Deutsche Bank continued providing services to Jeffrey Epstein for months after telling the disgraced financier it would end its relationship with him in late 2018 and only moved to terminate all of his accounts following his final arrest in July 2019, according to Reuters.
Among the services Deutsche provided after notifying Epstein it would end the relationship was a rush order on April 9, 2019 for €50,000 in cash in “large bills” ahead of a trip to Europe, according to U.S. Justice Department records reviewed by the news outlet. The request prompted bank staff to search for updated identification after discovering the ID on file had expired in 2015, Reuters reported.
Although Deutsche Bank had informed Epstein in December 2018 that it would stop servicing his accounts by February 28, 2019, DOJ records show the institution handling the return of a €10,000 deposit from a Mercedes-Benz dealer in Paris and arranging at least two currency orders above 6,000 euros following that deadline, Reuters said.
As of May 3, 2019, Epstein still held at least nine accounts at Germany’s largest bank with combined balances of $1,776,680, according to the report.
The lender made a clean break with Epstein only upon learning of his arrest on July 6, 2019 for sex-trafficking, Reuters said. In the hours after the news broke, Fabrizio Campelli, then Deutsche’s head of wealth management, sent an email to a deputy with news of the arrest, asking “Can you please confirm that he is not a client now?”
Subsequent emails indicate that the accounts still held for Epstein were virtually empty. Two held less than $35, including the so-called Butterfly Trust account that regulators believe may have been used to cover up his crimes, Reuters said.
An internal email to Deutsche Bank staffers listed 28 accounts linked to Epstein, and included the subject line, “URGENT!!! Need to close accounts ASAP – please prioritize today,” according to the report.
Read more at Reuters