L Brands gets help tracing ties to Epstein
L Brands has hired a law firm to examine any ties between the retailer and accused child-sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Epstein and L Brands founder and CEO Leslie H. Wexner were longtime business associates, but the company said late Wednesday that it doesn’t think Epstein ever formally worked for the company.
“Mr. Epstein’s crimes are abhorrent, and we applaud every effort to bring justice to those harmed,” the Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works operator said in a statement. “While Mr. Epstein served as Mr. Wexner’s personal money manager for a period that ended nearly 12 years ago, we do not believe he was ever employed by nor served as an authorized representative of the company. We take these matters seriously, and at the direction of the L Brands board of directors have engaged outside counsel to conduct a thorough review.”
Epstein, 66, is a registered sex offender who was convicted of state prostitution charges in Florida in a plea deal in 2008 and served more than a year in a county jail after authorities said he paid numerous underage girls for sex. Epstein
He was indicted July 8 on new charges in New York accusing him of sexually exploiting and abusing dozens of girls between 2002 and 2005 by enticing them to engage in sex acts for money.
Epstein was found unconscious in his cell Tuesday at a federal jail in Manhattan with marks on his neck, according to The New York Times.
Prison officials were treating the incident as a possible suicide attempt, a law enforcement official who had been briefed on the matter said. Epstein’s injuries were not considered serious.
Epstein and Wexner had close business ties for years, and Epstein served as Wexner’s financial adviser.
In 1998, he was identified as president — along with Wexner — of the New Albany Co. in Ohio business records. Epstein owned land in the New Albany development, including a home on King George Drive that he owned from 1994 until selling it for $0 to the Wexners in December 2007.
The Dispatch also has reported that Epstein donated nearly $47 million to a foundation that Wexner’s wife, Abigail, launched in 2007. It was the only donation the fund received.
Epstein was seen at L Brands headquarters from time to time years ago, according to news accounts.
After Epstein was indicted on the most recent charges, Wexner told company employees he was unaware of any of the allegations of wrongdoing against Epstein and he severed ties with Epstein 12 years ago.
“I would not have continued to work with any individual capable of such egregious, sickening behavior as has been reported about him,” Wexner said in an email to the workers. “As you can imagine, this past week I have searched my soul ... reflected ... and regretted that my path ever crossed his.”