Jeffrey Epstein Estate Settles Suit Brought by U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General
Estate will pay $105 million and half of the proceeds from the sale of one of the disgraced financier’s private islands
The estate of Jeffrey Epstein on Wednesday settled a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Virgin Islands that accused the disgraced financier of trafficking and sexually abusing girls and young women on his private island in the Caribbean.
U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise George said in a statement that, under the settlement’s terms, the estate agreed to pay the Virgin Islands government $105 million, as well as one half of the proceeds from the sale of Little St. James, one of Epstein’s private islands. The estate also agreed to pay $450,000 to remediate environmental damage around Great St. James, another Epstein-owned island, Ms. George said.
The estate has a year to meet the obligations, according to the settlement.
“We are sending a clear message that the Virgin Islands will not serve as a haven for human trafficking,” Ms. George said.
Daniel Weiner, a lawyer for one of the executors of Epstein’s estate, said the settlement was in the best interests of the estate to avoid the time and expense of litigation.
“The settlement does not include any admission or concession of liability or fault by the estate or any other parties,” Mr. Weiner said. The executors, Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, also deny any allegations of wrongdoing, he said.
Epstein died by suicide in a jail in New York in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan had alleged that from 2002 through 2005, Epstein exploited and abused dozens of underage girls in places including New York and Palm Beach, Fla. They said he worked with his employees and associates to recruit underage girls, in addition to paying the girls themselves to recruit other victims.
As part of a separate investigation, Ms. George filed a civil racketeering lawsuit against Epstein’s estate and Messrs. Indyke and Kahn in 2020. From 2001 through at least 2018, Epstein trafficked and sexually abused young women and girls on his private islands in the Virgin Islands, the lawsuit alleged.
The lawsuit also accused Messrs. Indyke and Kahn of aiding Epstein in his alleged crimes. The two men authorized hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments to victims and recruiters from bank accounts tied to Epstein’s holding companies and foundations, the suit alleged.
Separately, federal prosecutors in 2020 charged Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite and longtime confidante of the disgraced financier, with facilitating Epstein’s sexual abuse. After a trial in late 2021, Ms. Maxwell was found guilty of five of six criminal counts. The judge sentenced her to 20 years in prison.
Ms. Maxwell is appealing her conviction. Her lawyers have argued that she was a scapegoat for Epstein.