34 East 69th Street

Before subletting to Ivan Fisher, Epstein negotiated with Xenophon Galinas to assign the lease. The Epstein-Galinas arrangement included payment to Epstein of $100,000 for improvements Epstein had made. Meanwhile, Galinas independently contacted OFM and secured a letter agreement (Apr 12, 1996) for a new 5-year lease at $16,000/month starting Feb 1, 1997 — expressly contingent on Epstein not exercising his right of first refusal for personal use. On Apr 16, 1996 Epstein notified OFM he intended to exercise his right of first refusal — then used that as pretext to sublet to Fisher at $20K/month instead.

COUNSEL OF RECORD in 96 CIV 8307: FOR THE GOVERNMENT: Mary Jo White (US Attorney SDNY), Serene K. Nakano (AUSA, case handler, later contacted by FL AUSA in 2007). FOR EPSTEIN: Steven J. Cohen of Wachtel & Masyr LLP (110 E 59th St); Jeffrey A. Schantz as transaction counsel (signed as J. Epstein & Company Inc). FOR FISHER: G. Robert Gage Jr. and Ellen J. Casey of Gage & Pavlis (later Gage Spencer & Fleming LLP, Gage Buschmann & Pavlis). Ellen Yaroshefsky also appeared for Wachtel & Masyr per CourtListener (now Howard Lichtenstein Professor of Legal Ethics at Hofstra Law). OFM OFFICIALS: Richard Massey (contact for lease negotiations), Thomas E. Burns (denied sublease request in Apr 26 1996 letter).

COMPLETE CASE INVENTORY from DOJ EFTA Dataset 10: Case 96 CIV 8307 (DC) generated at least 7 documents in EFTA: (1) EFTA01324981 — Second Amended Complaint (22pp, Dec 17 1997, AUSA under Mary Jo White), names Epstein + Fisher + 12 subtenants; (2) EFTA01325003 — Gov't Motion for Partial Summary Judgment vs Diane Fisher/Soffer (5pp, Mar 13 1998, AUSA Serene Nakano); (3) EFTA01325008 — Judge Chin Opinion granting ejectment (12pp, 1998 WL 159055, Apr 1 1998); (4) EFTA01325020 — Judge Chin Protective Order ruling (2pp, 1998 WL 67676, Feb 19 1998); (5) EFTA01325022 — DOJ email chain re deposition request (3pp, Jun 2007); (6) EFTA01325025 — DOJ email continuation, deposition not found (6pp, Jul 2007). CourtListener: terminated Mar 17 1999, last filing Aug 12 1999. Companion case: Epstein v. Fisher 97 CIV 1489, terminated Mar 31 2000.

Judge Chin's protective order (1998 WL 67676, Feb 19, 1998) blocked the Government from using confidential financial discovery from 96 CIV 8307 in ANY other proceeding. Fisher requested protection for his 1996 tax returns; the USAO wanted a carve-out to share information with other agencies for law enforcement. Chin denied the Government's request, ruling: 'The Government may not use confidential information produced in discovery pursuant to the protective order for any purpose other than prosecuting this lawsuit, absent further order of the Court.' In June 2007, when the Florida sex trafficking AUSA sought Epstein's deposition from this case, this protective order blocked use of the financial discovery. The deposition itself could not be located in the closed files.

Judge Denny Chin ruled (1998 WL 159055, Apr 1, 1998) granting Government's motion for partial summary judgment on ejectment against Epstein, Fisher, and all subtenants. Chin held: (1) the lease unambiguously required PRIOR WRITTEN consent for subletting, rendering any alleged oral consent by OFM invalid as a matter of law; (2) under NY landlord-tenant law (not federal contract law), OFM was entitled to withhold consent 'for a good reason, a bad reason, or no reason at all' — no implied covenant of good faith applied. Noting 'the sensitive political considerations that often come into play when governmental property, such as the property here in issue owned by Iran, is involved, the Government should have as much discretion as possible.'

The ejectment opinion was published at 27 F.Supp.2d 404 (S.D.N.Y. 1998) and is available on Justia. The case established that under the Foreign Missions Act, OFM's lease with Epstein was governed by NY landlord-tenant law, and OFM could withhold consent to sublet arbitrarily as a matter of law. Judge Chin's ruling: written consent was unambiguously required under the lease; oral consent was invalid. Eviction order served Jul 16, 1998 and marshal noted tenants had moved out.

COMPLETE PARTY LIST from 96 CIV 8307 Second Amended Complaint (EFTA01324981). DEFENDANTS: Jeffrey E. Epstein, Ivan S. Fisher, Fisher & Soffer a/k/a Fisher & Sophir, Ron Soffer (resident of NY and France), Suzanne McDermott, Lawrence D. Gerzog, Christopher H. Martin (of New York Defenders Service), Siegel Martin & Heilbrun (law partnership), Debra Elisa Cohen, Carmen Tausik, Jessie Siegel a/k/a Jesse Siegel, Robert Heilbrun, Ellyn Bank, Diane Fisher d/b/a The Fisher Group (Ivan Fisher's wife), John Does 1-10, X Corporations 1-10. All subtenants were attorneys operating law practices from the former Iranian diplomatic residence. Fisher had converted the 5-story townhouse into a multi-occupant law office complex with at least 3 separate firms.

34 East 69th Street is a 5-story townhouse (21ft wide, 100ft deep) TWO BLOCKS from 9 East 71st Street. The property legally belongs to Iran, held in custody by the US under the Foreign Missions Act of 1982 (22 USC 4305(c)). OFM managed 16 custodial properties at inception, leasing them to generate maintenance funds. This is NOT the same mechanism as the Alavi/650 Fifth Ave forfeiture (OFAC/IEEPA). Epstein's lease began Feb 1, 1992 at $15K/month during James Baker's tenure as Secretary of State. Extended Aug 28, 1992 for 3 more years through Jan 31, 1997 with right of first refusal. The $15K/month for a 5-story UES townhouse was significantly below market even in 1992. No public reporting identifies who within OFM approved the lease or who referred Epstein.

The 2007 DOJ email chain (EFTA01325022, EFTA01325025) reveals that during the Florida sex trafficking investigation, an AUSA in West Palm Beach contacted the SDNY AUSA (Serene Nakano) who had handled 96 CIV 8307. The SDNY AUSA called it 'my infamous landlord-tenant case' and had 'a very vague memory of deposing' Epstein. The Florida AUSA wanted Epstein's deposition transcript. Three obstacles emerged: (1) the protective order blocked use in other litigation, (2) the USAO file was retrieved but the deposition was NOT found, (3) the court file was separately copied but also lacked the deposition. The Florida AUSA noted: 'if a depo even exists, I can review it, but I can't use it in connection with any other litigation.' The deposition — under oath financial testimony by Jeffrey Epstein from approximately 1997 — has never surfaced publicly.