Electric car maker Tesla CEO Elon Musk meets with French Minister for the Economy and Finances Bruno Le Maire on the sidelines of the 6th edition of the “Choose France” Summit at the Chateau de Versailles, outside Paris on May 15, 2023.
Ludovic Marin | Pool | Via Reuters
The U.S. Virgin Islands issued a subpoena to Tesla CEO Elon Musk seeking documents as part of that government’s lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase over sex trafficking by the bank‘s late longtime customer Jeffrey Epstein, a court filing revealed Monday.
That filing said the Virgin Islands has tried unsuccessfully since late April to serve Musk with the subpoena, which was issued because Epstein “may have referred or attempted to refer” Musk as a client to JPMorgan.
The USVI asked Manhattan federal court Judge Jed Rakoff in the filing to allow the government to serve Musk with the subpoena for the documents with Tesla’s registered agent.
The USVI hired an investigative firm to try to locate an address from Musk, and also contacted one of the CEO’s lawyers, who in the past has waived the requirement of him being personally served with legal documents in past federal cases, according to the filing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
“The Government contacted Mr. Musk’s counsel via email to ask if he would be authorized to accept service on Mr. Musk’s behalf in this matter but did not receive a response confirming or denying his authority,” the filing said.
CNBC has reached out to request comment from Musk, who in addition to being CEO of Tesla is head of SpaceX and Twitter CEO by e-mail.
The USVI is suing JPMorgan for allegedly enabling and benefiting from Epstein’s trafficking of young women to his private island in the Virgin Islands to be abused by him and others.
JPMorgan denies the government’s claims, which are mirrored in a separate pending civil lawsuit in Manhattan federal court by a woman who says Epstein sexually abused her.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is due to be deposed for both lawsuits beginning on May 26.
– Additional reporting by CNBC’s Lora Kolodny
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