By Andrew Hay
Oct 21 (Reuters) - New Mexico has filed a civil lawsuit against the former lawyer and accountant of Jeffrey Epstein to block payments by the late sex offender's estate and recover damages for survivors of his alleged sexual abuse, the state's top law enforcement official said on Wednesday.
The suit is the first law enforcement action against Epstein's longtime personal attorney Darren Indyke and accountant Richard Kahn, according to a statement from New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez.
In February, the Democratic-run state reopened an investigation into activities at Epstein's former New Mexico ranch, where he is accused of abusing women and girls for nearly three decades.
The lawsuit alleges that Indyke and Kahn facilitated, financed, and concealed Epstein's sex trafficking operation, including at Zorro Ranch, 30 miles south of the state capital of Santa Fe. It also names the Estate of Jeffrey Epstein and aims to prohibit his private trust -- created days before his death by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell -- from spending any of the more than $100 million it holds.
Attorneys for Indyke and Kahn did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“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 at a press conference in Albuquerque. He was joined by two survivors of Epstein's alleged abuse, Julia Molchanova and Anouska De Georgiou.
The suit will test whether authorities are able to pin down allegations that a network of people and financial arrangements helped sustain and conceal Epstein's behavior for decades.
New Mexico is the only US state to launch a legislative "truth commission" to investigate the financier's alleged links with local politicians and government officials. The state has sued the US Department of Justice for access to unredacted files on Epstein, accusing the Trump administration of stonewalling its investigation.
The DOJ said it provided some files but was prevented from handing over most material due to privacy protections.
Trump's years-long relationship with Epstein has weighed on his presidency and congressional Democrats continue to call for the release of millions of documents related to his activities.
(Reporting by Andrew Hay in New Mexico; Editing by Jesse Mesner-Hage and Aurora Ellis)
