Little St. James Island, one of financier Jeffrey Epstein’s properties, is seen in an aerial view near Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, July 21, 2019.
Marco Bello | Reuters
An investment firm led by billionaire Stephen Deckoff has bought two private islands in the US Virgin Islands previously owned by the late notorious sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, Deckoff confirmed to CNBC on Wednesday.
Forbes first reported that Deckoff, founder of private equity firm Black Diamond Capital Management, bought the two islands for $60 million, less than half their original asking price.
One of the islands was used by Epstein to sexually abuse young women for years, according to court documents.
“Mr. Deckoff envisages the development of a world-class, state-of-the-art, five-star, 25-room luxury resort that will help boost tourism, create jobs and boost economic development in the region, while enhancing the islands’ vital environment,” according to a press release on the sale.
SD Investments, managed by Deckoff, announced the purchase.
“A significant portion of the sale proceeds will be paid to the U.S. Virgin Islands government pursuant to a previously announced settlement agreement between the government and Mr. Epstein’s estate,” the release said.
Epstein’s estate and affiliates agreed in November to pay the Virgin Islands government more than $105 million to settle sex trafficking and child exploitation claims. This deal required the property to pay the Virgin Islands half of the proceeds from the sale of Little St. James and Great St. James islands and an additional $450,000 to repair damage to Great St. James, where Epstein destroys the remains had structures that were centuries old to make room for development.
During a brief phone interview with CNBC, Deckoff confirmed that he had bought the islands.
“No comment,” he said when asked about his plans for it.
Deckoff then hung up.
Little St. James covers more than 70 acres and Great St. James is more than twice the size of its neighbor.
The purchase was reported on the same day that CNBC announced that U.S. Virgin Islands attorneys and an accuser for Epstein will oust JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, effective May 26.
The USVI and woman anonymous have accused JPMorgan in federal civil lawsuits of profiting from Epstein’s sex trafficking of young women on his Virgin Islands property. Epstein was a client of JPMorgan Chase for years and had millions of dollars in deposits there.
The bank denies the allegations in the lawsuits. But it kept Epstein as a client until 2013, five years after he pleaded guilty in a Florida state court to soliciting sex for money from an underage girl.
Several women have said they were raped or sexually assaulted on Little St. James, where Epstein had a mansion. These included Virginia Giuffre, who claims to have been sexually assaulted there and elsewhere by Prince Andrew, younger brother of King Charles of Great Britain.
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Andrew has disputed her claim, but in February 2022 agreed to a confidential settlement with Giuffre to end a civil suit against him in US District Court in Manhattan.
USVI’s lawsuit against JPMorgan finds that Epstein “was a resident of the Virgin Islands and maintained a residence on Little St. James, which he acquired in 1998 and also purchased Great St. James in 2016.”
The islands were collectively valued at $86 million following Epstein’s death in August 2019, when the former boyfriend of Donald Trump and Bill Clinton committed suicide in a Manhattan jail a month after his arrest on child sex trafficking charges.
“The Epstein Enterprise acquired Little St. James in the Virgin Islands in 1998 as the perfect hideout and haven for the trafficking of young women and underage girls for sexual bondage, child abuse and sexual assault,” the lawsuit reads.
“Little St. James is a secluded, private island nearly two miles from St. Thomas with no other residents,” the suit noted. “It can only be visited by private boat or helicopter…Epstein had easy access to Little St. James from the private airfield on St. Thomas, just 10 minutes away in his private helicopter, but the women and children with whom he trafficked , were abused , and held there could not go without his permission and help as it was too far and too dangerous to swim to St. Thomas.
The lawsuit further states that in 2016 Epstein used a straw buyer to hide Epstein’s identity and bought Great St. James, the closest island to Little St. James.
“Until then, Epstein was a convicted sex offender,” the lawsuit states. “The Epstein Enterprise bought the island for more than $20 million because its participants wanted to make sure the island didn’t become a base from which others could see their activities or visitors.”
It adds: “By acquiring ownership and control of Great St. James to the exclusion of others, Epstein Enterprise has created additional barriers to prevent those involuntarily held on Little St. James from escaping or getting help from others receive.”
Epstein’s former lover and longtime procurer Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison last June for recruiting and grooming teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein.