Attorney General Raúl Torrez alleges Jeffrey Epstein's longtime attorney and accountant helped finance and conceal sexual abuse at Zorro Ranch and elsewhere

Damien Willis, Organ Mountain News

ALBUQUERQUE - New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed a federal civil lawsuit Wednesday against Jeffrey Epstein's longtime attorney and accountant, alleging they helped finance and conceal his sex trafficking operation, including the sexual abuse of girls and young women at Zorro Ranch in Santa Fe County.

The lawsuit seeks to prevent attorney Darren K. Indyke and accountant Richard D. Kahn from receiving as much as $75 million in potential bequests from Epstein's estate while the state pursues damages and restitution for survivors.

Filed Oct. 21 in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico, the 49-page complaint names Indyke, Kahn, Epstein's estate and the 1953 Trust, which holds the estate's assets.

The state alleges the two men knowingly participated in Epstein's trafficking enterprise, managed financial accounts used to fund his activities and helped conceal abuse through financial transactions and corporate arrangements.

“Jeffrey Epstein did not operate alone, and his death does not end the pursuit of accountability for the people who helped make his crimes possible,” Torrez said.

“The allegations in this lawsuit describe a network of people and financial arrangements that helped sustain and conceal the abuse of vulnerable girls and young women, including here in New Mexico.”

The lawsuit brings claims under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act and the New Mexico Racketeering Act.

Millions in payments and estate benefits

According to the complaint, Indyke received more than $16 million from Epstein and related entities between 2011 and 2019, while Kahn received more than $10 million during the same period.

Both men served as officers or directors of Epstein-related companies and exercised authority over numerous financial accounts.

The lawsuit alleges that by 2005, Indyke and Kahn held or managed at least 140 bank accounts associated with Epstein and his businesses. Some transferred money between entities, while others facilitated payments to girls and young women who were sexually abused or recruited into the operation, according to the complaint.

Between 2002 and 2013, Epstein or people acting on his behalf withdrew more than $6 million in cash from his bank accounts, according to the filing.

The complaint alleges Indyke deliberately structured withdrawals to avoid federal reporting requirements. Between 2013 and 2017, he withdrew more than $200,000 annually from Epstein's Deutsche Bank accounts, according to the state.

The filing also cites an internal JPMorgan Chase document describing Kahn as a principal figure in moving Epstein's money, including funds potentially connected to the trafficking operation.

According to the complaint, Kahn handled expenses associated with women Epstein abused, including medical bills, housing expenses and tuition payments.

The state alleges these activities went beyond ordinary legal and accounting services, helping sustain an operation that recruited and exploited girls and young women over more than two decades.

Indyke and Kahn are now co-executors of Epstein's estate and administrators of the 1953 Trust.

The estate, originally valued at approximately $577.7 million following Epstein's death in August 2019, was worth more than $107 million as of June 30, 2026, according to probate records cited in the complaint.

Under the trust's provisions, Indyke could receive $50 million and Kahn could receive $25 million, depending on the availability of funds.

The state is asking the court to prevent those payments while the litigation proceeds.

Zorro Ranch at center of New Mexico allegations

Epstein purchased approximately 7,600 acres near Stanley in Santa Fe County in 1993 and developed the property into Zorro Ranch, a sprawling estate featuring a main residence exceeding 28,000 square feet, eight guest houses, a private airstrip and a helicopter landing pad.

The remote property became one of the locations where Epstein and his associates allegedly recruited, transported, isolated and sexually abused girls and young women.

The complaint cites FBI interviews, court testimony and survivor accounts describing abuse at the ranch beginning in the 1990s.

One survivor, identified in the complaint as Jane Doe 1, told the FBI in 2006 that she was a high school student when Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell arranged for her to visit Zorro Ranch in 1996.

Epstein had expressed interest in helping finance her college education and international volunteer work, according to the complaint. Maxwell contacted the girl's mother to arrange the trip, and the teenager was flown from Phoenix to Santa Fe, where a ranch manager picked her up.

Once at the ranch, Epstein and Maxwell began grooming her for sexual abuse, the complaint alleges.

During one encounter, Maxwell instructed the teenager to undress for a massage while Epstein watched. The survivor described feeling uncomfortable and exposed.

The following morning, Epstein entered the girl's bedroom and got into bed with her, according to her account. She later described another encounter in which Epstein entered her bedroom, stroked her hair and commented on her appearance.

The complaint states that the survivor became visibly distressed during her FBI interview and could not recall the remainder of that evening's events.

Another survivor, identified as Jane Doe 3, testified in court in 2019 that Epstein sexually assaulted her at Zorro Ranch in 2004 when she was 15.

She described being flown to the ranch on Epstein's private aircraft and subjected to hours of sexual abuse.

“What I remember most vividly was him explaining to me how beneficial the experience was for me and how much he was helping me to grow,” she testified, according to the complaint.

The survivor recalled feeling powerless, particularly when confronted with photographs of Epstein alongside wealthy celebrities and politicians.

Another woman, identified as Jane Doe 4, reported being transported to Zorro Ranch and sexually abused there while under 18, around 2000 or 2001.

