A judge in the Southern District of New York ruled on Wednesday that prosecutors can serve Tesla a subpoena in place of serving it to Elon Musk in person.
Attorneys for the US Virgin Islands say they have been trying to serve the Tesla CEO with the subpoena since April but have been unable to locate him. The subpoena will compel him to give testimony to the court and hand over documents related to the territory’s lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase regarding its relationship with the late and convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
The infamous Little St. James Island, also known as Epstein Island, where much of the sex trafficking is said to have taken place, is located in the jurisdiction of the US Virgin Islands.
Epstein was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges when he was found dead in his jail cell. His death was ruled a suicide. Epstein had previously been convicted of soliciting sex from a minor in 2008 and was a customer of JPMorgan Chase from 1998 to 2013.
The attorneys said in court filings that they reached out to Musk’s counsel at Tesla to ask if they’d be willing to accept the service on behalf of Musk but did not receive a response. The ruling on Wednesday allows them to do that without approval from Tesla.
The US Virgin Islands accuses JPMorgan of helping facilitate Epstein’s underage sex trafficking business and using his connections with wealthy individuals to increase their business. In addition to Musk, several other wealthy individuals have been subpoenaed in the case including Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, former Disney executive Michael Ovitz, Hyatt Hotels Executive Chairman Thomas Pritzker and billionaire real estate tycoon Mort Zuckerman.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is also set to be deposed in the case on May 26.
An additional lawsuit from one of Epstein’s alleged victims has been brought against the bank, making similar accusations.
JPMorgan has denied any wrongdoing in the case. Dimon previously expressed regret that the bank had a relationship with Epstein but insisted the bank was not responsible for Epstein’s actions.
JPMorgan has also been placing blame on former executive Jes Staley who was a friend of Epstein. Staley has also denied any wrongdoing.
In a 2018 interview, Epstein claimed he advised Musk when Tesla was facing scrutiny from the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Epstein also predicted in that interview that Musk and Tesla would deny he ever advised him.
In a Monday tweet, Musk called the subpoena “idiotic” and claimed, “That cretin [Epstein] never advised me on anything whatsoever.” He also notes in the tweet that Tesla ended its business relationship with JPMorgan a decade ago.
A representative from Tesla also denied that Epstein ever advised the company.