When federal prosecutors began investigating Jeffrey Epstein for sex crimes in 2007, their pursuit went beyond the allegations that made headlines.
Internal emails, reported by Bloomberg, now show they were also tracing his finances, questioning whether his empire was being used to fund or conceal criminal activity.
The evidence points to a broader, more complex inquiry that reached into Epstein’s six businesses, major banks, and one of his wealthiest clients, Les Wexner.
The investigation, however, stopped short when a plea deal was struck, ending a probe that could have exposed much more.
The hidden investigation into Epstein’s finances
As per the report, newly disclosed emails from Epstein’s personal Yahoo account reveal how prosecutors in the Southern District of Florida sought to follow his money trail.
Marie Villafaña, an assistant US attorney, requested a grand jury subpoena covering every financial transaction linked to Epstein and his companies dating back to 2003.
The goal was to map the movement of funds through his web of accounts and identify whether the same system that built his wealth also financed illegal operations.
Prosecutors also demanded data from major US banks to uncover potential transfers between Epstein’s personal holdings and corporate entities.
Investigators suspected that his businesses and charitable organisations may have been used to move or hide payments linked to his trafficking network, or to pay associates who helped sustain it.
The expansion of the inquiry into money laundering represented a turning point.
For the first time, authorities were treating Epstein’s financial empire as a possible instrument of crime rather than a product of it.
Les Wexner and the client connection
Among the names identified in the correspondence was billionaire Les Wexner, the man behind Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works.
Wexner’s long financial relationship with Epstein had always drawn attention, but now prosecutors were formally seeking to understand its nature.
They reached out to Wexner’s representatives to clarify whether client assets had been mixed with Epstein’s personal accounts or diverted into undisclosed ventures.
Wexner’s cooperation was crucial. His dealings with Epstein not only provided insight into how Epstein managed and legitimised his fortune but also revealed how he built credibility with other clients.
Although Wexner faced no charges, the investigation into their transactions highlighted how far the government was willing to trace the flow of money before internal pressures slowed the case down.
Epstein’s legal team pushes back
When Epstein discovered the new scope of the investigation, he reportedly became increasingly agitated.
His lawyers, a team of prominent figures including Alan Dershowitz, Gerald Lefcourt, Jay Lefkowitz, and Kenneth Starr, argued that prosecutors were overreaching.
They insisted that the money-laundering claims were a tactic to pressure their client into a deal.
Behind closed doors, the defence began lobbying senior officials within the US attorney’s office.
They questioned Villafaña’s motives and urged that she and her team be removed.
The correspondence from this period suggests a coordinated attempt to halt the financial probe altogether, redirecting focus to the original sex charges.
These efforts proved effective. What had begun as an expansive federal investigation was soon narrowed, stripping away the financial component that could have revealed the full scale of Epstein’s operations.
How the 2007 plea deal stopped the investigation
Eventually, senior officials instructed prosecutors to stop pursuing the money-laundering line and begin plea discussions.
The federal case was converted into a state-level prosecution, resulting in a non-prosecution agreement that allowed Epstein to plead guilty to two minor sex offences.
He served a short sentence and avoided federal charges entirely.
This outcome ended not only the immediate legal threat but also the most comprehensive attempt to investigate the sources and uses of Epstein’s fortune.
It would take more than a decade, and new allegations in 2019, for prosecutors to revisit his finances and discover how deeply they intertwined with his criminal activity.
The 2007 documents now offer an important record of what was missed.
They show that the money trail was already visible, the investigative tools were already in place, and the will to follow the evidence existed—until it was cut short by decisions that changed the course of the case.
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