‘The Butterfly Trust’: How Deutsche Bank maintained Jeffrey Epstein as a client until he was arrested
Deutsche Bank claimed to have severed ties with Jeffrey Epstein in December 2018, but internal records show his accounts remained active into July 2019, including a special account named 'The Butterfly Trust' used to make nearly $3 million in payments. Despite public statements, the bank continued providing Epstein with high-level service and kept accounts open past his arrest on July 6, 2019. The bank later paid $150 million to New York regulators and $75 million to Epstein’s victims.
- ▪Deutsche Bank told regulators it terminated its relationship with Jeffrey Epstein in December 2018, but internal emails show accounts remained open into July 2019.
- ▪The bank maintained a special account named 'The Butterfly Trust' that made nearly $3 million in payments to women with Eastern European surnames for expenses like rent, tuition, and hotels.
- ▪Internal communications reveal bank staff continued servicing Epstein’s accounts with concierge-level support well after the supposed termination date.
- ▪Deutsche Bank paid $150 million to New York regulators and $75 million to Epstein’s victims over its handling of the relationship.
- ▪The bank did not fully close Epstein’s accounts until July 9, 2019, three days after his arrest.
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On a Friday morning in May 2019, months after Deutsche Bank claimed to have severed its relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and just weeks before he was arrested, one of the financier’s longtime bankers sat at his desk in Deutsche Bank’s midtown Manhattan headquarters, scrolling through the bank’s internal systems. The numbers on his screen didn’t match the story his institution had begun telling the outside world.“Since the client intends to have the rest of their accounts closed this week or next, let’s agree on what is still open,” Stewart Oldfield, then a director in Deutsche Bank’s U.S.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Fortune.
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