Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Sep 01, 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
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
×