Frrtuy Ricu Pay me fifty million dollars. Or pay the IRS seven times that amount. | At first Epstein did not demand his fee up front. Instead he | asked that the payment— often a substantial one—be put into | escrow. If his strategy worked, he'd get paid. If not, the money 4 i bounced back to the client. ER 26 Dy In the eighties, when tax rates on the top 1 percent were CHAPT 7 3 much, much higher than they are today, topping out at close to i q 50 percent, it was an extremely effective pitch. And then there 4 i were other ways to make money. Pa a a In 1982, Epstein sold his wealthy friends, his friends’ wealthy . "relatives, and others on an oil-drilling deal. One of the investors, q 2 Michael Stroll, had run Williams Electronics, an entertainment ake all his money? j : q company known for the pinball machines it made. tories over the years about mon- 4 Stroll put $450,000 into the oil deal. sry characters. Sometimes, friends } 1 But in 1984, Michael Stroll wanted his money back. Despite y, he'd suggest he had ties to the q . repeated demands and requests for a full accounting of what ae impression that he was doing ~ Z Epstein owed him, he got $10,000 back on his $450,000 invest- 4 "ment. Eventually he sued Epstein in federal court for the remain- ein really did, at this stage in his j { ing $440,000— the case went on for a number of years. In court, According to them, Epstein spent 7 7 Epstein told the judge that the $10,000 he'd returned was actu- ith creative new ways for the rich 4 q ally the payment for a horse Stroll had sold him. mmission for tax-avoidance deals : | Like many cases involving Epstein, this one was settled out mber of deals Epstein was involved ; q court, the terms of the final agreement kept secret. . as is his record of successes and : q jel was evolving. He'd charge @ i - itages. 4 4 : ce HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_021967