Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / The USVI And Their Motion To Intervene In The Maxwell/Epstein Estate Lawsuit (Part 2) (10/30/26)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome back to the Epstein Chronicles.
- 0:04Speaker 1: In this episode, we're going to pick right back up
- 0:06Speaker 1: where we left off with the U.S. Virgin Islands and
- 0:09Speaker 1: their motion to intervene. C. The government's SECO action against defendants,
- 0:16Speaker 1: the Epstein estate, Indyke and Kahn, and others. The government
- 0:20Speaker 1: alleges in its SECO action against defendants herein, the Epstein estate,
- 0:25Speaker 1: Indyke and Kahn, that Epstein was a resident of the
- 0:28Speaker 1: Virgin Islands and maintained a residence on Little St. James Island,
- 0:32Speaker 1: which he owned from 1998 until his death in prison
- 0:37Speaker 1: in 2019. Example A. In 2016, Mr. Epstein purchased a
- 0:42Speaker 1: second island, Greater St. James. By this time, he was
- 0:46Speaker 1: a registered sex offender, having been convicted in Florida of
- 0:49Speaker 1: procuring a minor for a prostitution. The government alleges that
- 0:54Speaker 1: Epstein for decades conducted an enterprise, the Epstein Enterprise, that
- 0:59Speaker 1: he used his web of businesses in the Virgin Islands
- 1:02Speaker 1: to transport female victims, many of them children, to his
- 1:06Speaker 1: privately owned Little St. James Island, where they were sexually abused, injured,
- 1:11Speaker 1: and held captive. Flight logs show that between 2001 and 2019,
- 1:17Speaker 1: defendant transported girls and young women to the Virgin Islands,
- 1:21Speaker 1: and then helicoptered them to Little St. James. Air traffic
- 1:25Speaker 1: controller reports state that some victims appeared to be as
- 1:28Speaker 1: young as 11 years old. Epstein and his associates lured
- 1:33Speaker 1: these girls and young women to his island with promises
- 1:36Speaker 1: of modeling and other career opportunities. Once they arrived, they
- 1:40Speaker 1: were sexually abused, exploited, and held captive. Epstein's privately owned
- 1:45Speaker 1: islands in the Virgin Islands were essentially the sex trafficking enterprise.
- 1:50Speaker 1: Little St. James is a secluded private island nearly two
- 1:53Speaker 1: miles offshore from St. Thomas with no other residents. It's
- 1:57Speaker 1: accessible only by private boat or helicopter with no public
- 2:01Speaker 1: or commercial transportation servicing the island. When two of the victims,
- 2:06Speaker 1: one age 15, attempted to escape from Little St. James Island,
- 2:11Speaker 1: Epstein was able to organize search parties, locate them, return
- 2:14Speaker 1: them to his house, and then confiscate the 15-year-old girl's passport,
- 2:18Speaker 1: to hinder her ability to escape again. The government alleges
- 2:23Speaker 1: that Epstein and the SECO defendants violated SECO by committing
- 2:27Speaker 1: and conspiring to commit criminal human trafficking offenses based upon
- 2:31Speaker 1: the foregoing conduct. CID at 115 through 170. The government
- 2:37Speaker 1: further alleges that they violated SECO by committing and conspiring
- 2:41Speaker 1: to commit various child abuse, neglect, rape, unlawful sexual contact, prostitution,
- 2:47Speaker 1: and sex offender registry-related offenses based upon the foregoing sexual
- 2:52Speaker 1: abuse conduct. CID at 171 through 258. The government also
- 2:58Speaker 1: alleges that the defendants engaged in a civil conspiracy to
- 3:02Speaker 1: conceal the unlawful sexual abuse that's alleged. The government is
