LittleSt James Island, among the residential or commercial properties of investor Jeffrey Epstein, is seen in a bird’s-eye view near Charlotte Amalie,St Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands July 21, 2019.
Marco Bello|Reuters
An financial investment company led by the billionaire Stephen Deckoff has actually purchased 2 personal islands in the U.S Virgin Islands formerly owned by the late infamous sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, Deckoff verified to CNBC on Wednesday.
Forbes initially reported that Deckoff, the creator of the personal equity company Black Diamond Capital Management, bought the 2 islands for $60 million, less than half of their preliminary asking cost.
One of the islands was utilized by Epstein to sexually abuse girls for several years, according to court filings.
“Mr. Deckoff plans to develop a state-of-the-art, five-star, world-class luxury 25-room resort that will help bolster tourism, create jobs, and spur economic development in the region, while respecting and preserving the important environment of the islands,” according to a news release about the sale.
SD Investments, which is led by Deckoff, revealed the purchase.
“A significant portion of the sale proceeds are being paid to the Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands under a previously announced settlement agreement between the government and Mr. Epstein’s estate,” the release stated.
Epstein’s estate and associated entities in November consented to pay the federal government of the Virgin Islands more than $105 million to settle claims of sex trafficking and kid exploitation. That offer needed the estate to pay the Virgin Islands half of the profits of the sale of the islands, LittleSt James and GreatSt James, and another $450,000 to resolve damages on GreatSt James, where Epstein had actually taken down the residues of structures that were centuries informed to include advancement.
During a quick phone interview with CNBC, Deckoff verified he had actually purchased the islands.
“No comment,” he stated when inquired about his prepare for it.
Deckoff then hung up.
LittleSt James covers more than 70 acres, and GreatSt James is more than double the size of its next-door neighbor.
The purchase was reported on the exact same day that CNBC exposed that attorneys for the U.S. Virgin Islands and an accuser of Epstein’s will depose JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon beginning on May 26.
The USVI and the confidential female implicated JPMorgan in civil federal suits of gaining from Epstein’s sex trafficking of girls at his Virgin Islands residential or commercial property. Epstein was for several years a client of JPMorgan Chase, and had countless dollars in deposits there.
The bank rejects the accusations in the suits. But it kept Epstein as a client up until 2013, 5 years after he pleaded guilty to a Florida state court charge of obtaining sex for cash from a minor lady.
Multiple ladies have actually stated they were raped or sexually attacked on LittleSt James, where Epstein had an estate. They consisted of Virginia Giuffre, who has actually declared she was sexually mistreated there, and in other areas, by Prince Andrew, the more youthful sibling of King Charles of Great Britain.
Andrew has actually rejected her claim, however in February 2022 consented to a private settlement with Giuffre to end a civil claim versus him in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
The USVI’s claim versus JPMorgan keeps in mind that Epstein “was a resident of the Virgin Islands and he maintained a residence on Little St. James, which he acquired in 1998 and in 2016 he also purchased Great St. James.”
The islands were jointly valued at $86 million after Epstein’s death in August 2019, when the previous buddy of Donald Trump and Bill Clinton dedicated suicide in a Manhattan prison a month after being detained on federal kid sex trafficking charges.
“The Epstein Enterprise in 1998 acquired Little St. James in the Virgin Islands as the perfect hideaway and haven for trafficking young women and underage girls for sexual servitude, child abuse and sexual assault,” the fit states.
“Little St. James is a secluded, private island, nearly two miles from St. Thomas with no other residents,” the fit kept in mind. “It can be visited only by private boat or helicopter … Epstein had easy access to Little St. James from the private airfield on St. Thomas, only 10 minutes away by his private helicopter, but the women and children he trafficked, abused, and held there were not able to leave without his permission and assistance, as it was too far and dangerous to swim to St. Thomas.”
The claim goes on to state that in 2016, Epstein utilized a straw buyer to conceal Epstein’s identity and purchased GreatSt James the closest island to LittleSt James.
“By then, Epstein was a convicted sex offender,” the fit states. “The Epstein Enterprise purchased the island for more than $20 million because its participants wanted to ensure that the island did not become a base from which others could view their activities or visitors.”
It includes: “By acquiring ownership and control of Great St. James to the exclusion of others, the Epstein Enterprise created additional barriers to prevent those held involuntarily on Little St. James from escaping or obtaining help from others.”
Epstein’s previous admirer and long time procurer Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced last June to 20 years in jail for recruiting and grooming teenage women to be sexually abused by Epstein.
