A billionaire investor with ties to the U.S. Virgin Islands paid $60 million to purchase Jeffrey Epstein’s island residences off the coast of St. Thomas — closing one other chapter within the monetary dealings of the disgraced financier who died by suicide in 2019 in a Manhattan jail whereas awaiting trial on sex-trafficking prices.
The investor, Stephen Deckoff, paid roughly 50 % much less for the 2 non-public islands than the worth that was listed final yr by Mr. Epstein’s property. A portion of the sale proceeds will go towards a $105 million settlement that Mr. Epstein’s property reached final yr with the federal government of the U.S. territory within the Caribbean.
Mr. Deckoff is the founding father of Black Diamond Capital Management, an funding agency with $9 billion below administration and places of work in Stamford, Conn., London, Mumbai and St. Thomas within the U.S. Virgin Islands. He acquired the islands via an funding automobile referred to as SD Investments.
Mr. Deckoff, in a news launch, stated he deliberate to construct a 25-room resort on the islands. The news of the sale was first reported by Forbes. A lawyer for Mr. Epstein’s property confirmed the sale however declined to remark additional.
One of the islands — Little St. James — was the place Mr. Epstein lived for the higher a part of 20 years and have become tarnished by allegations that it had been a spot the place he sexually abused teenage women. The different island — Great St. James — is much less developed.
The launch didn’t specify on which island Mr. Deckoff supposed to construct his resort.
At the time of Mr. Epstein’s dying, his property was valued at round $600 million. When the property reached a civil settlement with the Virgin Islands authorities, its belongings had fallen in value to about $159 million. In the years since his dying, the property paid out greater than $160 million to over 125 victims of his sexual abuse that had spanned many years. Many of Mr. Epstein’s victims have been younger women.
Mr. Epstein pleaded responsible in 2008 in Florida to 2 counts of soliciting prostitution from a teenage woman. Before and after he turned a registered intercourse offender, the secretive financier managed to forge shut associations with a protracted record of rich males, politicians and celebrities.
An affiliated entity of Black Diamond is listed as a beneficiary of a profitable tax incentive that’s supposed to spur financial improvement within the U.S. Virgin Islands. The tax incentive has been granted to dozens of companies with operations within the territory.
Two of Mr. Epstein’s firms, after they have been in operation, have been beneficiaries of comparable tax incentives from the Virgin Islands authorities.
Source: www.nytimes.com