July 28, 2020 • No Comments • National News

Rick Friedman/Rick Friedman Photography/Corbis via Getty ImagesBy JAMES HILL, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — The government of the U.S. Virgin Islands is upping the ante in its quest to pierce the veil of secrecy that cloaked the life and wealth of financier Jeffrey Epstein, the deceased sex-offender who accrued a fortune of more than $650 million under mysterious circumstances.

At least 10 financial institutions — including Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase and Citibank — have been issued subpoenas in recent weeks from the office of USVI Attorney General Denise George, according to court filings reviewed by ABC News. The subpoenas seek account records, transaction details and communications concerning Epstein, his estate, and more than 30 corporations, trusts and nonprofit entities connected to him.

The move comes as lawyers for Epstein’s estate are locked in an increasingly acrimonious duel with George, who filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit against the estate in January, five months after Epstein died while in a federal jail in New York. The complaint alleges that Epstein constructed a network of companies and individuals to enable and conceal his alleged sex-trafficking of girls and young women to Little St. James, his luxurious private island resort off the east coast of St. Thomas.

“Epstein, through and in association with defendants, trafficked, raped, sexually assaulted and held captive underage girls and young women at his properties in the Virgin Islands,” the suit said.

Earlier this month, the attorney general revealed in court filings that her office is also scrutinizing the alleged role of Ghislaine Maxwell in Epstein’s operation. Maxwell, 58, was arrested on July 2 and charged in a federal indictment in New York. She is accused of grooming three minor girls and enabling their sexual abuse by Epstein between 1994 and 1997. In some cases, prosecutors allege, Maxwell participated in the abuse. She has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and a trial is scheduled for next year.

“The Government is and has been actively investigating Maxwell’s participation in the criminal sex-trafficking and sexual abuse conduct of the Epstein Enterprise,” wrote Ariel Smith, deputy attorney general of the USVI in a court filing on July 11.

Lawyers for Epstein’s estate are seeking to dismiss the government’s lawsuit as an untimely action that is interfering with the estate’s ability to preserve its assets and to pay claims to its creditors, including alleged victims of Epstein’s decades-long pattern of abuse. A voluntary claims restitution program established by the estate began accepting claims from survivors last month.

“Mr. Epstein is not continuing his alleged criminal enterprise, as he is dead,” wrote Christopher Kroblin, an attorney for the estate in a court filing in May. “The Government sat on its hands while Mr. Epstein was alive — notwithstanding that he registered as a sex offender with the Government ten years ago — and continued to do nothing even months after Mr. Epstein’s death.”

Epstein first acquired property in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1998, purchasing Little St. James, an island off the east coast of St. Thomas, for about $8 million. He then spent millions of dollars developing an elaborate compound, with a main house, swimming pool, helipad and guest villas overlooking the Caribbean Sea. Starting in 2010, Epstein made the island his permanent residence and established a host of vaguely-named entities in the territory to run his business, charitable and personal affairs. He would later, through a series of separate transactions totaling more than $20 million, complete the purchase of a larger, neighboring island called Great St. James.

The source of his extravagant wealth has long defied logical explanation. Epstein grew up in a blue-collar neighborhood in Brooklyn’s Coney Island, never finished college, and amassed his fortune while boasting of managing money only for billionaires — though his only publicly-known client was Leslie Wexner, the founder of The Limited. Wexner would later accuse Epstein of misappropriating millions of dollars from his family fortune.

Among the entities listed in the USVI government’s subpoenas to the banks are Plan D, which owned Epstein’s Gulfstream jet; Nautilus, Inc., which owned Little St. James; and Maple, Inc., which owned his New York mansion.

Several of the financial firms are also being asked for records concerning “The Butterfly Trust,” an Epstein-related entity that opened accounts at Deutsche Bank in 2014 and which listed several of Epstein’s alleged co-conspirators among its beneficiaries, according to a report from New York state regulators released earlier this month.

That report found that Deutsche Bank maintained its relationship with Epstein until late 2018 despite multiple “suspicious transactions” and “red flags” that could have been related to his alleged sex-trafficking operation.

Epstein allegedly used the Butterfly Trust and various other accounts to “send over 120 wires totaling $2.65 million to beneficiaries … including some transfers to alleged co-conspirators or women with Eastern European surnames,” regulators noted, as well as to make “lawsuit settlement payments to alleged victims, and rent, legal, and immigration expenses made to or on behalf of young (albeit adult) women,” according to the report.

Deutsche Bank agreed to pay penalties of $150 million for compliance failures in connection with the banks dealing with Epstein, according to the New York State Department of Financial Services.

