Epstein’s human trafficking organization depended entirely on the wealth management industry (WMI). It was how he obtained the capital to build it, and it was how he hid his activities from the authorities. And none of this was an abuse of the industry; it is precisely how the WMI is designed to work. Nor is it an abuse of the law, because both American and international law has been carefully designed to accomodate the WMI.
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But capitalism didn’t just provide seed funds for Epstein’s operation. It also provided a whole legal and financial apparatus that helped him find victims and disguise his transactions. An article in Deviant Behavior by sociologist Thomas Volscho observes that at first, “the predominant means for gaining access to potential victims involved Epstein using philanthropy to gain access to youth-serving institutions.”
In particular, Epstein seems to have leveraged immense wealth to buy influence in youth organizations that focused on financially at-risk children and then used the wealth disparity to control them. This was a natural step for Epstein, since wealth managers often work with charitable organizations for tax-avoidance purposes. As his conspiracy matured, Volscho writes, Epstein’s “sex trafficking enterprise was funded by Epstein’s tax shelter advisory business, where he primarily helped wealthy people avoid taxation on the sale and/or bequeathing of their assets and incomes.”
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So while Epstein likely used blackmail and other illegal schemes to avoid prosecution for his crimes, his primary strategy — offshore wealth management — was not just legal but a central feature of modern financial capitalism. If the Left wants to use the Epstein case to talk about elite impunity, that conversation has to begin with the strategies the rich use to hide their finances that are completely legal.
People often frame Capitalism vs. Socialism as if they represent completely different destinies. I generally see capitalism as the better driver of innovation and individual agency, but it’s important to acknowledge an uncomfortable truth: both systems tend to converge toward similar power dynamics over time.
In capitalism, economic capital becomes political power. Wealth concentrates, and those who hold it shape the rules to protect and expand their advantage. In socialism, formal authority and bureaucratic position become the currency of power. Access to resources and opportunities flows through the state apparatus instead of markets. Different mechanisms, same hierarchy.
Across both models, legal and institutional structures tend to favor those already positioned at the top. Power reproduces itself, whether through financial leverage or administrative control.
And a key misconception persists in capitalist societies: people assume they are “capitalists” simply by participating in the market. In reality, unless someone owns productive assets or has significant investments that generate influence and income independent of their labor, they are not a capitalist, they’re a wage earner operating within a system built to reward capital holders.
The systems diverge in theory, but the outcomes often look very similar: a small elite consolidates power, and the proletariat majority must then struggle within the structures created by that consolidation.
For some years after leaving Bear Sterns Epstein worked as a “financial bounty hunter”. These are people that specialize in finding, and hiding, stolen money. Usually for extreme high net worth individuals and families.
Epstein’s most prominent client at that time was an aristocratic Spanish family. He allegedly helped find “hundreds of millions” for them, which he was paid a couple dozen millions over the years for.
But just the fact that “financial bounty hunter” is an actual position, job. That people make millions off of… is kinda insane isn’t it? Are the ultra wealthy just stealing millions and millions off each other? So much that they need specialists to help hide the stolen money, or find money that was stolen? Absolutely insane.
The richest and most powerful people in the world are all falling for schemes, and scheming each other.
That’s the game for them.
Many years ago an acquaintance of mine was a mechanic for a Formula 1 team owned by Bernie Ecclestone (Brabham F1 team for those in the know).
Bernie later went on to control the sport and remains a multi-billionaire to this day due to his somewhat shady business dealings.
Anyway, there was a race weekend at Monaco where behind the scenes Bernie was doing a deal with someone or other to sell a used Ferrari. The story goes that he colluded with Flavio Briatore (another shady F1 team owner) to manipulate the price of the car to screw the potential buyer out of a measly £5k or so.
The point was never the money, it was fucking over the other guy. You don’t get to accumulate such wealth without being a raging psycho/sociopath with the morals of a feral cat.
But it’s crazy how the media and “common knowledge” would imagine scammers to be usually very low level people. That scamming the upper echelons got you in trouble real quick.
When the truth is scamming IS the game, and the higher up you get the larger and more ubiquitous the scams get.
Dude, stop posting the same GIF in a dozen threads. Blocked for acting like a bot.
Oh no! Please don’t block me! Bleep bloop!
Yeh, we get it. Trump sucked a dick. The gif is getting old
Do you prefer this one that references the fact that the president is a child-rapist?
I hate the man with every fibre of my being. I’ve hated him since I was a youngster in the 80s. Just getting a bit tired of seeing your gif is all.
I’m tired of having a failson rapist pedophile felon idiot as a president. TWICE.
Yet here we are.
No way out but through.
Dayen mentions in passing that “the source of Epstein’s wealth” comes from obtaining power of attorney over the estate of Les Wexner, “from which he appropriated bunches of money” — but this is easy to misread as a euphemism for theft. In fact, Epstein was Wexner’s personal money manager, and his “appropriation” of Wexner’s funds is perfectly ordinary in the WMI — even expected.
Article makes it sound like “business as usual”…
But Epstein lived and ran his business out of a house Wexner owned and let him live in…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Wexner
Like, we’re supposed to believe your first client is a billionaire who lets you work and live out of his home?
Epstein didn’t create the ring, he just took over management. It existed before him and people owed it favors already. It’s the most likely explanation how someone with no experience or even really a business could land such a huge client that comes with a fucking house.
Epstein was already very prominent before becoming Les Wexner’s money man.
Reminder that Epstein first worked for Wexner (publicly) after Wexner was being investigated for tax fraud. And his tax lawyer at the time was going to be made to depose, and was shot in the face a day before it happened.
Wexner is FAMOUSLY tied to the mob.
Epstein apparently “cleared up” all of Wexner’s books, and cleared him from the fraud case. AND saved him millions in taxes.
That’s why Epstein was given control of Wexner’s fortune. Allegedly, publicly.
But like, Epstein was already extremely connected to the mob and intelligence even before this. His mentors were Adnan Khashoggi and Robert Maxwell. Both spies, one an arms dealer and the other a high level financial scammer.
He was besties with Donald Trump, whose mentor is Roy Cohn, a lawyer for the mob and CIA front runner.
Just look at these guys’ mentors. Their mentors are spies and mob connected scammers. Also a lawyer, and a media mogul.
But Epstein didn’t become a media mogul like his mentor, or Donald a lawyer like his mentor.
Have you ever heard of someone mentoring with someone and NOT following their career? Does that even make sense?
Unless they did follow their mentors’ careers, it just wasn’t the public facing ones.
Donald inherited Resorts International from Rot Cohn. Epstein inherited Ghislaine from Robert Maxwell (and that network), but there’s also evidence he was brokering arms deals all over the Middle East and Africa…
🤷♂️
Not just enabled. Encouraged. Endorsed. Nurtured.
Under socialism, only the Party nomenklatura would have an Epstein Island.
I keep trying to explain this, but nobody really seems to listen.
The reason why things are so expensive is so the people taking money from us can use that to abuse vulnerable people.
Things could be cheaper if we all had higher standards, but we’d rather fight for the people ripping us off than admit we’re being ripped off in the first place.
His crimes were capitalism for the elites. It was just another commerce for them, and buisness as usual.
Doesn’t capitalism enable most things?
Yeah posts like this is just a strange stretch of wanting to connect something bad to something else you don’t like. I can just as easily say capitalism enabled my ability to have Chinese food for dinner last night.
capitalism enables all things because there is no other economic system
trying to imply that another economic system would have prevented it is the usual commie fantasy world