- 3:08Speaker 1: seeking civil penalties for each violation of law, treble damages,
- 3:12Speaker 1: and compensatory and punitive damages for civil conspiracies. prayer for relief,
- 3:18Speaker 1: J through L and O. The government also seeks equitable relief,
- 3:23Speaker 1: including but not limited to disgorgement of all ill-gotten gains
- 3:28Speaker 1: as warranted pursuant to Virgin Island Code 14, Section 608C
- 3:33Speaker 1: and 4, to protect the rights of victims and innocent
- 3:36Speaker 1: persons in the interest of justice and consistent with the
- 3:39Speaker 1: SECO's purposes, ID, prayer for relief. NP, the government, further
- 3:44Speaker 1: seeks forfeiture and divestiture in favor of the government as
- 3:48Speaker 1: to all CIC defendants' interests in any real and personal
- 3:53Speaker 1: property in the Virgin Islands used to facilitate or further
- 3:57Speaker 1: the goals of the criminal Epstein enterprise, including but not
- 4:00Speaker 1: limited to Little St. James and Great St. James Island,
- 4:05Speaker 1: and any proceeds or funds obtained by them during the
- 4:08Speaker 1: course of the criminal enterprise. The Argument Legal Standards The
- 4:14Speaker 1: Virgin Islands Rules of Civil Procedure provide for a person
- 4:17Speaker 1: to intervene, as of right, in a pending action as follows.
- 4:21Speaker 1: On timely motion, the court must permit anyone to intervene who, to,
- 4:26Speaker 1: claims an interest relating to the property or transaction that
- 4:30Speaker 1: is the subject of the action and is so situated
- 4:33Speaker 1: that disposing of the action is may, as a practical matter,
- 4:37Speaker 1: impair or impede the movement's ability to protect its interests
- 4:41Speaker 1: unless existing parties adequately represent that interest. The civil rules
- 4:46Speaker 1: also provide for a person to intervene by permission of
- 4:49Speaker 1: the court in a pending action as follows. On timely motion,
- 4:54Speaker 1: the court may permit anyone to intervene who b. has
- 4:58Speaker 1: a claim or defense that shares with the main action
- 5:01Speaker 1: a common question of law or fact. Virgin Island Civil
- 5:05Speaker 1: Code P-24B and 1B. The purpose of the rule governing
- 5:09Speaker 1: intervention is to enable one, not named as a party,
- 5:13Speaker 1: who has a direct, substantial, and legally protectable interest in
- 5:17Speaker 1: the subject matter of the litigation to protect himself from
- 5:20Speaker 1: an action that might be detrimental to him. Hendricks v. Klein, No. ST16-CV-147,
- 5:25Speaker 1: 2019 WL918607, at 1. Virgin Islands Supreme Court, February 20th, 2019. B.
- 5:40Speaker 1: The government satisfies Rule 24A' s requirements to intervene of right.
- 5:45Speaker 1: A party seeking to intervene as a right must establish
- 5:48Speaker 1: three elements. One, a sufficient interest in the subject matter
- 5:53Speaker 1: of the pending litigation. Two, a substantial risk that the
- 5:56Speaker 1: disposition of the litigation will impair the interest. And three,
- 6:00Speaker 1: the existing parties do not adequately protect that interest. The
- 6:04Speaker 1: government satisfies all of these requirements. 1. The government has
- 6:08Speaker 1: sufficient interest in the subject matter of this action. The
- 6:12Speaker 1: government has two distinct but related interests in the subject
- 6:16Speaker 1: matter of this action. Maxwell's claim against Epstein's estate for
- 6:20Speaker 1: identification and advancement of legal expenses for any suit involving
- 6:24Speaker 1: her relationship with Epstein and his affiliated businesses. Complaint 1.
