American Express says it regrets having the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as a client for years, as hundreds of documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice and reviewed by CBS News appear to show he used the company's travel agency to arrange international flights for multiple women or girls, predominantly from eastern Europe, whose names are redacted.
"American Express strongly condemns abuse, exploitation, and human trafficking. We take our legal and regulatory responsibilities seriously, including reporting suspicious activity," an Amex spokesperson told CBS News on Thursday. "We terminated his account following federal charges against him, and we continuously update our processes and controls. We regret having him as a customer."
CBS News cannot verify the number of individual women or girls involved, or their ages, due to the redaction of their names. But an analysis of hundreds of booking itineraries in the tranche of Epstein files released shows women or girls were booked to fly to the United States and other parts of the world, largely from countries including Russia, Poland, Belarus, Latvia and Ukraine.
The bookings revealed by the documents span at least seven years, between 2012 and 2019, prior to Epstein being arrested on sex trafficking charges, but after his 2008 conviction on charges including procuring a minor for prostitution.
Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in Cambridge, MA on 9/8/04. Epstein is connected with several prominent people including politicians, actors and academics. Epstein was convicted of having sex with an underaged woman.
Rick Friedman/Rick Friedman Photography/Corbis via Getty Images
Epstein's longtime executive assistant Lesley Groff was a central point-person in arranging the bookings with Amex, documents released by the DOJ appear to show. CBS News has sought comment from Groff about the purpose of the bookings and how Amex provided support for the travel arrangements. Groff has not been criminally charged in connection with any of Epstein's crimes.
One 2012 email exchange between an individual whose name is redacted, Groff, and Epstein's former accountant Bella Klein appears to show a travel account was established for Epstein using an Amex Black Card — an invitation-only card reserved for some of the company's wealthiest clients. Klein has also not been criminally charged in connection with any of Epstein's crimes.
"Hey guys.. so since JE is insisting we use Amex for booking travel now, have set up a designated 'travel team' with my black card. They basically try and keep track of all our preferences, etc.. I have added you both as authorized people to book travel with it," the email says.
Multiple exchanges, both from redacted names and just between Groff and Epstein, appear to show that bookings were made for women or girls. In one 2014 exchange, Epstein forwards an email to Groff in which he has messaged a redacted name, saying, "cooridante with Jane Doe 3, she needs to change her ticket to friday from thrus, lesley booked it through amex."
In another 2014 exchange, Epstein emails Groff, "lets see if we can change [redacted] ticket so that she flies to new york tomorrow and straight to poland."
Groff responds: "Looks like I can get all the way to Poland today...Amex has me on hold to check one more thing with LOT airlines...Should I change her ticket so she goes all the way to Poland tonight? She would take the same flight with she is booked on now : depart JFK at [ ] 6:40pm tonight arrive Poland tomorrow at 9am."
In a 2018 exchange in which both the sender and receiver of the emails are redacted, an Amex travel booking for a redacted name to fly from Moscow to Paris is forwarded alongside the message, "[Redacted], below is the ticket for [Redacted]...can you please show her departure is 5:55am on 28th! Make sure she is aware ...it is early...but Jeffrey wants her at the house around noon...so this works!"
Multiple documents also appear to show that Groff consulted Amex about securing visas for women or girls, whose names are redacted in the files.
In one 2017 email from Groff to a redacted name, she says "Hi ...Jeffrey has asked me to get a ticket for [redacted] from Moscow to Paris and on to Miami this Friday June 2nd return on Tues. June 6th...He wants her to meet up at the airport in Paris where they will both take the same flight to Miami...Our Amex rep says should check with the French consulate in Russia to see if she needs a transit visa."
International bodies and anti human-trafficking groups, including the United Nations, have long said the global travel and hospitality industry is often misused for widespread sex trafficking operations.
On its website, American Express commits to due diligence against modern slavery and human trafficking, including steps to "monitor for, investigate, and report potentially suspicious matters globally" when it comes to client transactions.
CBS News has asked American Express whether Epstein's transactions raised any red flags internally, or whether the company was aware of Epstein's prior 2008 conviction when it served him as a client, but there was no response by the time of publication.
The apparent links between Eastern European women and Epstein revealed in the files have drawn heavy scrutiny from European officials.
Earlier this month, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said his government would create an analytical team to examine whether Polish children were abused via criminal networks connected to Epstein.
Tusk added that "links between Epstein and the entire pedophile circle and the Russian special services" would be investigated.
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