Jeffrey Epstein’s estate has agreed to pay up to $105m to the US Virgin Islands government to settle a lawsuit that the late paedophile used his private island in the archipelago for sex-trafficking, according to a new report.
The settlement brings to an end a three-year lawsuit brought by US Virgin Islands attorney general Denise George that accused Epstein of deceiving authorities into granting tax breaks to his financial advisory company, the New York Times reported.
Under the deal, Epstein’s estate will pay $80m in tax penalties along with half the proceeds from the sale of his private island Little Saint James, the Times stated.
The 71-acre secluded island, where dozens of Epstein’s victims have said they were trafficked to for sex, is on the market for $55m.
The Times reported that Epstein’s estate, once valued at $600m due to his vast property holdings in New York, New Mexico and Florida, only had $22m left in cash after huge payouts to victims, attorneys and the Inland Revenue Service.
The estate has an additional $159m in investments, and will have 12 months to pay the fine.
Ms George had argued in the civil fraud complaint that Epstein had garnered illegal tax breaks to his advisory firm Southern Trust Company.
The attorney general’s complaint described it as “the perfect hideaway and haven for trafficking young women and underage girls for sexual servitude, child abuse and sexual assault”.
“Epstein and his associates could avoid detection of their illegal activity from Virgin Islands and federal law enforcement, and prevent these young women and underage girls from leaving freely and escaping the abuse.”
In a statement to the Times, Ms George said: “At the very start of the case, I was so honoured to have met three very courageous young women who were trafficked and sexually exploited on Little St James.
“Our work has been inspired, humbled and fortified by the strength and courage of all of those who survived Epstein’s abuse.”
Epstein died in a Manhattan prison cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial for sex-trafficking charges.
The Independent did not immediately hear back from the US Virgin Islands’ attorney general’s office.
