Financial Architecture of the Epstein Criminal Enterprise: A Forensic Analysis of Shell Companies, Banking Relationships, and Money Laundering Mechanisms

This study presents a comprehensive forensic analysis of the financial architecture that enabled Jeffrey Epstein's criminal enterprise to operate with impunity for nearly two decades. Employing an interpretivist-constructivist case study methodology grounded in forensic accounting techniques, the study examined over 2,800 documents including court filings, regulatory enforcement actions, congressional investigation records, and corporate registrations to address four research questions concerning shell company structures, banking compliance failures, money flow patterns, and the role of real estate holdings. The analysis identified 34 corporate entities spanning multiple jurisdictions, with 52.9% registered in the U.S. Virgin Islands following Epstein's 2008 conviction, reflecting deliberate jurisdictional arbitrage for tax minimization and corporate secrecy. Banking relationships with JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank processed over $1 billion in transactions across 55 accounts, with documented red flags including structured cash withdrawals, payments to trafficked women, and transactions with identified co-conspirators that persisted without effective compliance intervention. The Wexner financial relationship, characterized by unlimited power of attorney, provided foundational capital through control over $1.3 billion in stock sales, with documented evidence of $46-47 million in misappropriated funds subsequently returned through charitable transfer. Real estate holdings valued at over $200 million served simultaneously as operational infrastructure for criminal activities, repositories for asset conversion, symbols of legitimacy, and shields protecting assets from legal process. The findings illuminate systemic vulnerabilities in anti-money laundering compliance regimes, beneficial ownership transparency frameworks, and regulatory enforcement that enabled sophisticated elite criminal networks to exploit legitimate financial infrastructure. Theoretical analysis confirms and extends propositions of white-collar crime theory, differential association, and techniques of neutralization while identifying the critical role of institutional enablers. The study contributes policy recommendations for enhanced beneficial ownership verification, trafficking-specific transaction monitoring, and strengthened regulatory accountability to prevent similar exploitation of financial systems.

Keywords: elite financial crime, money laundering, shell companies, banking compliance, human trafficking finance, beneficial ownership, forensic accounting