The US Virgin Islands has agreed to pay restitution to the government for crimes committed on the territory by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s estate.
Denise George, the US Virgin Islands’ Attorney General, announced the settlement this afternoon.
The agreement resolves a law enforcement action filed in 2020 under the Virgin Islands’ anti-criminal enterprise, sex trafficking, child exploitation, and fraud laws.
The Epstein estate, co-defendants Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn (Co-executors of the estate), and ten Epstein-created entities will pay the Government of the Virgin Islands $105 million in cash plus half of the proceeds from the sale of Little St James, the island where Epstein lived and committed many of his crimes, according to the terms of the settlement.
The Estate also agreed to pay $450,000 to repair environmental damage on Great St James, another Epstein-owned island where the Government discovered Epstein razed centuries-old historical structures of enslaved workers to make way for his development.
The total cash payments will be made over a period of no more than one year.
The Attorney General filed civil enforcement claims against the Epstein estate under the Criminally Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (CICO), the Territory’s RICO equivalent.
“This settlement restores the Virgin Islands’ people’s faith that its laws will be enforced without fear or favour against those who break them.” “We are sending a strong message that the Virgin Islands will not be a haven for human trafficking,” George said. “Through this lawsuit and settlement, the Attorney General’s Office is acting on behalf of the Government to enforce Virgin Islands laws against criminal enterprises and to protect public safety.” CICO gives the Attorney General the authority to bring civil enforcement actions against them, including asset forfeiture and the imposition of civil penalties and damages, in accordance with the law’s goal of limiting their criminal activity and economic and political power in the Virgin Islands. That is our sole responsibility as a government, separate and apart from any individual survivors’ claims.”
The Virgin Islands claimed the co-defendants conspired with Epstein to carry out an extensive criminal enterprise known as the “Epstein Enterprise,” in which dozens of young women and children were trafficked, raped, sexually assaulted, and held captive on Epstein’s secluded private island, Little St James.
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