Todd Wanek

The central documented connection is the shared relationship manager code. Deutsche Bank daily deposit reports — internal documents that list all accounts under a given RM code with their daily balances — show that RM 81851 (active through at least 2015–2017) and its successor RM 82289 (active 2018–2019) jointly covered the full Epstein entity portfolio and the full Wanek family account structure. This was not a coincidental pairing: Stewart Oldfield was named as the lead banker for both.

Under RM 81851, October 2015 reports ¹ list Epstein at $1.47 million alongside Todd & Karen Wanek JTWROS at $2 million, Wanek Trust of 2000, KWF 2007 LLC, SSW 2007 LLC, and core Epstein entities including Southern Trust Company, Neptune LLC, Hyperion Air LLC, JEGE Inc, Gratitude America Ltd ($10 million), and Darren K. Indyke PLLC. By the RM 82289 transition in 2018, the Wanek footprint had expanded dramatically: Ashley Furniture Industries Inc ($21–23 million in daily balances), Ashley Holdings Inc (with $50 million per-account overdraft limits), and a proliferating network of real estate holding LLCs (Mizner Court, Solstice Loop, Sabal Club, San Marco, Verona Apartments, and others). Epstein entities continued on the same RM code throughout.

At Deutsche Bank, an RM code groups all accounts managed by a single banker into a unified daily reporting view. Oldfield saw every Wanek balance and every Epstein balance on the same internal report. The Wanek family’s corporate credit facilities alone — nine separate lines for Ashley Furniture Industries totaling over $300 million — dwarfed the Epstein accounts in revenue potential. The revenue imbalance suggests Deutsche Bank’s internal risk calculus may have tolerated Epstein partially because the same banker’s book contained large, established corporate relationships that offset the compliance risk.

Third Lake Capital (TLC) is a single family office established in 2013 to exclusively manage the capital of the Ronald Wanek family. Headquartered at 1600 E 8th Ave, Suite A132, Tampa, Florida, it is registered in Delaware (entity 5391085, LEI 254900EX9TOQBJBOW372) and maintains over 45 SEC-registered funds spanning real estate, private equity, venture capital, and private credit. The relationship was brought to Deutsche Bank by former banker Paul Morris in October 2014 and subsequently managed by Oldfield, who maintained weekly contact with the family office.

Key personnel include Kenneth Jones (Managing Partner and CEO), Paul Watson (CIO), Robert Forsythe (Managing Partner; grandson of Ronald Wanek), and — after his departure from Deutsche Bank — Stewart Oldfield (Principal and CSO). Oldfield managed the Wanek family’s $80+ million Deutsche Bank relationship as their banker, then joined the family office itself. SEC Form D filings confirm Oldfield’s role at Third Lake Partners, and internal DB documents show him discussing Third Lake and Southern Financial promotional rates in the same communications — the two client relationships interleaved in his daily work.

The family’s Deutsche Bank trust architecture was extensive: Todd & Karen Wanek JTWROS ($20 million CD), Wanek Trust of 2000 ($10 million), 2014 GRATs for daughters Shari Wagner and Kati Forsythe ($5 million each), paired 2007 LLCs (KWF and SSW at $2.5 million each), 2009 LLCs for grandchildren Cameron Wanek and Gabrielle Wanek ($3.75 million each), 2012 irrevocable trusts, 2015 GRATs for the next generation, and the Ronald & Joyce Wanek Irrevocable Dynasty Trust. In December 2017, iCapital Advisors acquired Deutsche Bank’s private equity access fund platform, and Third Lake Capital was among the clients transferred, demonstrating the family’s use of institutional-grade investment structures beyond simple deposit banking.

Todd Wanek’s documented relationships within this investigation are almost entirely mediated through Deutsche Bank rather than through direct personal contact.

Jeffrey Epstein: The connection is purely institutional. Epstein and Wanek shared RM codes 81851 and 82289, and their accounts appeared on the same daily deposit reports from October 2015 through at least July 2019. The same banker, Stewart Oldfield, managed both relationships. There is no evidence in the EFTA corpus of direct communication, social contact, or business dealings between Wanek and Epstein. The connection exists at the institutional layer — both were clients of the same banker within Deutsche Bank’s wealth management division.

