Carbyne/Reporty

The Carbyne investment structure linked Epstein's financial infrastructure to Israeli political figures and European investors. Ehud Barak served as chairman of Carbyne and held a carried interest through SUM (E.B.) Limited Partnership, the investment vehicle holding Carbyne warrants ⁵. In January 2016, Nicole Junkermann asked Epstein directly: "Ehud is interested in a carry (of course) how much would you give him?" NJF Capital modeled scenarios showing Barak's carry would range from $695,000 at a $100 million valuation to $1.97 million at a $200 million valuation ⁶.

Junkermann also connected the Epstein-Barak investment to Silicon Valley capital. In May 2018, she brokered an introduction between Carbyne CEO Amir Elichai and Trae Stephens at Founders Fund, the venture capital firm founded by Peter Thiel ². Junkermann reported back to Epstein and Barak: "We made the connection to Founders Forum from Peter Thiel." The email chain shows both Epstein and Barak were CC'd throughout, with Chris Hopkins of NW/RIF Capital facilitating the connection and noting Stephens' "background at Palantir" and expected "serendipity."

Darren Indyke managed the financial operations of Epstein's Carbyne investment, executing the STC wire transfers and handling AML compliance requests from Israeli lawyers ¹. Richard Kahn was enlisted to obtain Deutsche Bank documentation, with Indyke noting Kahn had "a decent relationship" with Stewart Oldfield at DB ⁷. The Carbyne transactions drew upon the same Epstein-Indyke-Kahn network that managed his broader financial operations.

On March 16, 2015, Darren Indyke wired $1 million from Southern Trust Company account #9244 to ERGO Ltd. at Bank Leumi Israel, with wire instructions specifying "Reporty Investment" as the reference ⁸. The full investment totaled $3.6 million, structured through SUM (E.B.) Limited Partnership holding warrants to purchase 61,251 Preferred A Shares. STC contributed $2.4 million (66.67%) while Montilla International Corporation, an entity associated with Nicole Junkermann's NJF Capital, contributed $1.2 million (33.33%) ⁵.

Indyke referenced "the transferring bank which is DB" in communications regarding compliance documentation, identifying Deutsche Bank as the transferring institution ⁷. Deutsche Bank was separately fined $150 million for compliance failures related to Epstein accounts. In March 2019, when Israeli lawyers requested a bank recommendation letter for AML purposes, Indyke asked Richard Kahn to contact Stewart Oldfield at Deutsche Bank, noting that Kahn had "a decent relationship" with Oldfield.

When Israeli lawyers handling the warrants exercise requested identification of the controlling person for anti-money-laundering purposes, Indyke wrote: "Not sure how to respond. I thought we did not want your name associated with this Investment?" ¹. Barak responded to Epstein that the request reflected "Israeli banks paranoia after they paid the penalties...it was never leaked out of the banks." Epstein gave "ok" to disclose on March 14, 2019, four months before his July 2019 arrest. The fully exercised position would have increased SUM holdings from approximately 13% to 26.33% of Carbyne on a fully diluted basis.

From Q3 2021 through Q4 2025, Carbyne Inc. maintained lobbying operations in the United States through LSN Partners LLC, filing 19 quarterly disclosure reports ³. Lobbying focused on Next Generation 911 and emergency communications legislation, including the Build Back Better Act, H.R.59 SAVE Act, and H.R.637 SAVE Act. Spending remained steady at $10,000 per quarter through Q3 2023, increasing to $20,000 per quarter from Q4 2024. Jose Fuentes served as the lobbyist throughout the engagement, with lobbying continuing through Axon Enterprise's Q4 2025 acquisition of Carbyne.

A FARA database search found no Foreign Agents Registration Act filing for Carbyne, despite the company being Israeli-headquartered with former Prime Minister Ehud Barak as chairman ⁴. By comparison, Israeli surveillance firm NSO Group and its parent company Q Cyber Technologies both maintained active FARA registrations through multiple US law firms. Whether Carbyne's US operations and lobbying activity required FARA registration remains an open question.

The March 2019 AML compliance correspondence ¹ documents resistance to disclosing Epstein's beneficial ownership. Darren Indyke's response to Israeli bank requests -- "I thought we did not want your name associated with this Investment" -- indicates that non-disclosure was the preferred approach, with Epstein's identity revealed only when needed to complete the transaction. Barak characterized Israeli bank AML requirements as "paranoia after they paid the penalties," adding that information "was never leaked out of the banks."