The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is seen Monday, March 30, 2026, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Patrick Aftoora-Orsagos)

Les Wexner and the Wexner Foundation are being sued by several women who allege Wexner enabled late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to create an international sex trafficking ring.

The lawsuit alleges Wexner gave Epstein $200 million or more from 1987 to 2007 “that Epstein used to build his sex trafficking network and commit acts of gender-motivated violence,” according to the complaint, which was recently filed in the New York Supreme Court.

Each of the 11 plaintiffs accuse Epstein of “gender-motivated violence” against them from 2000 to 2016 at 9 E. 71st St. in Manhattan. Three of the plaintiffs were 17 years old at the time. As a result, the plaintiffs suffered personal injuries, a shock to their nervous system, internal injuries, physical pain, mental anguish and severe psychological and emotional distress, according to the lawsuit.

“The Wexners have tremendous sympathy for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s horrendous crimes,” a spokesperson for Wexner said in an email. “The complaint, however, fails to state any factual basis for asserting a claim against Mr. Wexner. The claims appear to be based upon ownership of a house Mr. Wexner sold years prior to the time of the allegations. There is no basis for the claims, which will be vigorously defended.”

The lawsuit alleges Wexner transferred a home at 9 E. 71st St. in Manhattan to Epstein “to provide him with a premises to commit and conspire for acts of gender motivated violence against Plaintiffs, and other women and children.”

“It is well documented that Mr. Wexner sold the New York Townhouse to Epstein for $20 million in 1998,” a spokesperson for Wexner said.

The allegation that Wexner gave Epstein $200 million over 20 years is false, a spokesperson for Wexner said.

“Mr. Wexner paid Epstein for wealth management services and had no knowledge of Epstein’s wrongdoing,” a spokesperson for Wexner said.

Wexner, 88, the billionaire founder of L Brands, which created Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works and Abercrombie & Fitch, is listed as an alleged co-conspirator of convicted child sex offender and disgraced financier Epstein’s in a 2019 FBI document. The same document listing Wexner as a co-conspirator says there is “limited evidence” of his involvement.

Epstein — who died by suicide in a New York jail 2019 after being arrested on federal sex trafficking charges — was Wexner’s personal financial adviser from 1987 to 2007. Epstein was also Wexner’s power of attorney from July 1991 to September 2007.

After an act of Congress, the U.S. Department of Justice started releasing the Epstein files in December and Wexner’s name appears frequently throughout the documents.

Wexner said he knew nothing about Epstein’s global sex-trafficking ring, which is estimated to have exploited at least 1,000 underage girls and young women.

Wexner was deposed in February by members of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform about his relationship with Epstein. Wexner has denied any wrongdoing and even denied that he and Epstein were friends, but the U.S. House Democrats accused Wexner of facilitating Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking ring.

“We should be very clear that there would be no Epstein island, there would be no Epstein plane, there would be no money to traffic women and girls, Mr. Epstein would not be the wealthy man he was without the support of Les Wexner,” U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, D-California, said on the day of Wexner’s deposition.

The lawsuit argues Epstein would have been a “failed high school math teacher” if it weren’t for Wexner.

“If not for Wexner giving hundreds of millions of dollars of money, real estate, his private plane, and other assets to Epstein through his numerous businesses and non-profits … Epstein would not have had the opportunities and resources he needed to run a sex trafficking operation and commit gender-motivated violence against hundreds of women and minor girls,” according to the lawsuit.

A spokesperson for Wexner said Wexner testified Epstein purchased a plane from L Brands for market value.

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Original story can be found at https://ohiocapitaljournal.com