Billionaire Wexner Says He Went to Epstein’s Island, Didn’t Know of Crimes

Billionaire Leslie Wexner, who founded the company that owned Victoria’s Secret, told lawmakers on Feb. 18 that he traveled to the island owned by the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein but did not know of Epstein’s crimes.

Wexner told members of Congress during a closed-door hearing in Ohio that he visited Epstein’s island once, shortly after Epstein had purchased it, and stopped there for a “few hours” one morning with his wife and children while on a cruise on their boat.

“And, let me be crystal clear: I never witnessed nor had any knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activity,” Wexner also said. “I was never a participant nor co-conspirator in any of Epstein’s illegal activities.”

Wexner, 88, is the founder of L Brands, which for years owned Victoria’s Secret. He hired Epstein as his personal money manager starting in the 1980s.

Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution and was facing federal sex trafficking charges when he died in prison in 2019 in what a medical examiner ruled was a suicide.

Wexner, who has never been charged with a crime, is mentioned more than 1,300 times in the Epstein files released by the Department of Justice, some of which were made public this year.

Wexner told Vanity Fair in 2003 that Epstein had “excellent judgment and unusually high standards” and was “always a most loyal friend.”

In one missive released by the government, Epstein wrote in 2014 that he “never ever, did [anything] without informing les” and “I would never give him [up].”

In an FBI document dated July 12, 2019, an agent said Wexner’s lawyer told him or her that Wexner was looking for a criminal defense attorney and might be willing to sit for an interview.

In another document, dated Aug. 15, 2019, Wexner was listed as a co-conspirator of Epstein’s. A third, from that same day, said that agents and prosecutors met with lawyers representing Wexner and his wife and that they were informed the Wexners did not have knowledge of Epstein’s “sexual misconduct.” They said they cut ties with him in 2007 after they learned he stole from them.

Representatives of Wexner told news outlets in a recent statement, “The Assistant U.S. Attorney told Mr. Wexner’s legal counsel in 2019 that Mr. Wexner was neither a co-conspirator nor target in any respect,” adding, “Mr. Wexner cooperated fully by providing background information on Epstein and was never contacted again.”

On Feb. 18, Wexner said that he was “duped by a world-class con man.” He told lawmakers that Epstein stole money from him.

“I cannot undo that part of my personal history even as I regret ever having met him,” he said. “Once I learned of his abusive conduct and theft from my family, I never spoke with Epstein again.”

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Oversight Committee, told reporters after questioning Wexner that the billionaire was trying to downplay his ties to Epstein, but that the money from Wexner enabled Epstein’s lifestyle.

“He has basically alleged that he saw no evil, heard no evil, despite being in the room with Jeffrey Epstein over and over,” Rep. Dave Min (D-Calif.), who also attended the session, added later.

“It’s really just not credible. … To give that much trust to Jeffrey Epstein and then to say, ‘I don’t remember seeing any young girls, I didn’t hear anything about Jeffrey Epstein’—it really is just not plausible. And so we’re going to keep digging.”

A spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee, which is controlled by Republicans, told news outlets that video and a transcript from the closed-door questioning would be released soon.

“Les Wexner answered every question asked of him at today’s deposition,” the spokesperson said.

Reuters contributed to this report.