The US Virgin Islands has subpoenaed tech entrepreneur Elon Musk for documents in its litigation probing into JPMorgan Chase & Co bank's role in the activities of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The subpoena which was issued on April 28 came to light on Monday when the Virgin Islands government told a court that they couldn't find the billionaire to serve him.
An investigative firm was hired to search public databases to find Musk and emailed one of his lawyers but received no response. The government sought permission to serve Tesla Inc, his electric vehicle company, instead.
Why did the island subpoena Musk?
The subpoena sought documents from January 1, 2022, to the present reflecting communications between Musk and JPMorgan or Musk and Epstein.
The island is looking for information regarding Epstein's role in Musk's accounts, transactions or financial management or any fee he may have paid Epstein.
The court documents say that while Musk is not being accused of wrongdoing but he "is a high-net-worth individual who Epstein may have referred to or attempted to refer to JPMorgan."
It also asked for any documents that Musk has regarding Epstein's involvement in human trafficking and his procurement of girls for commercial sex.
In 2019, a spokeswoman for Musk told the New York Times that "it is incorrect to say that Epstein ever advised Elon on anything."
In a tweet late on Monday, Musk said that he wouldn't have listened to financial advice from Epstein. "That cretin never advised me on anything whatsoever," he said.
JPMorgan's role in the Epstein case
The US Virgin Islands accuses JPMorgan of missing reg flags about Epstein's abuse of women on the little St. James, a private island he owned there.
It said that the bank was "indispensable to the operation and concealment of the Epstein trafficking enterprise."
The bank has denied knowledge of Epstein's crimes.
Jeffrey Epstein is alleged to have recruited and sexually abused dozens of underage girls in his different mansions in the early 2000s.
He had pleaded not guilty.
Epstein died by suicide in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in a federal jail in Manhattan.