She described multiple incidents involving Epstein and Maxwell and testified that, on at least one occasion, she was trafficked to New Mexico to have sex with one of Epstein's associates.

The complaint also describes a survivor who met Epstein while pursuing a ballet career. According to her account, Epstein initially offered professional assistance before pressuring her into sexual activity.

She alleged that Epstein repeatedly reminded her that the money he provided allowed her to pay her mother's rent and buy groceries.

Between 2007 and 2010, she was brought to Zorro Ranch multiple times and coerced into sex with Epstein and other members of his operation, according to the complaint.

Another survivor told the FBI she met Epstein at 17 and was sexually assaulted four times before turning 18, including assaults in New Mexico, Paris and Florida. She reported that two of those assaults were rapes committed after Epstein entered her bedroom while she slept.

The state alleges these accounts demonstrate a pattern in which Epstein and his associates used promises of education, career advancement and financial support to recruit vulnerable girls and young women.

The complaint further alleges that survivors were controlled through threats, isolation, restrictions on communication and financial dependence.

According to the state, Zorro Ranch's remote location, private transportation arrangements and security measures helped conceal the abuse and made it difficult for victims to leave or seek help.

New Mexico AG says DOJ is hindering Epstein investigation by withholding unredacted records

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez is demanding unredacted Epstein records from the U.S. Justice Department, arguing the federal government is obstructing the state's criminal investigation into alleged crimes at Zorro Ranch.

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Financial ties to the New Mexico property

The lawsuit alleges Indyke and Kahn played important roles in the companies responsible for owning and operating Zorro Ranch.

Indyke handled a December 2011 transfer of the ranch's title to Cypress Inc., an Epstein-controlled company, according to the complaint.

Kahn served as the company's treasurer and a director.

Another Epstein-related company, Zorro Development Corp., managed the property's operations and employed or contracted with people who worked at the ranch.

Indyke served as the company's secretary and was an authorized signatory on its bank account from December 2016 through July 2019.

The state alleges the corporate structure helped conceal financial transactions associated with the trafficking operation.

The complaint also describes payments to a New Mexico massage therapist who reported being sexually assaulted by Epstein at the ranch.

Epstein's estate sold Zorro Ranch to a private buyer in 2023, with Kahn overseeing the transaction.

Survivors question control of Epstein's estate

In a separate statement released Wednesday, survivors of Epstein's abuse challenged the roles Indyke and Kahn continue to play in administering his estate.

The statement argues that the two men face a conflict of interest because they help oversee payments to survivors while also standing to receive millions of dollars as beneficiaries of Epstein's trust.

The survivors described the arrangement as a “profound and deeply troubling conflict,” noting that the men could benefit financially from money remaining after claims against the estate are resolved.

The statement accuses Indyke and Kahn of helping maintain the appearance of legitimacy surrounding Epstein's activities while controlling the financial arrangements that supported his operation.

“We support Attorney General Raúl Torrez’s lawsuit because it can expose what roles Indyke and Kahn played in Epstein’s operation,” the survivors wrote.

They also called for scrutiny of how the two men handled claims filed by survivors against the estate.

“Survivors deserve accountability and answers under oath,” the statement concluded.

The statement was signed collectively by survivors of Epstein's abuse.

Torrez was joined at Wednesday's announcement by survivors Julia Molchanova and Anouska De Georgiou, who support the state's legal action.

State seeks damages and financial restrictions

The lawsuit asks the federal court to prevent Indyke and Kahn from receiving estate payments, restrict their authority over estate distributions and require them to surrender financial benefits allegedly obtained through the trafficking operation.

New Mexico also seeks compensatory and punitive damages, restitution, disgorgement of profits and potentially triple damages under the state's racketeering law.

The state is asking the court to declare that the defendants engaged in activities violating state and federal law and to impose restrictions on certain future financial activities.

The lawsuit names Epstein's estate and the 1953 Trust in addition to Indyke and Kahn. The complaint explains that the trust is included because it holds assets that could be used to satisfy a judgment, not because the trust itself allegedly participated in trafficking.

“Survivors deserve more than promises that the truth will eventually come to light,” Torrez said. “They deserve an accounting of what happened.”

The lawsuit is a civil action, not a criminal prosecution. The allegations against Indyke and Kahn have not been established by a court.

Criminal investigation continues

The civil lawsuit comes as the New Mexico Department of Justice continues a separate criminal investigation into allegations of sexual abuse and trafficking connected to Zorro Ranch.

The attorney general's office said Wednesday that the criminal investigation announced earlier this year remains ongoing.

Epstein died in federal custody in New York in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

His longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted in federal court in 2021 of crimes related to recruiting and trafficking girls for Epstein's sexual abuse. She is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

The civil case is State of New Mexico ex rel. Raúl Torrez v. Darren K. Indyke et al., No. 1:26-cv-03543, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.

Damien Willis is founder and editor of Organ Mountain News. If you have a personal story to share or a lead we should follow up on, reach out at OrganMountainNews@gmail.com or connect with him on X at @damienwillis.