The US Virgin Islands has issued a subpoena to Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc, requesting documents related to the lawsuit accusing JPMorgan Chase & Co of facilitating sexual abuses by the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The subpoena, which was issued on April 28, was revealed in a recent court filing by the Virgin Islands, as they sought alternative means to serve Musk after being unable to locate him.
It’s important to note that the subpoena does not imply any wrongdoing on Musk’s part, and the US territory has not sought to question him under oath.
The court filing suggests that Musk, known for his prominent status as one of the wealthiest individuals globally, may have been referred to JPMorgan by Epstein.
However, the specific reasons for the Virgin Islands’ interest in obtaining documents from Musk were not disclosed in the filing.
In response to the recent developments, Elon Musk took to Twitter on Monday to address the accusations and vehemently denied any involvement or receipt of financial advice from Jeffrey Epstein. He stated that the idea of him seeking guidance from Epstein was absurd and referred to the late sex offender as a “cretin” who never advised him on anything.
It’s important to note that Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in a Manhattan jail cell. The lawsuit filed by the US Virgin Islands alleges that JPMorgan failed to detect warning signs of Epstein’s abuse of women on his private island, Little St James, which he owned in the US Virgin Islands.
The bank has denied knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
In its subpoena, the US Virgin Islands has requested Elon Musk to provide any relevant documents pertaining to Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement in human trafficking and the procurement of girls or women for commercial sex. The subpoena also seeks communications between Musk and Epstein, as well as between Musk and JPMorgan, regarding Epstein. Furthermore, documents related to any fees paid by Musk to Epstein or JPMorgan are included in the scope of the subpoena.
The nature and extent of any relationship between Musk and Epstein remain unclear. Back in 2019, both Musk and Tesla vehemently denied speculations that Epstein was advising Musk following the Tesla CEO’s regulatory challenges when he claimed to have secured funding to take Tesla private, as reported by The New York Times.
“It is incorrect to say that Epstein ever advised Elon on anything,” a spokeswoman for Musk told The New York Times at the time.
Musk is the second tech entrepreneur touched by the Virgin Islands litigation. US District Judge Jed Rakoff said earlier this month the territory may serve legal papers on Larry Page, although his ruling did not specify the information sought from the co-founder of Google, which is owned by Alphabet Inc.
During a Tesla shareholder lawsuit, Elon Musk testified in January that JPMorgan used to handle all of Tesla’s commercial banking business. However, the relationship between the two companies soured when the bank did not support Tesla’s automotive leasing line.
The lawsuit originated from claims by Tesla shareholders, alleging that Musk’s 2018 tweet claiming to have “funding secured” to take the company private misled investors and resulted in significant financial losses. However, the jury ultimately found Musk not liable for the damages.
In a separate legal battle, JPMorgan sued Tesla in 2021 for $162 million, citing the impact of the “funding secured” tweet on the repricing of Tesla stock warrants. In response, Tesla countersued the bank last year, accusing it of attempting to gain an unwarranted financial advantage.