Retail tycoon Les Wexner has told lawmakers in the United States that he had been “duped” by the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and denied any knowledge of his former financial adviser’s abuse of girls and young women.
Wexner, a former CEO and founder of Victoria’s Secret owner L Brands, made the statement on Wednesday in written testimony to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which is investigating Epstein and his ties to the US elite.
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The Democrats on the panel had subpoenaed the 88-year-old billionaire after the latest release of Epstein-related documents by the Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed new details about his relationship with the well-connected financier.
Five committee members travelled to Wexner’s home in Ohio to take a deposition from him in a closed-door session. He was questioned for six hours, and a video and transcript are to be released soon.
In his written statement, Wexner described Epstein as a “conman” and said he had been “naive, foolish, and gullible to put any trust” in the convicted sex offender.
Wexner said he was introduced to Epstein in the mid-1980s and later hired him to manage his vast wealth acquired as the founder of L Brands, which also operated leading brands like The Limited, Express, Bath & Body Works, and Abercrombie & Fitch.
Wexner said he had “irrevocably cut ties” with Epstein after learning that “he was an abuser, a crook, and a liar” around 2007, a year after the late financier was first arrested for soliciting prostitution from a minor in the state of Florida.
Wexner said his wife, Abigail, had discovered that “Epstein had stolen vast sums from our family”, and following this revelation, he never spoke to his former adviser again.
“While others visited Epstein in jail and associated with him after his release, I did not. Nor did I witness, condone, or enable his crimes in any way,” the statement said.
Democrats unconvinced
Some Democratic lawmakers, however, pushed back on Wexner’s narrative, given their long-running professional relationship.
“There is no single person that was more involved in providing Jeffrey Epstein with the financial support to commit his crimes than Les Wexner,” Representative Robert Garcia, the committee’s ranking Democrat, told reporters outside Wexner’s home.
“We have also directly heard from survivors about Mr Wexner, hi