In a recent development, a federal judge has ruled that the US Virgin Islands can serve a subpoena for Elon Musk through his electric car company Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) for the lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) that revolves around the bank’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex offender.
The US Virgin Islands government had informed Judge Jed Rakoff that they were facing difficulties in personally serving Elon Musk with the subpoena, demanding documents related to Epstein and JPMorgan. However, the judge’s ruling now grants the territory the authority to serve Tesla’s registered agent on behalf of Musk.
The US Virgin Islands filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan in Manhattan’s US District Court, accusing the bank of facilitating and profiting from Epstein’s sex trafficking activities. Epstein had been a client of JPMorgan from 1998 to 2013. The bank has vehemently denied any wrongdoing in the case.
According to a court filing, the territory issued a subpoena to Elon Musk on April 28 due to suspicions that Epstein may have referred or attempted to refer Musk as a client to JPMorgan. The subpoena demands documents that illustrate any communication involving Musk, JPMorgan, and Epstein, as well as any documents relating to Epstein’s involvement in human trafficking or his procurement of individuals for consensual sex.
The US Virgin Islands mentioned in a court filing that their hired investigative firm was unable to locate Musk for personal service of the subpoena. Additionally, Musk’s lawyer did not respond to a request to accept the subpoena on behalf of the Tesla CEO. Elon Musk has yet to provide a comment on the ruling.
Apart from Musk, the territory has also issued similar subpoenas to Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, former Disney executive Michael Ovitz, Hyatt Hotels executive chairman Thomas Pritzker, and billionaire real estate investor Mort Zuckerman. The US Virgin Islands aims to obtain relevant documents regarding Epstein and JPMorgan from these individuals.
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