© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Little St. James Island, one of many properties of financier Jeffrey Epstein, is seen in an aerial view close to Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands July 21, 2019. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Picture
By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Jeffrey Epstein’s property has reached a nine-figure settlement with the U.S. Virgin Islands to settle claims the late financier used the territory as a base for his decades-long sex-trafficking operation.
Denise George, the territory’s lawyer normal, on Wednesday mentioned the property pays $105 million in money plus half the proceeds from the sale of Little St. James, a non-public island the place Epstein had a house and allegedly carried out many crimes.
The settlement consists of the return of greater than $80 million in tax advantages that considered one of Epstein’s corporations obtained fraudulently, to gas his prison exercise, George mentioned.
Daniel Weiner, a lawyer for the property, in an announcement mentioned there was no admission of legal responsibility, and the property’s executors denied wrongdoing.
“The settlement is according to the co-executors’ acknowledged intent and apply since their appointments to these roles–to resolve claims associated to any misconduct by Jeffrey Epstein in a way delicate to those that suffered hurt,” Weiner mentioned.
George first sued the property for civil penalties and asset forfeitures in January 2020. Epstein, a registered intercourse offender, had killed himself 5 months earlier in a Manhattan jail whereas awaiting trial on intercourse trafficking prices.
