Epstein’s money trail: Will probe into Deutsche Bank reveal powerful connections?
Published time: 25 Jul, 2019 15:36 Edited time: 26 Jul, 2019 08:09
Follow RT on
Since his arrest, Jeffrey Epstein’s story has spiraled from one of sexual depravity to one of shady dealings at the highest levels of international finance. RT’s Rick Sanchez asks: can justice overcome the power of money?
Millionaire financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was arrested earlier this month on conspiracy and sex-trafficking charges, with girls as young as 14 among his alleged victims. The financier has since sat in jail pending trial, and additional victims have reportedly come forward.
Epstein’s name has long been associated with sexual misdeeds, since he dodged serious prison time for a litany of similar offenses a decade ago, striking a sweetheart plea deal with prosecutors that saw him serve thirteen months in a low-security prison.
However, attention has now turned to how exactly Epstein used his wealth to buy influence, and potentially fund a sex trafficking operation. Deutsche Bank has been contacted by investigators, having worked with Epstein since 2013, long after JP Morgan Chase cut its ties with the registered sex offender. Only after media reports last year again shone the spotlight on Epstein’s alleged crimes did the bank begin to close his accounts.
“There’s a good chance,” Sanchez said, that investigators may now subpoena Deutsche Bank’s wealth managers to find out “what they had going on with Jeffrey Epstein. This thing is really starting to unravel.”
“If you think that this is just Jeffrey Epstein,” legal analyst Lionel told Sanchez, “and nobody can understand who he’s ever dealt with...absolutely not! He is just a little pebble in a mosaic that is so huge.”
“He’s going to have to” turn some people in, Lionel added, suggesting that prosecutors will press Epstein on his connections, potentially ones revealed through the investigation of Deutsche Bank.
How justice will eventually find Epstein is another story. The tycoon was found“injured and in a fetal position” in his New York jail cell late on Wednesday. His cellmate denies attacking him, and media reports have quoted sources claiming Epstein tried and failed to hang himself or deliberately injured himself to be transferred. With his alleged connections to powerful people at risk of exposure, speculation has also turned to whether these people might now want him dead.
However, Sanchez pointed out that the same web of connections might see Epstein again treated softly by the courts. Moreover, Deutsche Bank may have been a natural choice for Epstein. The bank is currently under criminal investigation for money laundering, and according to former employee Eric Ben Artzi “was structurally designed by management to allow corrupt individuals to commit fraud.” Whether that structure allowed staff to conceal Epstein’s “suspicious” transactions remains to be discovered.
“The legal system in America is driven by money, not by justice,” Sanchez said, quoting none other than Artzi himself.
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten