Jeffrey Epstein Advised Sergey Brin With Tax Shelter
The Wall Street Journal (archive.ph)
By David Benoit and Khadeeja Safdar
2023-08-15 23:14:00GMT
Sergey Brin, pictured at the World Economic Forum in 2017, was one of several JPMorgan clients subpoenaed by the U.S. Virgin Islands to gather information. Photo: Ruben Sprich/REUTERS
Jeffrey Epstein was advising Google co-founder Sergey Brin in 2007 on setting up a tax-saving trust for his children, according to new court documents that shed light on the late disgraced financier’s activities.
Epstein had put Brin in touch with bankers at JPMorgan Chase to help structure what is known as a grantor-retained annuity trust, or GRAT, according to the court filing on Tuesday. Representatives for Brin didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Epstein’s work on a similar trust for private-equity billionaire Leon Black has drawn questions from Senate investigators probing Black’s taxes. The Apollo Global Management co-founder said he paid all his taxes and denied any wrongdoing.
GRATs are relatively common among the super wealthy, but they must follow prescribed rules. Epstein cultivated an image of a tax adviser to rich clients, and Black paid him $158 million for tax work and estate planning, according to an Apollo independent investigation. Epstein died in jail in 2019 awaiting a trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.
The disclosures come in a civil suit that the U.S. Virgin Islands has brought against JPMorgan accusing the bank of aiding Epstein. The suit has continued to reveal the reach Epstein maintained for years, including after he was first accused in 2006 of paying underage girls for sex and after he pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008.
Brin was one of several JPMorgan clients subpoenaed by the U.S. Virgin Islands earlier this year to gather information. The suit alleges JPMorgan received referrals from Epstein and turned a blind eye to his activities. The bank has said it didn’t know about Epstein’s alleged clients and that the U.S. Virgin Islands officials failed to stop him. The bank has said it regrets the relationship.
Brin first became a JPMorgan client in 2004 after a referral from Epstein, eventually becoming one of the bank’s biggest clients, with over $4 billion in accounts at the time, according to court documents.
In October 2006, bank executives discussed having a team in New York instead of San Francisco so they could coordinate the business with Epstein, the documents show. The same month, JPMorgan bankers began discussing the tax maneuver with Brin, with Epstein advising the Google co-founder.
In January 2007, Epstein called a JPMorgan banker while Brin was with him to ask more questions about the trust, according to a JPMorgan email cited in the lawsuit. “I am assuming that we have passed the interview and we will officially move over the relationship to our team on the systems,” the email states.
The Wall Street Journal (archive.ph)
By David Benoit and Khadeeja Safdar
2023-08-15 23:14:00GMT
Sergey Brin, pictured at the World Economic Forum in 2017, was one of several JPMorgan clients subpoenaed by the U.S. Virgin Islands to gather information. Photo: Ruben Sprich/REUTERS
Jeffrey Epstein was advising Google co-founder Sergey Brin in 2007 on setting up a tax-saving trust for his children, according to new court documents that shed light on the late disgraced financier’s activities.
Epstein had put Brin in touch with bankers at JPMorgan Chase to help structure what is known as a grantor-retained annuity trust, or GRAT, according to the court filing on Tuesday. Representatives for Brin didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Epstein’s work on a similar trust for private-equity billionaire Leon Black has drawn questions from Senate investigators probing Black’s taxes. The Apollo Global Management co-founder said he paid all his taxes and denied any wrongdoing.
GRATs are relatively common among the super wealthy, but they must follow prescribed rules. Epstein cultivated an image of a tax adviser to rich clients, and Black paid him $158 million for tax work and estate planning, according to an Apollo independent investigation. Epstein died in jail in 2019 awaiting a trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.
The disclosures come in a civil suit that the U.S. Virgin Islands has brought against JPMorgan accusing the bank of aiding Epstein. The suit has continued to reveal the reach Epstein maintained for years, including after he was first accused in 2006 of paying underage girls for sex and after he pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008.
Brin was one of several JPMorgan clients subpoenaed by the U.S. Virgin Islands earlier this year to gather information. The suit alleges JPMorgan received referrals from Epstein and turned a blind eye to his activities. The bank has said it didn’t know about Epstein’s alleged clients and that the U.S. Virgin Islands officials failed to stop him. The bank has said it regrets the relationship.
Brin first became a JPMorgan client in 2004 after a referral from Epstein, eventually becoming one of the bank’s biggest clients, with over $4 billion in accounts at the time, according to court documents.
In October 2006, bank executives discussed having a team in New York instead of San Francisco so they could coordinate the business with Epstein, the documents show. The same month, JPMorgan bankers began discussing the tax maneuver with Brin, with Epstein advising the Google co-founder.
In January 2007, Epstein called a JPMorgan banker while Brin was with him to ask more questions about the trust, according to a JPMorgan email cited in the lawsuit. “I am assuming that we have passed the interview and we will officially move over the relationship to our team on the systems,” the email states.
