Thread by @StringwallApp

Here is a hypothetical question for @sisu_sanity @clearing_fog @ericgarland @arapaho415 @gal_suburban @kath @bywillpollock & whoever else is interested in my raw hypotheses:

If you were, let’s say, a college dropout in the 1970s who had a gift for structuring complex corporate arrangements and obscure financial transactions…maybe your name was something like Effrey Jepstein.

And let’s say, hypothetically, that maybe you used these skills at some point to further the operations of a commodities trader who sold sanctioned Iranian oil with the help of global organized crime.

And let’s say, hypothetically, that because of your previous experience setting up complicated business structures for clandestine (criminal) purposes, perhaps you were recruited to help set up some of these businesses to assist a covert govt op to finance rebels in Nicaragua.

And let’s say, hypothetically, that there is an entire criminal enterprise around sanctions evasion that includes drugs, cigarettes, weapons, people, and a diverse criminal operation that requires the laundering of huge sums of money.

And let’s say, hypothetically, that this criminal enterprise involves moving contraband in and out of Iran and through neighboring countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan.

IF all of those things were true, then would it be at all helpful, hypothetically, to control the finances of a garment manufacturer and retailer who did lots of business in Pakistan? 🤷‍♂️

Say for example, if you were trying to explain the puzzling relationship that you developed with the owner of that apparel company. For the sake of example, we can call him Wex Lexner.

Is it weird that Epstein arranged for Southern Air Transport (formerly Air America, who transported drugs & weapons for the Iran Contra op) to relocate to Columbus and transport for The Limited?
H/t: @Hifi_Lucky13

bit.ly/38D8uqw

Epstein and Wexner reportedly met in 1985 when they were introduced by Bob Meister, an insurance mogul. Wexner and Epstein’s real estate dealings go back to at least 1989 when they jointly purchased a mansion in Manhattan described as the second largest residence in New York City

Wexner granted Epstein durable power of attorney over all of his economic dealings in July 1991.

In 1998, business documents identified Epstein as president, along with Wexner, of the New Albany Company.

Epstein owned the house on King George Drive in New Albany from 1994 until December 2007 when he gave it to Wexner with no money exchanged. Also in 1998, Wexner transferred his interest in their Manhattan property for $20 million to Epstein.

As the logistics man for Wexner, Epstein arranged the arrival of Southern Air Transport (SAT) to Rickenbacker Air Force Base in Columbus, Ohio. The airline, formerly Air America, was infamous as an illegal gun- and drug-running operation.

SAT filed for bankruptcy in Columbus on October 1, 1998, the same day the Central Intelligence Agency Inspector General issued a report linking the cargo hauler to allegations of drug-running in connection with U.S.-backed Contra rebels in Nicaragua in the 1980s.

Once lauded as a coup for central Ohio development, landing Southern Air Transport’s business at Rickenbacker eventually turned into a nightmare, as the enterprise became mired in massive debt and was closed under a cloud of suspicion about its true activities.

Edmund James, president of James and Donohew Development Services let it be known that “much of the Hong Kong-to-Rickenbacker cargo will be for The Limited.”

Brian Clancy, a cargo analyst with MergeGloban Inc., was quoted in the Journal of Commerce: “Limited Inc., the nation’s largest retailer, is based in Columbus, a fact that undoubtedly contributed in large part to Southern Air’s decision.”

The late State of Ohio Inspector General David Sturtz, one of the sources for this article, was gathering evidence against Les Wexner and Jeff Epstein regarding public corruption, bribery and information related to the murder of Columbus attorney Arthur Shapiro.

The ghost of Arthur Shapiro—a prominent local attorney who was slain in a 1985 “mob-style murder”—continues to haunt the city of Columbus.

Columbus Alive obtained a copy of the “Shapiro Homicide Investigation: Analysis and Hypothesis” report through a public records request.

The report confirms that the name of Leslie Wexner, owner of the Limited Brands (now L Brands, including Victoria’s Secret), was linked “with associates reputed to be organized crime figures.”

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Shapiro was a partner in the now-defunct Columbus law firm of Schwartz, Shapiro, Kelm & Warren. The firm “represented the Limited,” according to the report, and “prior to his death, Arthur Shapiro managed this account for the law firm.”

Homicide squad investigators described Shapiro as “a quiet, shy, private, secretive person” who “tended to be a ‘loner.’”

Just prior to his murder, Shapiro “was the subject of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service because he had failed to file income tax returns for some seven years prior to his death, and he had invested in some questionable tax shelters,” the report stated.

His death “occurred one day prior to Shapiro’s scheduled appearance before a Grand Jury in the I.R.S. investigation, and there was some conjecture that Shapiro was in position to provide information to the Grand Jury that would have been damaging to some other party.”

Are you following along so far?
1. Shapiro was an attorney who worked directly on the Limited (L Brands) account.
2. He got into his own personal tax trouble which was incentive for him to cooperate with other investigations…

3. He was murdered mob style one day before his grand jury appearance in which he was expected to provide information to the grand jury that would have been damaging to some other party.

A day before his scheduled testimony, someone fired two bullets point-blank into his head as he fled from a secretive breakfast meeting—held in his red BMW—at a Columbus cemetery.
H/t: @WendySiegelman
thedailybeast.com/who-murdered-a…

Epstein was perceived by Sturtz and then-Franklin County Sheriff Earl Smith as Shapiro's replacement.

Sturtz also revealed files listing Epstein as a person of interest in the death of Robert Maxwell.

Epstein, who is known to have flown President Clinton several times on his jet obtained from the Limited, was usually seen in the company of Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of deceased publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell.

After Maxwell fell off, or was pushed off, his yacht in 1991, it was revealed that Maxwell was working for the Israeli government and the Mossad, the Israeli Intelligence service. While Maxwell’s ties to the Mossad are well-documented, Epstein’s connections are less well known.

The London Sunday Times quoted a New York social observer describing Epstein as follows: “He’s Mr. Enigmatic. Nobody knows whether he’s a concert pianist, property developer, a CIA agent, a math teacher or a member of Mossad.”

New York Magazine claims Epstein is the man who moves Wexner’s billions around the globe.