American Express regrets having Epstein as a client as files reveal travel bookings for women or girls

American Express says it regrets having a late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as a client for many years, since hundreds of documents released by the US Department of Justice and reviewed by CBS News seem to show that he used a travel company to arrange international flights for many women or girls, mainly from Eastern Europe, whose names have been 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 the charges brought by the government, and we continue to review our processes and controls. We regret having him as a customer.”

CBS News cannot confirm the number of individual women or girls involved, or their ages, due to the redaction of their names. But the analysis of hundreds of booking methods in tranche of The Epstein files have been released it shows that women or girls were booked to fly to the United States and other parts of the world, especially to countries including Russia, Poland, Belarus, Latvia and Ukraine.

The bookings revealed by the documents spanned at least seven years, between 2012 and 2019, before Epstein was arrested on sex trafficking charges, but after he was convicted in 2008 on charges including procuring a child for prostitution.

Epstein’s top aide Lesley Groff was a key figure in arranging the booking with Amex, documents released by the DOJ appear to show. CBS News sought comment from Groff about the purpose of the booking and whether Amex provided support for travel arrangements. Groff has not been charged criminally in connection with any of Epstein’s crimes.

One 2012 email exchange between an unnamed person, Groff, and former Epstein account holder Bella Klein appears to indicate that a travel account was set up by Epstein using an Amex Black Card — an invitation-only card reserved for some of the firm’s wealthiest clients. Klein also has not been charged criminally in connection with any of Epstein’s crimes.

“Hey guys.. so since JE insists we use Amex to book trips now, I’ve set up a designated ‘travel team’ with my black card. Basically they’re trying to keep track of all our interests, etc. I’ve added you both as authorized people to book travel with,” the email said.

Many of the exchanges, which appear in redacted names and between Groff and Epstein, seem to indicate that the reservation is made for women or girls. In an exchange in 2014, Epstein sends an email to Groff in which he sent a changed name, saying, “cooridante with Jane Doe 3, she needs to change her ticket to Friday from thrus, lesley booked it with amex.”

In another exchange in 2014, Epstein emailed Groff, “let’s see if we can change [redacted] a ticket to fly to New York tomorrow and go to Poland.”

Groff replies: “Looks like I can’t get all the way to Poland today…Amex has me waiting to check one thing with LOT airlines…Should I change his ticket to Poland tonight? He’ll take the same flight he’s booked now : depart JFK at [ ] 6:40pm tonight arriving in Poland tomorrow at 9am.”

In a 2018 exchange where both the sender and recipient of the emails were reconfigured, a rebranded Amex travel reservation for a flight from Moscow to Paris was forwarded alongside the message, “[Redacted]below is the ticket [Redacted]…you can show him you’re leaving at 5:55am on the 28th! Make sure you know…it’s early…but Jeffrey wants her in the house at noon…so this works!”

Multiple documents also appear to show that Groff negotiated with Amex about obtaining visas for women or girls, whose names are redacted in the files.

In another 2017 email from Groff to a changed name, he says “Hello … Jeffrey asked me to get a ticket [redacted] from Moscow to Paris and on to Miami this Friday June 2 returning on Tuesday. June 6…He wants them to meet at the airport in Paris where they will both take the same flight to Miami…Our Amex representative says he should check with the French embassy in Russia to see if he needs a transit visa.”

International organizations and anti-trafficking groups, including the United Nations, have long argued that the tourism and hospitality industry around the world is often exploited to spread the word. selling sex activities.

On its website, American Express commits to proactively combating modern slavery and human trafficking, including measures to “monitor, investigate, and report potentially suspicious issues around the world” when it comes to selling customers.

CBS News asked American Express if Epstein’s dealings raised any red flags internally, or if the company knew about Epstein’s conviction before 2008 when it served him as a customer, but there was no response by press time.

The apparent connections between Eastern European women and Epstein revealed in the files have drawn scrutiny from European officials.

Earlier this month, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said his government will create an analytical team to examine whether Polish children were abused by criminal networks linked to Epstein.

Tusk added that “links between Epstein and the entire circle of people who abuse children and the Russian special services will be investigated”.