- 6:29Speaker 1: See also ID at 17-19. Epstein identified and advanced Maxwell's
- 6:35Speaker 1: costs for suits and investigations relating to Epstein, his affiliated businesses,
- 6:40Speaker 1: and his alleged victims. Either or both of the government's
- 6:44Speaker 1: interests is sufficient for its intervention of right. First, the
- 6:48Speaker 1: government has an interest as a litigant against defendant to
- 6:51Speaker 1: ensure that the Epstein estate's assets are preserved to satisfy
- 6:55Speaker 1: the judgment it seeks on its SECO claims. The government
- 6:59Speaker 1: is seeking an order requiring forfeiture, divestiture, disgorgement, and payment
- 7:04Speaker 1: of maximum civil penalties and damages. See example B, SECO FAC.
- 7:09Speaker 1: Prayer for Relief, DP. Maxwell's claims in this action threaten
- 7:13Speaker 1: the government's litigation interests by seeking to wrongfully dissipate the
- 7:17Speaker 1: Epstein estate's assets on a joint Fort Fieser undocumented and
- 7:22Speaker 1: otherwise suspect claim of entitlement to identification and advancement of
- 7:27Speaker 1: legal expenses for criminal or civil actions addressing her involvement
- 7:31Speaker 1: in in Epstein's sex trafficking and sexual abuse conduct. Numerous
- 7:35Speaker 1: federal courts applying the identically worded FedR Civ P24A have
- 7:41Speaker 1: held that a tort claimant has a sufficiently developed interest
- 7:45Speaker 1: to intervene as a right in a coverage-related action involving
- 7:49Speaker 1: the tort defendant. In Teague v. Baker, 931 F2D 249,
- 7:52Speaker 1: 4th Circuit 1991, the appeals court reversed denial of intervention
- 7:55Speaker 1: as a right by class action plaintiffs in a separate
- 8:03Speaker 1: declaratory judgment actioned by the insurer of the class action
- 8:07Speaker 1: defendant seeking to disavow coverage, CIDA 260. The appeals court
- 8:12Speaker 1: addressed the proposed intervener's interest, which was contingent since they
- 8:17Speaker 1: had not obtained a judgment at the time their intervention
- 8:20Speaker 1: was denied, and after weighing the relevant arguments held that
- 8:24Speaker 1: the Teague interveners stand to gain or lose by the
- 8:27Speaker 1: direct legal operation of the district court judgment, on the
- 8:31Speaker 1: insurer's complaint, and that this interest in the subject matter
- 8:35Speaker 1: of this litigation is a significantly protectable interest. ID, see
- 8:39Speaker 1: also Security Insurance Company v. Shipperit, Inc., 69F. 3D, 1377, 1381,
- 8:42Speaker 1: 7th Circuit, 1995, permitting tort claimant to intervene in insurer's
- 8:44Speaker 1: declaratory judgment, action against tort defendant. Based on the Fourth
- 8:58Speaker 1: Circuit's Teague decision, a federal district court permitted sex abuse
- 9:01Speaker 1: tort claimants to intervene in an action brought by the
- 9:05Speaker 1: tort defendant seeking a declaration as to the coverage by
- 9:08Speaker 1: an insurer. See Harrison v. Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, No. 11-1258-2011, WL-324-1452,
- 9:13Speaker 1: at 1, Maryland, July 28, 2011. Following Teague, The court
- 9:25Speaker 1: held that sex abuse tort claimants had a sufficiently protected
- 9:29Speaker 1: interest to intervene as a right. CID at 2. Plainly,
- 9:33Speaker 1: it is of great importance to the tort plaintiffs to
- 9:36Speaker 1: persuade this court that fireman fund is obligated to identify Harrison.
- 9:41Speaker 1: If this court ultimately determines that fireman's fund is not
- 9:44Speaker 1: required to identify Harrison, the does will only be able
- 9:48Speaker 1: to satisfy any judgment they obtain against Harrison from his assets.
