As a law firm, we are proud to have been given the opportunity to be interviewed by the Süddeutsche Zeitung. The article focuses on Deutsche Bank’s involvement and the tax schemes Epstein utilized.
Areas of Practice at LANA AP.MA
LANA AP.MA is a law firm specializing in international law, based primarily in Frankfurt am Main, and is regularly entrusted with high-profile cases such as the Epstein case.
We are pleased to have this opportunity to share our work with the public. At our core, however, we are an international business law firm with a focus on the United States.
Deutsche Bank and the Epstein Files Scandal
From 2013 through the end of 2018 and into early 2019, Deutsche Bank and Epstein worked together, with the latter maintaining over 40 accounts at the bank. This occurred even though the bank was fully aware of this client’s background. It was not without reason that the bank had to pay approximately $150 million to the New York financial regulator in 2020. Deutsche Bank paid approximately $75 million to the victims. One might now ask why a bank would get involved with a client who has a questionable reputation. The Romans already knew the answer to this: Pecuniam non olet.
The bank was able to make a lot of money with Epstein. He is not the only client with a questionable reputation. It was only when public pressure became too great that the business relationship was terminated. Is this common practice? Unfortunately, “yes”—the bank is not guided by emotions. It’s all about maximizing profits. That’s what you call capitalism.
Is the procedural complexity a rarity?
What does “as a rule” mean? Unfortunately, the Epstein case is not an isolated incident when viewed globally. We frequently see similar cases in Asia, India, China, Singapore—you name it. Young women from the working class are coerced into sexual acts with money and the promise of a supposedly better future. In contrast to the Epstein case, many judicial systems do not take such incidents seriously or sweep them under the rug. Germany, with its flawed judicial system, could serve as an example. From practical experience, we can report that rape victims are often not taken seriously—these are unpopular cases that the judiciary would prefer to ignore or simply sweep under the rug. One must not forget that members of the judiciary are generally civil servants and receive their generous salaries from the state—no reasonable person would seriously believe that such people perform their duties neutrally. Corruption is also spreading further and further within Germany’s judiciary. No wonder; the country seems to be caught in a downward spiral anyway.
The Epstein case would never have happened in Germany. The courts, the public prosecutor’s office, and the police would have swept it under the rug, and the perpetrator would have gotten off scot-free.
Is the Epstein case only possible in the U.S.?
The U.S. justice system is superior in many respects. In the Epstein case, too, it has shown that it does not shy away from big names. In Germany, no court or prosecutor’s office would have dared to do such a thing; in Germany, one does not take action against power and money. This also shows that the high amounts of damages awarded are entirely justified. In Germany, where rape victims are fobbed off with a laughable sum of 2,500 euros in damages, this would be unthinkable. An open invitation to every wealthy sex offender. The U.S. system, on the other hand, gives victims the opportunity to effectively combat wealthy offenders by stripping them of their wealth. The U.S.’s status as the sole superpower extends to the judicial systems of its states.
What can we learn from this?
The state of a nation’s judiciary often reveals insights into the nation’s overall condition. Germany is in free fall; following Merkel’s “We can do this” in 2015, we now face the unsurprising realization a decade later: The country is dead. Is it any wonder, then, that the German judiciary, too, is in a dilapidated and broken state? Once again, it falls to the United States of America—whose judicial system has also performed admirably in the Epstein case—to stand up to the challengers from Asia. Once again, Europe has failed spectacularly. The lesson we learn from this is: history repeats itself, and anyone who allows a country’s judicial system to rot from within, as the German federal government is doing, should not be surprised if the country continues to crumble in every other respect as well.
