'Master manipulator': Les Wexner claims he was 'duped' by Epstein in Congressional testimony

Leslie "Les" Wexner, the 88-year-old billionaire founder of L Brands (Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works), said in a written statement that Jefferey Epstein was a "master manipulator" who "most carefully and fully hid" the "other life he led." Wexner submitted the statement to the House Oversight Committee, where he was testifying about his connections to the child sex trafficker, on February 18. 

"What is so clear only now is that Epstein lived a double life. He was clever, diabolical, and a master manipulator. He was meticulous in revealing to me only glimpses into the life in which he was a sophisticated financial guru who consulted with heads of state, high-ranking politicians, royalty, university presidents, professors, CEOs, musicians, and other luminaries," Wexner informed in his written statement, calling Epstein "a world-class con man" who duped him of money. 

The deposition comes at a time when a section of U.S. lawmakers have questioned Wexner's relationship with Epstein after documents revealed that he had transferred vast amounts of money to the sex trafficker, who reportedly died by suicide in prison. Rep. Robert Garcia told reporters on Wednesday that there was no single person who was "more involved in providing Jeffrey Epstein with the financial support to commit his crimes than Les Wexner." "That is already, as we all know, in the public record. We've also directly heard from survivors about Mr. Wexner, about his involvement and their concerns as to the enormous amount of money that was essentially transferred over and paid to by Mr. Epstein," he said.

At the time of his death, Epstein was worth close to $600 million, owned one of the biggest and most luxurious houses in New York City, two islands, a New Mexico ranch, and an apartment in Paris. As per Garcia, Wexner had given over a billion dollars to the convicted sex offender. "To be very clear, we know that approximately over a billion dollars, it looks like -- it's about a billion dollars -- that was either transferred, provided in stocks, or given directly to Mr. Epstein by Wexner," he said.

In his written statement, Wexner categorically denied any wrongdoing, saying that he formally hired Epstein to manage his personal finances. "Because my public company and other duties required my full attention, I provided Epstein with a power of attorney so he could execute transactions quickly, without constantly requiring my signature," Wexner said, adding, "In September 2007, nine months before he pled guilty in Florida, we revoked Epstein's power of attorney, removed his access to our bank accounts, and forced him to resign from all our affiliated entities."

Wexner was categorized as a "secondary co-conspirator" by the FBI, with investigators probing whether his financial support and the power of attorney he granted Epstein had been used to facilitate the criminal enterprise. While the "co-conspirator" document existed in 2019, Wexner's name was heavily redacted in earlier public releases and only became public following intense pressure from House Oversight members. Notably, Wexner's name appears more than 1,300 times in the DOJ's Epstein Library, frequently within emails, interviews, and lawsuits, some dating much later than 2008.