traffic many women. Epstein was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution and was later charged with sex trafficking minors.
The lawsuit quotes Congressman Robert Garcia of California, who says that Epstein wouldn't have been able to commit crimes without the help of Wexner and having access to his fortune. Epstein managed Wexner's money for more than a decade. Garcia made the comments after Democratic congressmembers and Republican staffers deposed Wexner at his New Albany mansion earlier this year.
A spokesperson for Wexner said that the Wexners have tremendous sympathy for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s horrendous crimes, but criticized the complaint, saying it fails to state any factual basis for asserting a claim against Les Wexner.
"The claims appear to be based upon ownership of a house Mr. Wexner sold years prior to the time of the allegations. There is no basis for the claims, which will be vigorously defended," the statement said.
At the center of the lawsuit is an allegation that Wexner gave Epstein a Manhattan mansion located at 9 East 17th Street, where the lawsuit alleges many of the crimes took place.
New York City public records show Wexner's corporation, which Epstein helped run, purchased the mansion in the 1980s. The mansion was later sold to a corporation Epstein owned in 2011 for an unspecified amount of money. That corporation was called Maple Inc.
Wexner's spokesperson sent documents showing Wexner sold the property to Epstein that year for $20 million. WOSU could not immediately verify the documents in New York's public records system.
“The allegation in the complaint that Mr. Wexner “gave Epstein approximately $200 million over the course of twenty years” is untrue. Mr. Wexner paid Epstein for wealth management services and had no knowledge of Epstein’s wrongdoing. It is well documented that Mr. Wexner sold the New York townhouse to Epstein for $20 million in 1998. Further, Mr. Wexner testified that Epstein purchased a plane from L Brands for market value," Wexner's spokesperson said in the statement.
Wexner has faced increased scrutiny about his relationship with Epstein as the U.S. government released the so-called "Epstein Files."
Wexner was named as a co-conspirator in a 2019 investigation into Epstein for sex trafficking, but Wexner has never been charged with a crime.
The revelations led Garcia to push for Wexner to be deposed under oath. During the deposition, Wexner maintained that he did nothing wrong and claimed he wasn't aware of Epstein's wrongdoing.
Wexner often couldn't recall details during the deposition and claimed he wasn't friends with Epstein. Photos and other documents point to a close relationship between the two men, including a passage in a birthday book that Wexner signed with a drawing of women's breasts and the words "your friend."
Recent filings for the lawsuit indicate the case will be transferred to federal court in New York's Southern District.