“We acknowledge our error of onboarding Epstein in 2013 and the weaknesses in our processes, and have learnt from our mistakes and shortcomings,” a bank spokesperson said of the report’s findings. “Immediately following Epstein’s arrest, we contacted law enforcement and offered our full assistance with their investigation.”

A Deutsche Bank spokesperson declined to comment on the subpoenas from the United States Virgin Islands. Representatives from JPMorgan Chase and Citibank also declined to comment.

Other banks and brokerage firms that were issued subpoenas, according to the court records, include Fidelity Investments, Charles Schwab, Bank Leumi, Wells Fargo, Northern Trust and Silicon Valley Bank.

Spokespersons for Fidelity, Charles Schwab and Leumi did not respond to requests for comment. Wells Fargo declined to comment.

Silicon Valley Bank declined to comment on pending litigation, but a spokesperson said that “to the best of our knowledge, Silicon Valley Bank has not had, and currently does not have, any business dealings with the individual or the entities named in the subpoena.”

A spokesperson for Northern Trust, Doug Holt, did not comment directly on the subpoenas but said that “like other financial institutions, Northern Trust regularly cooperates with information requests from regulators or law enforcement officials.”

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

July 28, 2020 • No Comments • National News

ramihalim/iStockBy MEREDITH DELISO, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — Officials are investigating a possible deadly shark attack Monday off the coast of Maine. If confirmed, it could be the first fatal shark attack ever recorded in the state.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources said Monday evening that the Maine Marine Patrol is investigating the death of a swimmer in Harpswell. According to an eyewitness, the woman was swimming off the shore near Bailey Island when she appeared to be attacked by a shark, officials said.

Kayakers brought the woman ashore, where she was pronounced dead by EMS responders, officials said.

The U.S. Coast Guard said it also responded to the attack, which occurred Monday afternoon.

The identity of the victim was being withheld pending notification of her family.

The Maine Marine Patrol is now urging swimmers and boaters to use caution near Baily Island and to avoid schooling fish or seals.

Shark attacks in Maine are “very rare,” James Sulikowski of the Sulikowski Shark and Fish Conservation Lab at Arizona State University told the Portland Press Herald. According to Sulikowski, there has only been one unprovoked shark attack recorded in Maine. In October 2010, an undersea diver filmed a shark attacking him off the coast of Eastport. The diver was uninjured, according to reports at the time.

The University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File has also recorded only one unprovoked shark attack in Maine since 1837.

Based on the location of Monday’s suspected shark attack, Sulikowski told the Press Herald he surmised it could have been a white shark. Sulikowski’s organization recently detected white sharks in Southern Maine, and on Sunday, a seal carcass was found on the beach in Phippsburg, Maine, with a 19-inch bite wound, Sulikowski said.

Shark attacks on humans are rare in general. According to the International Shark Attack File, there were 64 confirmed unprovoked cases last year, resulting in two fatalities. Shark attacks have been on the decline so far this year, too, the database reported, likely due to quarantine measures as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

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July 28, 2020 • No Comments • National News

Courtesy Tyler BrumfieldBy IVAN PEREIRA, ABC News

(LOS ALTOS, Calif.) — The U.S. Postal Service condemned the actions of a white customer who was filmed shouting slurs at an Asian American employee at a California post office.

On Thursday, an unidentified woman was seen arguing with the employee at the booth inside the post office on Main Street in Los Altos, according to footage recorded and shared online by Tyler Brumfield who was on line. The woman is seen in the video screaming at the Asian American employee, “Can you just do your job? It’s simple,” and using an epithet under her breath.

Brumfield and other post office patrons are then heard calling out the customer for her language.

“That’s not acceptable. No, it’s not. Totally not OK,” Brumfield is heard saying.

The customer was then filmed walking out of the post office and shouting the epithet louder while looking directly into Brumfield’s camera.

Brumfield told ABC affiliate KGO-TV that he and the other people on line were stunned.

“We are all humans and we should respect each other as such, because someone is different or has different melanin doesn’t mean we have to disregard the humanity of that particular person,” Brumfield said.

Augustine Ruiz, a spokesman for the USPS, condemned the incident and said that customers should treat all of their employees with courtesy.

“No employee should have to suffer any abuse by a customer, and we have every right to refuse service to anyone who is abusive,” he said in a statement.

The American Postal Workers Union didn’t immediately return ABC News’ request for comment.

Roughly 7.6% of USPS workers identify as being Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, according to the USPS.

Asian Americans in California have self-reported 832 incidents of discrimination and harassment in the last three months, according to a report released earlier in July by the nonprofit coalition Stop AAPI Hate.

