Jeffrey Epstein earned $25 million helping Swiss bank settle DOJ case

Jeffrey Epstein collected a $25 million fee for helping Edmond de Rothschild navigate a Justice Department case, a payout documented in newly released federal files that also show Ariane de Rothschild kept in touch with him for years. The arrangement was tied to the Swiss bank’s Dec. 18, 2015 settlement with the U.S. Justice Department, when Edmond de Rothschild (Suisse) SA and Edmond de Rothschild (Lugano) SA agreed to pay more than $45 million.

The payment sat inside the Justice Department’s Swiss Bank Program, announced on Aug. 29, 2013, to give Swiss banks a path to resolve potential criminal liability tied to undeclared U.S.-related accounts. In Epstein’s case, Southern Trust Company Inc. would be paid $25 million for work on “outstanding matters” between Edmond de Rothschild Holding and the United States. Other descriptions of the deal involved “risk analysis” and the “application and use of certain algorithms.” An agreement dated Oct. 5, 2015 placed the fee in the middle of the bank’s settlement process.

Epstein had already been convicted in 2008. Ariane de Rothschild corresponded with him dozens of times and met him multiple times over roughly five years before his 2019 arrest. Edmond de Rothschild’s spokesperson said Epstein was a business acquaintance from 2013 to 2019 and said Ariane de Rothschild had no knowledge of his crimes and condemned his behavior.

The files do not show criminal wrongdoing by Ariane de Rothschild in the correspondence itself.