New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed a federal civil lawsuit Wednesday seeking to stop Jeffrey Epstein’s estate from making further distributions while the state pursues claims against Epstein’s longtime attorney and accountant. The 49-page complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in New Mexico, names Darren Indyke, Richard Kahn, the Epstein estate and the 1953 Trust as defendants.
The filing alleges that Indyke and Kahn helped facilitate and conceal sexual abuse and trafficking connected to Epstein’s Zorro Ranch near Stanley, New Mexico. Those are allegations, not findings of liability. The Associated Press reported that both men previously told a congressional committee they did not know about Epstein’s abuse. The case now gives them an opportunity to answer the state’s claims in court.
New Mexico is asking for a court order blocking the estate’s co-executors from distributing assets during the litigation, along with restitution, disgorgement, punitive damages and other relief for people allegedly injured. The complaint says the estate was valued at about $577.7 million when probate began in 2019 and at more than $107 million in a public accounting through June 30, 2026. It also says the trust provides potential bequests of $50 million to Indyke and $25 million to Kahn, assuming funds remain. Those figures come from the state’s pleading and have not been independently adjudicated.
The legal theory combines New Mexico’s Racketeering Act with the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Prosecutors allege the two advisers arranged funds used by the broader enterprise and benefited from it. The state asks the court to divert certain property interests to New Mexico on behalf of injured people, award treble damages under state law and preserve estate assets until the claims are resolved.
Although the complaint recounts conduct spanning decades, it is a civil action rather than a new criminal prosecution. It demands a jury trial and seeks financial and equitable remedies; no hearing date or defense response was listed in the filing.
The lawsuit is the latest step in a broader state inquiry into activity at the ranch. New Mexico’s bipartisan Survivors’ Truth Commission, created by a unanimous House vote, is examining alleged abuse at Zorro Ranch and possible failures by state and local authorities. In August, New Mexico separately sued the U.S. Justice Department, alleging federal officials had blocked access to records relevant to the state investigation. The department said disclosure was constrained by court orders intended to protect victim identities.
For New Mexico, the immediate practical issue is asset preservation. The court has not yet ruled on the request to halt distributions, and filing the complaint does not establish that Indyke or Kahn committed the conduct alleged. The next phase will test whether the state can prove its claims, establish a legal basis to recover estate assets and connect any eventual relief to people harmed in New Mexico.
