Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Spotlight on Jeffrey E. Epstein's interactions with influential in USVI

Spotlight on Jeffrey E. Epstein's interactions with influential in USVI

The [US] Virgin Islands Department of Justice's civil claims against the half-billion dollar estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein is casting an unwanted spotlight on the dead pedophile’s interactions with the Virgin Islands’ rich and powerful.

Attorney General Denise George stepped up the pressure on Epstein’s estate by amending a civil enforcement action brought in January to include the names of the estate executors, lawyers Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, as co-defendants.

In court documents filed this week, Ms George also added Epstein’s Red Hook-based Southern Trust Co. as a co-defendant for allegedly being used to conceal Epstein’s years of alleged trafficking and sexual abuse of young women and underage girls. Naming Southern Trust as a co-defendant in the civil litigation potentially opens company records and activities to public scrutiny - a move that may cast a chill across some of the territory’s prominent social and political quarters.

While Epstein, personally, was in the background, Southern Trust Co. was well known in political circles. And the territory, according to the Department of Justice, is a place where Epstein got his way.

Under former Governor John P. de Jongh, Southern Trust obtained lucrative tax breaks. At the time, de Jongh's wife, Cecile, on paper, managed Southern Trust operation.

Southern Trust gave thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to Virgin Islands politicians, including current members of the Legislature and the territory’s delegate to Congress. When the largesse came to light last year, politicians were quick to distance themselves from Epstein by returning the money or donating equal amounts to charity.

Through Southern Trust, Epstein became a friend of the well-heeled in the territory. Virgin Islands nonprofits – such as the exclusive Antilles School on St Thomas – turned to Southern Trust again and again for money. The company donated thousands of dollars to Antilles’ “Annual Fund,” which helps cover tuition for low-income students. Epstein handed out 100 Microsoft tablet computers when the USVI Department of Education sought support for a science, technology, engineering and math program.


A $300 Million Shell Company

According to the Amending Complaint filed by the VIDOJ, Southern Trust was incorporated as Financial Informatics Inc. 2011 but changed its name a year later. It was housed in 3,200-square-feet of office-space in American Yacht Harbor (AYH), the commercial heart of Red Hook on St Thomas. Epstein was a passive investor in AYH, owning 50% of the East End marina.

Epstein is listed in V.I. Economic Development Authority (VIEDA) records as President/Director and sole owner of Southern Trust. The records show that in 2018, Southern Trust assets reached $391 million – and it also held a precious 10-year EDC tax break, guaranteeing 100 reductions of business property taxes, gross receipts, excises taxes, as well as other sweetheart incentives.

The government granted Southern Trust EDC status because the firm was, ostensibly, developing sophisticated algorithms to mine DNA databases. It remains unclear through public records what type of data mining - if any - actually occurred.

In court documents, Ms George alleged Southern Trust was a shell that helped hide Epstein's perversions. In a January civil complaint, the VIDOJ alleged that Epstein used a web of shell companies, charitable organisations and other corporate entities to conceal years of rape, human trafficking and other abuses of women and young females on Little St James and Great St James off the east coast of St Thomas.

That 49-page complaint alleged that Epstein lured his young victims to Little St James with promises of modeling jobs, contracts and help paying for their education. Once ferried to the island on Epstein’s private helicopter or boat, his victims were trapped and held in sexual servitude, abuse and forced labor.


New Filing

In the latest court filings, Ms George alleged that the co-executors of the Epstein estate, Mr Indyke and Mr Kahn, had conflicts of interest because of their role in Epstein companies named as defendants in the case. The USVI government has also placed liens on assets worth more than $577 million left behind after Epstein's death in a New York jail last summer.

Lawyers for the estate argued that the Virgin Islands' liens against the estate cash and properties were delaying settlements with Epstein's alleged victims.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×