Stewart Oldfield: The closest documented personal relationship in the dossier. Oldfield managed the Wanek family’s $80+ million in Deutsche Bank AUM with weekly contact, serviced their corporate credit facilities for Ashley Furniture, and later became Principal and CSO of Third Lake Partners after leaving Deutsche Bank. The banker-to-client-employee pipeline suggests Oldfield derived substantial career value from the Wanek relationship, which may have incentivized maintaining it alongside the riskier Epstein portfolio.

The 2017 Caterpillar Trust: This Epstein trust vehicle appeared on RM 82289 reports alongside all Wanek family entities starting in January 2019, with a balance declining from $13.6 million to $5.1 million over three months. Oldfield was the Deutsche Bank point person for both the Caterpillar Trust and the Wanek accounts, and internal documents show him actively concealing Epstein’s name in Caterpillar Trust transactions.

Rahul Vaid: An unresolved figure who appears on every RM 82289 report alongside Wanek entities, with a balance of approximately $1.75 million. His relationship to the Wanek family is undocumented — possibly a Third Lake Capital employee or associate. Also on the same reports: The Jockey Club, Grayson Jockey Club, Equibase Company, and Blood-Horse LLC, suggesting either additional Oldfield clients or Wanek family horse racing investments.

The Wanek family’s Deutsche Bank relationship extended far beyond personal wealth management. By 2018, the RM 82289 daily deposit reports included the full corporate banking apparatus of Ashley Furniture Industries: Ashley Holdings Inc (with $50 million overdraft limits per account across multiple accounts), Ashley Furniture Industries Inc ($21–23 million in daily balances with nine separate credit facilities totaling over $300 million), Ashley Homestores Ltd, Ashley Real Estate LLC, Ashley Distribution Services Ltd, and Ashley Global Retail LLC.

This corporate expansion within the shared RM code dramatically increased the revenue Oldfield’s book generated for Deutsche Bank, which analysis suggests created institutional momentum to preserve the entire portfolio. The corporate entities also had their own compliance review requirements distinct from personal wealth management, so multiple compliance functions would have had visibility into the co-managed structure. The sheer scale — Ashley’s credit facilities alone were roughly two orders of magnitude larger than Epstein’s account balances — suggests that the Wanek relationship was the economic anchor of Oldfield’s portfolio, with Epstein as a smaller but higher-risk satellite.

The real estate LLCs added under RM 82289 (Mizner Court, Solstice Loop, Sabal Club, San Marco, Sun Lake Multifamily, Verona Apartments, Summer Cove, Marina Landing, Lake Point, Addison at Millenia) indicate the Wanek family was channeling substantial real estate investment through Deutsche Bank, consistent with Third Lake Partners’ 45+ SEC-registered funds spanning real estate and related asset classes. The family’s daughter Gabrielle E. Wanek was also added as an individual account holder in this period, suggesting generational wealth transfer activity concurrent with the RM code expansion.

FEC records show Todd Wanek as an exclusively Republican donor: approximately $60,000 from Tampa, Florida, primarily routed through the Protect the House 2024 Joint Fundraising Committee in an August 2025 batch disbursement to fifteen or more GOP House candidates. Karen Wanek donated a comparable amount, also exclusively Republican, and Ronald Wanek contributed approximately $50,000. No overlap with Epstein-adjacent political donation patterns was identified.

Todd Wanek’s SEC filings reveal four venture investments outside the furniture industry: Fountain Life Holdings (a longevity and health venture where Wanek serves as a Director alongside Peter Diamandis and Tony Robbins), Vaxxinity (a vaccine biotech, ticker VAXX), SpringWorks Therapeutics (a biotech, ticker SWTX), and Casper Sleep (a mattress company — notable for its industry adjacency to Ashley Furniture). Third Lake Partners serves as the primary investment vehicle, with its 45+ SEC-registered funds representing the institutionalized form of the family’s diversification strategy.

Karen Wanek is separately listed as the owner of Superior Fresh, an indoor agriculture company. The Wanek family’s profile intersects the Epstein investigation solely through the Deutsche Bank co-management structure rather than through any of the social, philanthropic, or intelligence networks that characterize most Epstein connections.