Richard Kahn

HBRK Associates Inc. was incorporated in New York on August 29, 2008 ², registered to Kahn's personal residence at 1365 York Avenue, Apt. 28, New York 10021, but operated from 575 Lexington Avenue, 4th Floor, New York 10022. The entity succeeded an earlier vehicle called NYSG, which operated from 2004 to 2008; HBRK took over from 2009 onward. HBRK's car service account with Tristar still used the NYSG name as late as December 2018, suggesting the transition was purely structural rather than operational. Kahn requested quarterly funding of $250,000 from Epstein to maintain HBRK operations, writing in July 2009: "HBRK needs to be funded for the next 3 months. Do I have your approval to fund with 250,000?" ³.

Before joining Epstein's operation, Kahn served as CEO of RDK Asset Management Inc. from 2000 to 2008, and operated RDK Properties LLC, the employer listed on his FEC donation records. The HBRK office served as the central hub for Epstein's financial operations: it held JPMorgan account 799789169, managed the four tree-named property holding entities (Nautilus, Laurel, Maple, and Cypress), administered the Southern Trust Company and Butterfly Trust, and served as the registered address for Coatue Enterprises LLC (NY registration 4748511, incorporated April 27, 2015). Harry Beller worked as an HBRK employee, and Erika Kellerhals, who held corporate officer titles across multiple Epstein entities in the Virgin Islands, was blocked by Kahn from signing authority on brokerage accounts ⁴, a restriction that kept signing authority centralized in New York. After Epstein's death, Deutsche Bank records show $9.24 million flowing into HBRK on December 12, 2019, across seven transactions, as part of the post-death estate account liquidation that also directed $5.57 million to Darren Indyke's PLLC on November 20, 2019.

Kahn's most frequent documented counterpart was Stewart Oldfield, the primary Deutsche Bank relationship manager for Epstein's accounts, with whom Kahn co-occurs in 1,818 LMSBAND documents — more than any other individual. Beyond Oldfield, Kahn maintained working relationships with multiple Deutsche Bank staff: Amanda Kirby (348 co-occurrences), Cynthia Rodriguez (329), Daniel Sabba (208), and Tazia Smith (184). In January 2018, Kahn coordinated directly with Cynthia Rodriguez to arrange a large cash withdrawal with indemnity, confirming branch awareness and requiring that Indyke present photo identification for pickup ⁵. Separately, Kahn supervised Euro orders through AFEX, instructing that 50,000 Euros be ordered "only large bills" for Indyke to collect ⁶.

Kahn also executed securities trades through Deutsche Bank on Epstein's behalf. On May 22, 2017, Epstein directed Kahn to "get a quote on selling 100k rothschild and co shares. same for buying the same amount" ⁷. Kahn contacted Tazia Smith, who reported the stock had closed at 27.585 euros on approximately 1,600 shares and warned that "b/a is going to be wide" given the low liquidity for a 100,000-share block. This instruction came during the same period when Epstein was advising Ariane de Rothschild on Edmond de Rothschild bank strategy, including 5 million share buyback permissions at 35 EUR and Jardine discussions — a dual position of advisor and trader that raises serious insider trading concerns. Kahn also coordinated LNKD stock sales (800 shares at $192.22) and WDC bond purchases ($2 million at 104.30) through Epstein accounts ⁸, and managed the Deutsche Bank relationship for entities including SFL and Gratitude America, with March 2016 correspondence about these accounts classified "Strictly Confidential" ⁹.

Kahn administered a web of trusts and corporate entities that formed the structural backbone of Epstein's financial architecture. He served as administrator of the Butterfly Trust, managed the 2017 Caterpillar Trust, and in March 2019 executed the $2.16 million transfer from the Deutsche Bank Caterpillar account to the Morgan Stanley Butterfly Trust account, coordinating with Andrew Atlas (SVP, Equity Sales/Middle Markets) at Morgan Stanley to establish the receiving account ¹⁰¹¹. A March 2012 "Open Items" memo from Kahn to Epstein listed the full roster of trust vehicles under management: Zorro Trust, Haze Trust, Butterfly Trust, Financial Ballistics Trust, and KCAC, alongside corporate entities including CDE Inc., a USVI S Corporation owned by Epstein.

