*

Deutsche continued services after saying it would end

Epstein

ties

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Bank's relationship with Epstein revealed in 2020

settlement

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Epstein's arrest prompted Deutsche to finally close his

accounts

By Tom Sims and John O'Donnell

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.

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.

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)