A lawmaker from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud Party and an Israeli NGO have filed a criminal complaint with police, asking them to open an investigation against former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and the Wexner Foundation, an American philanthropic organization.
The complaint concerns the alleged involvement of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein in payments Barak received from the foundation, detailed in newly released documents and correspondence.
The complaint comes six years after the Israeli High Court of Justice rejected a petition against Barak and the Ohio-based foundation over a $2.3 million payment the former premier received for “research” between 2004 and 2006, a period during which Epstein was a trustee of the foundation.
The March 1 complaint states that documents published by the U.S. Justice Department on Jan. 30 reveal that both Barak and the Wexner Foundation “lied” to Israel’s top court in 2020 over Epstein’s involvement in the payment, and allege that the funds Barak received constitute bribing a public official.
The Wexner Foundation had told the High Court that Epstein was not involved in the decision to make the payments to Barak.
The court ruling upheld the earlier decision by Israel’s top law enforcement officer, then-Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, not to open an investigation into the affair. Mandelblit stated that Barak was a private citizen at the time and that the statute of limitations had passed.
The eight-page complaint filed by Likud lawmaker Avihai Boaron and the Israeli NGO LAVI, a copy of which was reviewed by JNS, was sent to Israel Police Commissioner Daniel Levi as well as the heads of police investigation units.
Epstein: ‘Get a copy of what he sent’
The complaint cites a newly disclosed Dec. 6, 2005, email correspondence between Barak’s wife, Nili Priel, and the then-president of the foundation, Larry Moses, which reads: “Concerning the books according to the contract, there is a payment to be sent at this stage. Could you please let me know if it was transferred?”
According to the complaint, Moses then forwarded the email to a vice president at the Wexner Investment Company, Peg Ugland, and asked for direction on how to proceed regarding the payment request.
Ugland then sends an email to Florida-based attorney Darren Indyke, who served as legal counsel to Epstein, the complaint says.
“Darren, apparently, there is a payment due to Ehud Barak? Are you or Jeffrey handling the terms of the contract? Please let me know if I need to pay something at this time.”
The complaint notes that Epstein’s lawyer then emailed him directly: “I was involved in the negotiation and execution of the document, but have not been involved in overseeing performance,” adding that the foundation had committed to pay Barak $100,000 for an abstract of each of the two books he had sent.
He then asks Epstein: “Please advise what you want Peg to tell Larry Moses.”
On Dec. 8, 2005, Epstein emails back: “Get a copy of what he sent,” the complaint states.
“This information … completely contradicts the report that the Wexner Foundation submitted to the High Court, and through it misled the court, which in the end rejected the petition,” the complaint states.
Years-long friendship
Epstein was convicted in 2008 for soliciting a minor for prostitution in Florida, and, as part of a plea bargain, served 13 months in jail and registered as a sex offender.
Barak, who later served as Israel’s defense minister from 2007 to 2013, maintained a long friendship with Epstein. The newly released documents show ongoing correspondence between Barak, his wife and Epstein.
Amid increased public disclosure over the extent of his ties with the convicted sex offender, Barak apologized in February for his friendship with Epstein, which included regular correspondence, multiple visits to the disgraced financier’s Manhattan apartment, and one to his private island.
Epstein was subsequently indicted in 2019 on charges of sexually abusing and trafficking dozens of girls, and committed suicide in custody while awaiting trial.
Wexner Foundation: ‘Payments properly recorded’
Barak declined a JNS request on Monday for comment on the criminal complaint filed against him following the disclosure of the new documents.
In a statement sent to JNS on Monday, the Wexner Foundation said: “Ehud Barak, while a private citizen, out of public office, undertook to write two books on leadership for the foundation, and, although he only provided one completed manuscript plus an outline for the second one, he was paid in full over the years 2004-06. These payments were properly reported in the foundation’s 990s.”
(Form 990 is a U.S. Internal Revenue Service form that provides the public with information about a nonprofit organization.)
After a failed political comeback in 2019, the former Israeli leader of the once-dominant Labor Party, who also served as a decorated IDF chief of staff, became associated with the fringe of the Israeli political scene, emerging as one of the most scathing critics of Prime Minister Netanyahu, who highlighted his connection with Epstein.
Founded in 1983, the Wexner Foundation is a philanthropic organization established by American businessman Leslie Wexner, the founder and chairman of the L Brands retailing and marketing conglomerate, the parent company of Victoria’s Secret, and his wife, Abigail. It focuses on strengthening Jewish leadership in North America and public service leadership in Israel through educational, fellowship and training programs.
The American billionaire had hired Epstein in the 1980s to manage his personal finances, a position that he held for about two decades. Wexner has repeatedly said that he was “conned” by Epstein, and that subsequently, he severed all ties with the financier and sex offender after learning of the allegations against him.