Kahn's corporate roles extended across both New York and the U.S. Virgin Islands. He served as president of Gratitude America Ltd from 2012 to 2019 at zero compensation, managing all banking, donations, and correspondence for the USVI-registered nonprofit. He was financial manager for Enhanced Education, directing stock sales, wire transfers, and structuring Leon Black's donation payments — named as "c/o" contact on the ASU pledge. He served as officer of the J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, treasurer of Poplar Inc. (USVI, dissolved) and the C.O.U.Q. Foundation, and officer of Truth Robot LLC and Coatue Enterprises LLC. He was an administrator of the Southern Trust Company and trustee of the Epstein 2019 Trust. Taken together, these roles gave Kahn financial touchpoints across nearly every entity in the Epstein network, complementing Indyke's parallel legal authority.

Kahn served as the primary intermediary between Epstein and external fund managers, most extensively documented in the case of David Fiszel's Honeycomb Asset Management. From at least May 2016 through April 2019, Kahn forwarded performance reports, deal memos, wire instructions, and co-investment opportunities between Fiszel and Epstein, facilitating subscriptions to Honeycomb Ventures I and IV. He received investor reports at [email protected] from Morgan Stanley Fund Services. In communications with Fiszel, Kahn referred to Epstein as "boss" ¹² and also served as a social intermediary, pushing Fiszel for introductions to other members of Epstein's network. Kahn's involvement with Honeycomb extended well beyond bookkeeping into active investment gatekeeping.

Kahn also managed the financial dimensions of Epstein's involvement with Carbyne/Reporty, the Israeli surveillance technology company connected to Ehud Barak. Darren Indyke referenced "the transferring bank which is DB" and asked Kahn to contact Stewart Oldfield to execute the investment. Additionally, Kahn managed the Gratitude America account that received $10 million from Leon Black in 2015 and directed Kuhn Foundation wire transfers of $150,000 (August 2017) and $500,000 (June 2018) to Robert Lawrence Kuhn. He tracked the Fortress Value Recovery Fund (successor to DB Zwirn Special Opportunities Fund) and managed Nicholas Ribis's loan account, at one point demanding $200,000 in repayment and threatening to deposit bouncing checks. Across these relationships, Kahn consistently served as the financial execution layer between Epstein's directives and external counterparties.

Beyond his financial duties, Kahn regularly forwarded media coverage to Epstein on individuals and topics of apparent interest. The most extensively documented case involves Peter Thiel: at least eight separate article forwards are documented between July 2016 and August 2017, all marked "Importance: High." Kahn forwarded coverage of Thiel's RNC speech (July 2016), his defense of Trump support (October 2016), speculation about a Germany ambassadorship (January 2017), Thiel's New Zealand citizenship as a "backup country" (January 2017), and a BuzzFeed piece on Thiel hedging his Trump bet (August 2017). In at least one case ¹³, Epstein initiated the exchange, forwarding a New York Times article about Thiel to Kahn from his [email protected] address, suggesting a bidirectional monitoring relationship.

Kahn also tracked the Harvey Weinstein criminal case, forwarding articles to Epstein ¹⁴. The pattern suggests Kahn's role included curating information about individuals relevant to Epstein's network, potential investment targets, and figures whose legal troubles may have been seen as relevant to Epstein's own exposure. Kahn's media monitoring of Paul Tudor Jones was less intensive but still documented: he forwarded a Bloomberg article about Jones being victimized in a Hamilton Ponzi scheme (February 2017), and managed Robin Hood Foundation table purchases for Epstein through HBRK Associates.

FEC records confirm Richard Kahn made political donations from New York 10021 under his employer RDK Properties LLC. He contributed $2,300 to Richardson for President on November 13, 2007, and $500 to Hillary Clinton for President on June 6, 2007. The Richardson donation is significant in context: Darren Indyke donated the identical maximum amount of $2,300 to the same Richardson committee just seven days later, on November 20, 2007. Ken Starr, Epstein's appellate attorney, contributed $2,300 to the same committee on December 9, 2008. Bill Richardson was Governor of New Mexico, where Epstein's Zorro Ranch was located, a pattern consistent with coordinated giving to a political figure with jurisdiction over Epstein's interests.

Kahn's Clinton donation placed him alongside Ghislaine Maxwell ($2,300 on March 30, 2007), Alan Dershowitz, and William Barrett as Epstein network donors to the same committee (C00431569). Kahn also donated $5,400 to Stacey Plaskett, the USVI Delegate to Congress, in August 2016 — another jurisdiction-linked donation given Epstein's extensive Virgin Islands operations. While 3,259 total FEC results exist for "Richard Kahn," only the entries listing RDK Properties LLC as employer and the 10021 ZIP code are confirmed as the Epstein associate. The overall pattern is modest in dollar terms but concentrated on political figures in the two jurisdictions most relevant to Epstein's operations.