VICTORIA’S Secret mogul Les Wexner let Jeffrey Epstein abuse girls at his Ohio mega-mansion, court documents allege.
The 83-year-old tycoon has faced increasing scrutiny over his friendship with pedophile Epstein, who hanged himself in prison while facing child sex trafficking charges.
A complaint filed this week alleges that Wexner and his wife Abigail, 59, allowed Epstein “to use their home for liasons with victims”.
After Wexner hired Epstein as his “personal money manager” in the early 1990s, the duo became so entwined the magnate allegedly handed him the reins of power for his finances and private life.
He claimed last year that he had cut ties with 2007 after discovering he had stolen $46 million from him.
But the bombshell lawsuit appears to challenges the idea that Wexner was in the dark about Epstein's sex abuse.
“Over a period of many years, the convicted and now-deceased sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, had a close social and financial relationship with Mr. Wexner and his wife, defendant Abigail S. Wexner,” the complaint says, the DailyMail.com reports.
Wexner has built neo-Georgian mansions – including a $47m, 30-room family residence – a golf course and country club on 10,000 acres of land in Ohio.
“Upon information and belief, the Wexners let Epstein use their home for liaisons with victims,” the lawsuit alleges.
“One of Epstein's victims, Virginia Giuffre, has claimed that he directed her to have sex with Mr. Wexner, among others."
The complainant does not, however, directly allege that sex took place.
“Another victim, Maria Farmer, has accused Abigail Wexner of acquiescence while Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell sexually assaulted her in the New Albany compound and, effectively imprisoned her there and kept her under security guard,” says the lawsuit.
The allegations are part of a shareholder lawsuit brought against senior leadership at L Brands, the global fashion retailer founded and led by Wexner until last May.
It has been alleged Epstein boasted about his ties to the company and used the its Victoria’s Secret brand to groom victims, claiming he was a modelling talent scout for the brand.
“The Wexners entered into numerous other business and charitable relationships with Epstein, who was given access to the Company's facilities, assets and personnel,” the lawsuit alleges.
“Mr. Wexner knew or should have known that Epstein was using his relationship with the Wexners and to the Company to recruit aspiring models by posing as a recruiter and lying to them about his ability to get them Victoria's Secret assignments.”
Les Wexner is one of America's longest-serving CEOs and Forbes has estimated his net worth at $4.3 billion.
Epstein had an “unusually strong hold” over the CEO, according to an investigation by the New York Times.
In February 2020 he stepped down from his role at L Brands and sold Victoria's Secret, apparently due to its links with Epstein.
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