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July 28, 2020 • No Comments • National News

Akron Zoo/FacebookBy JON HAWORTH, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — An incredibly rare blue lobster was saved from certain death by, perhaps ironically, Red Lobster employees after he was delivered to their restaurant in a food delivery.

After eagle-eyed employees at a Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Red Lobster establishment spotted the rare crustacean, they decided to contact conservationists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California to inform them of their discovery.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium then got in touch the Akron Zoo to see if they would be interested in housing the rare animal dubbed “Clawde” by the Red Lobster employees who discovered him and gave him the same moniker as the restaurant chain’s mascot.

“The connection between the Akron Zoo and Red Lobster came from a conservation partnership called Seafood Watch,” Akron Zoo said in a social media statement posted online. “The program, run by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, strives to help consumers and businesses choose seafood that is farmed sustainably and fished in ways to support a healthy ocean. Both the Akron Zoo and Red Lobster are conservation partners with Seafood Watch.”

According to the Akron Zoo, their animal care staff quickly jumped into action to prepare a new home at the zoo in a special tank called “Clawde’s Man Cave.”

The Akron Zoo said that the blue coloration of the shell is the result of a genetic anomaly and estimates that this rare occurrence happens in one out of every two million lobsters.

However, thanks to quick thinking Red Lobster employees, Clawde’s life was spared and he now resides in the Komodo Kingdom building at the Akron Zoo where he will live out the remainder of his days.

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July 27, 2020 • No Comments • National News

iStock/KuzmaBY: MEREDITH DELISO, ABC News

(GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan) — Two fugitives who allegedly escaped a Virginia juvenile correctional center with the help of two of the facility’s employees were caught in Michigan after nearly two weeks on the run, officials said.

Following a “complex investigation,” the Grand Rapids Fugitive Task Force arrested Rashad E. Williams, 18, and Jabar Ali Taylor, 20, without incident Saturday evening at a hotel in Battle Creek, Michigan — 700 miles from the scene of the alleged escape, the U.S. Marshals Service said.

According to the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice, the pair escaped the 284-capacity Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center in Chesterfield County in the early morning hours of July 13. The duo allegedly used a cord to choke a security staff member until he lost consciousness, then allegedly used the employee’s keys to exit the unit. They then escaped through a hole cut in the facility’s perimeter security fence and left in a getaway car, officials said.

U.S. Marshals had initially believed the two would travel north, where they “both have significant ties.” The two first fled to Pennsylvania, authorities said, where they were spotted at a hotel and seen on surveillance footage at a nearby Turkey Hill market in Lancaster County. The Lancaster County District’s Attorney’s Office had warned the public that they are “dangerous fugitives” who should not be confronted.

U.S. Marshals pursued leads in several states until their arrest in Michigan, officials said. Michigan State Police, Battle Creek and Grand Rapids police departments and the Michigan Department of Corrections assisted in the arrest. The FBI also helped with the investigation.

“Hours of dedicated investigative work by our law enforcement team ensured the safety of the public by getting these very dangerous escapees back into custody quickly and safely,” Nick E. Proffitt, U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Virginia, said in a statement.

Both Williams and Taylor will be held at the Calhoun County Jail in Battle Creek, authorities said.

Taylor, of Spotsylvania County, Virginia, was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder and aggravated malicious assault stemming from the 2015 stabbing deaths of two men. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison in 2016. In May, a judge denied an attempt by his legal team to reduce his sentence.

Williams, of Washington, D.C., was convicted of malicious wounding and robbery and sentenced to 18 years in 2019.

Both were due to be transferred to an adult Department of Corrections facility when they turned 21, officials said. Taylor turns 21 on Aug. 25.

Three people have been arrested so far in connection with the escape, police said, including two Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice employees who worked at Bon Air. Destiny L. Harris, 23, of Chesterfield County, was charged with two counts of aiding with the escape of a juvenile on July 14. The next day, Darren Briggs, 42, of Lawrenceville, Virginia, was charged with one felony count of providing a cell phone to a prisoner. Both are no longer employed by the agency, Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice Director Valerie Boykin said.

A relative of Williams’ — Gerald Thornton, 33, of Philadelphia — was charged with two counts of aiding in the escape of a juvenile, according to ABC Richmond affiliate WRIC.

This was the first escape at Bon Air in over 20 years, according to Boykin. The director said she was launching a “full security analysis” of the “old campus.”

“DJJ had been working for years to replace it with a more modern facility with state-of-the-art security and treatment design components,” she said in a statement on July 17. “While those efforts are ongoing, we are committed to determine if security enhancements are needed.”

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