Deutsche Bank's Prolonged Relationship with Epstein: A Closer Look

Deutsche Bank's Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein

By Tom Sims and John O'Donnell

Timeline of Events

FRANKFURT, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank continued to provide services for Jeffrey Epstein after telling the disgraced financier it would end the relationship in late 2018, only closing all his accounts after his arrest in July 2019, U.S. Department of Justice files show.

Regulatory Consequences

Among the services Deutsche provided to Epstein after the German bank told him it would cut its ties was quickly arranging an order made on April 9, 2019, for 50,000 euros ($59,300) in cash in "large bills" ahead of a trip to Europe, the documents show.

Internal Communications

This triggered a search for Epstein's ID by bank employees after Deutsche discovered the one on file expired in 2015, they show.

Epstein still held at least nine accounts with balances totalling $1,776,680 with Germany's largest bank as of May 3, 2019, a Reuters examination of the U.S. documents shows.

Reuters has reviewed hundreds of the Justice Department documents related to Epstein and Deutsche, released in recent weeks under pressure from victims and members of Congress.

The documents, which may not be comprehensive, offer a window into how Deutsche continued to bank Epstein, delaying ending a relationship that began in 2013.

"As we said in 2020, we acknowledge our error of onboarding Epstein in 2013 and the weaknesses in our processes ... We have repeatedly stated that we deeply regret our association with Epstein," Deutsche said in a statement.

Deutsche did not answer detailed questions from Reuters about the transactions reported here, which show the relationship with him continued for months.

The Frankfurt-based bank said in a statement it "notified Epstein in December 2018 that the bank intended to close his accounts. The bank worked to ensure that Epstein's assets were transferred out of the bank in the following months".

The depth of Deutsche's relationship with Epstein was confirmed in 2020 when it agreed to pay regulators $150 million as part of a settlement for banking the convicted sex offender for five years.

That agreement, signed by both Deutsche and its New York regulator, said the bank decided to end the relationship and informed Epstein by letter on December 21, 2018, "that they would no longer be servicing his accounts".

The actual letter, which appears in the DOJ files, gave Epstein until February 28 to clear his accounts, allowing for some services until then.

The released files show that, while winding down Epstein's multiple accounts with the bank, it still offered him services well beyond that deadline.

These included help with the return of a 10,000 euro deposit from a Mercedes-Benz dealer in Paris, as well as at least two currency orders for more than 6,000 euros each.

The files show it took news of his arrest on July 6, 2019, almost seven months later, for Deutsche to make a final clean break with Epstein by officially closing the accounts.

In the hours after Epstein's arrest made headlines, Fabrizio Campelli, then Deutsche's head of wealth management and now a board member overseeing its investment bank, sent an email to a deputy with a news report of Epstein's arrest saying: "Can you please confirm that he is not a client now?"

Campelli declined to comment through a Deutsche spokesperson.

The ensuing email traffic shows numerous Epstein accounts in Deutsche's system, although by then with no balance. Two contained a few dollars, less than $35, including the so-called Butterfly Trust account that regulators said was at risk of being used for covering up crimes.

Epstein's arrest triggered an internal email to Deutsche staff listing 28 accounts, with the subject line: "URGENT!!! Need to close accounts ASAP - please prioritize today".

Deutsche has previously said that it contacted law enforcement immediately after Epstein's arrest to cooperate.

The New York State Department of Financial Services was sharply critical of the bank in the 2020 settlement for making scant checks on Epstein's payments, including those to models, despite press reports that said he brought "young girls ... often from Eastern Europe" to the U.S. on his private jets.

The regulator declined to comment for this report.

Epstein had pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl and served an 18-month prison sentence.

Deutsche took him on as a client in 2013 after JPMorgan had decided to close his long-held accounts with the U.S. bank.

On January 3, 2019, Epstein's office wanted to know how much cash he could take out daily with his Deutsche debit card. The answer from the bank was $12,000 a day. 

On February 28, the day of the deadline, Deutsche's relationship manager for Epstein, Stewart Oldfield, asked another employee for a list of accounts closed as of that date. 

"Compliance is asking me, so actually closing out the zero balance accounts is important," Oldfield wrote.

Oldfield, who no longer works for Deutsche, did not respond to requests for comment sent through LinkedIn and to three email addresses.

In a letter dated March 18, 2019, on Deutsche letterhead, Oldfield wrote to another bank that was taking Epstein's money: "we are not aware of any problems relating to the operation or use of" the Epstein accounts.

Deutsche continued to operate one Epstein account, called Southern Trust Company, with more than $30 million moving in and out in March 2019, one statement shows, in what appears to be Epstein's money leaving Deutsche for new accounts.

In April 2019, an Epstein account at Deutsche made more than $100,000 in transfers to various aviation firms, another shows.

Deutsche also arranged another $7,500 in euros to be sent in cash by FedEx to an Epstein aide in New York, as well as the 50,000 euros on short notice. Both requests were made in a single email on April 9.

When asked by a colleague for an explanation for the big sum, Oldfield said: "This is a fairly typical withdrawal for them. Jeffrey has an apartment in Paris and likes to have cash with him when he travels there."($1 = 0.8430 euros)

(Reporting by Tom Sims and John O'Donnell in Frankfurt. Additional reporting by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes. Editing by Elisa Martinuzzi and Alexander Smith)