CRIME
Where is Jeffrey Epstein’s island and who owns it now?
The disgraced former financier owned two islands in the Caribbean, which have been bought by a private equity mogul in the years after Epstein’s death.
Sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein died while awaiting trial in New York in 2019, leaving behind a vast fortune and slew of properties around the world.
The most infamous of those houses were found on the two Caribbean islands owned by Epstein, called Great St James and Little St James in the US Virgin Islands. One year after Epstein’s death, Virgin Islands officials alleged that Little St James had been a site where he had “trafficked, raped, sexually assaulted and held captive” his victims.
In March 2022 the two islands were put on the market, along with much of Epstein’s vast global property portfolio. The pair of island have been listed for $125 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Stephen Deckoff, a private equity manager, has recently purchased the islands for a reported price of $60 million according to Forbes. Deckoff plans to develop the properties and convert them into a luxury resort.
What are Epstein’s islands like?
In 1998 Epstein bought Little St James and set about developing the island. It is around 70 acres in size and boats four guest villas in addition to the main residential compound. Also on the island is a helipad, private dock, two pools, a gym and a tiki hut. There are three private beaches.
Great St James is the larger of the two, spanning over 160 acres. It was purchased by Epstein in 2016 for around $20 million. The island is largely undeveloped and has only a few fairly minor structures and a marine preserve known as Christmas Cove.
The sale of the islands will be used to fund the resolution of Epstein’s estate, which is the subject of countless outstanding lawsuits from victims of his crimes. It is thought that more than $120 million has already been paid out by Epstein’s estate through the Epstein victims’ compensation program.
TIkTok urban explorer sneaks onto Epstein’s island
The islands have been abandoned since Epstein’s arrest and have been the subject of much fascination ever since. There is almost no publically available footage of the island and little more than long range photography.
However one TikTok ‘urban explorer’ reportedly managed to sneak onto the island and posted a video online which seems to show the infamous blue and white striped building on Little St James. Andy Bracco claims that it took months of planning to venture onto the private island, but has not revealed exactly how he did it.
“Security most definitely existed on the island during both of my visits. The months of effort that went into planning for just a few hours of exploring are so disproportionate. I took in account so many things, asked as many resources available as I felt we needed to know while still attempting to remain surreptitious,” Bracco told Newsweek.
“On both of my visits we remained completely undetected due to following our very careful planning and other convert entry procedures. We stayed away from the main dock, the main house, and the infrared cameras,” he added.