Elon Musk has called attempts by prosecutors in the US Virgin Islands to subpoena him over alleged financial advice from Jeffrey Epstein ‘idiotic’.
The legal team in the US Virgin Islands are aiming to get any files from Musk that relate to the sex offender and financier, who died in 2019 while in jail.
Musk has insisted that he never sought counsel from Epstein, despite the legal team in the US Virgin Islands believing that the paedophile tried to recruit the former Twitter CEO as a client of JPMorgan.
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The subpoena was issued on April 28 to Musk, but only came to light on Monday (15 May) in a request to serve the Tesla founder by alternative means because it had been unable to locate him.
The legal team are not seeking to question Musk under oath and the efforts to subpoena him do not implicate him in any wrongdoing.
According to the court filing on Monday in the US District Court in Manhattan, prosecutors believe Musk may have been referred to JPMorgan by Epstein. The Virgin Islands did not share any further explanation regarding its interest in obtaining documents from Musk.
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Epstein owned the island Little Saint James from 1998 until his death, and it became notorious as a location where Epstein would bring underage girls and where many of his alleged crimes against minors were committed - along with Epstein’s friends who travelled there with him.
Musk, who is one of the richest people in the world, responded to the subpoena attempts in a statement shared on Twitter by calling the late financier a ‘cretin’ and a ‘dumb crook’.
Breaking down his response into three points, the billionaire stated: “This is idiotic on so many levels:
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“1. That cretin never advised me on anything whatsoever.
“2. The notion that I would need or listen to financial advice from a dumb crook is absurd.
“3. JPM let Tesla down ten years ago, despite having Tesla’s global commercial banking business, which we then withdrew. I have never forgiven them.”
The prosecutors are now looking into alternative ways to subpoena Musk, either via his lawyers or through email.
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They are seeking documentation detailing any meetings or communications between Musk and Epstein from January 1, 2002 onwards.
In 2019, Musk and Tesla strongly denied any speculation that Epstein was giving the billionaire advice after the New York Times reported that he ran into trouble with regulators for saying he had lined up the funding to take Tesla private.
A spokeswoman for Musk told the New York Times at the time: “It is incorrect to say that Epstein ever advised Elon on anything.”
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Musk isn't the only tech entrepreneur sought by prosecutors for the US Virgin Islands - Judge Jed Rakoff said earlier this month that the territory may serve legal papers to Google co-founder Larry Page, although it is not clear what information they may seek.
Prosecutors believe Page was also sought to sign up as a client of JPMorgan.
JPMorgan has denied knowledge of Epstein’s crimes although the US Virgin Islands accuses the bank of missing red flags about Epstein’s abuse of women on his island.
Epstein died by suicide in a jail cell in August 2019. His long-time friend and accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years for sex trafficking crimes.
Topics: Elon Musk, Jeffrey Epstein, News, US News
Gregory Robinson