- 9:53Speaker 1: rather than from the resources of the insurer. The only
- 9:57Speaker 1: difference between the government's position here and the tort claimant
- 10:00Speaker 1: intervener's position in Teague and Harrison is that here the
- 10:03Speaker 1: SECO defendants are in the role of potential insurer. In
- 10:07Speaker 1: Maxwell's suit against Epstein's estate, The estate's assets are similar
- 10:11Speaker 1: to those of an insurer, as both the government and
- 10:14Speaker 1: Maxwell are seeking recovery from the same estate proceeds which
- 10:18Speaker 1: Maxwell is attempting to use as insurance. Thus, the government's
- 10:22Speaker 1: interest in ensuring the availability of funds to satisfy its
- 10:26Speaker 1: own judgment would be threatened here not by the denial
- 10:29Speaker 1: of coverage as in Teague, but by the provision of
- 10:32Speaker 1: coverage using the estate's assets to identify Maxwell. But this
- 10:36Speaker 1: is a distinction without a difference. as the interest itself
- 10:40Speaker 1: is the same ensuring the availability of estate funds to
- 10:44Speaker 1: satisfy the government's potential judgment against possible co-conspirator in the
- 10:48Speaker 1: SECO enterprise. This interest by itself supports intervention. Second, the
- 10:54Speaker 1: government has an interest as a potential litigant authorized by
- 10:58Speaker 1: statute to investigate Maxwell's involvement in the same criminal sex
- 11:02Speaker 1: trafficking and sexual abuse conduct that is the subject of
- 11:06Speaker 1: the SECO action against the Epstein estate in Dykin Con.
- 11:09Speaker 1: Under SECO, whenever any person is reasonably suspected to have
- 11:13Speaker 1: engaged in any conduct constituting a violation of any of
- 11:17Speaker 1: the provisions of Virgin Island Code 14, Section 605, the
- 11:22Speaker 1: Attorney General may, in her discretion, conduct an investigation of
- 11:26Speaker 1: the conduct. Virgin Island Code 14, Section 612A. The Attorney
- 11:31Speaker 1: General is expressly authorized before the commencement of of enduring
- 11:35Speaker 1: any civil or criminal proceeding or action under this chapter
- 11:39Speaker 1: to subpoena witnesses or to require the production of any books, documents, records, writings, recordings,
- 11:46Speaker 1: or tangible things relevant or material to the investigation. Pursuant
- 11:50Speaker 1: to this express statutory authority, the Attorney General is and
- 11:54Speaker 1: has been investigating Maxwell's involvement with Epstein's criminal sex trafficking
- 11:59Speaker 1: and sexual abuse conduct in anticipation of a potential action
- 12:03Speaker 1: against her. See Example B, Seco Subpoena, Describing Investigation of
- 12:07Speaker 1: the Rape, Abuse, Exploitation, and Trafficking of Young Women and
- 12:11Speaker 1: Underage Girls by Jeffrey E. Epstein and his Associates. See
- 12:16Speaker 1: also Virgin Island Code 14, Section 612A. The Attorney General
- 12:21Speaker 1: is authorized before the commencement of and during any civil
- 12:24Speaker 1: or criminal proceeding to or action under this chapter to
- 12:28Speaker 1: subpoena witnesses or to require the production of any documents
- 12:32Speaker 1: relevant or material to the investigation. Thus, to the extent
- 12:37Speaker 1: the government may intervene as a right to assert its
- 12:40Speaker 1: interest in this statutory enforcement action, it also may do
- 12:43Speaker 1: so to assert its statutory investigative interests related to much
- 12:48Speaker 1: the same conduct. In sum, the government has both active
- 12:52Speaker 1: litigation interests and statutorily authorized investigatory interests with respect to
- 12:57Speaker 1: the parties on both sides of this action. Either or
- 13:00Speaker 1: both of these interests in the conduct and outcome of
- 13:04Speaker 1: this action is sufficient for the government to intervene of
- 13:07Speaker 1: right under Rule 24a. Alright folks, we're going to wrap
- 13:12Speaker 1: up right there and in the next episode we're going
- 13:14Speaker 1: to finish this bad boy off. All of the information
- 13:17Speaker 1: that goes with this episode can be found In the
- 13:20Speaker 1: description box.