One of many islands was purchased by Jeffrey Epstein in 1998 for $8 million.

The controversial islands owned by convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein will quickly be changed into a resort, in accordance with a report in New York Put up. The actual property within the Caribbean, recognized informally as “Paedophile Islands”, is without doubt one of the locations the place Epstein reportedly held intercourse events. As per Forbes, the islands had been purchased by billionaire Stephen Deckoff, founder of personal fairness agency Black Diamond Capital Administration, for $60 million in Could 2023. The outlet stated that Nice St. James and Little St. James had been available on the market for greater than 12 months.

The Put up stated in its report that the island resort can be inaugurated in 2025.

They had been initially listed for $125 million in 2021, with the majority of the proceeds supporting compensation efforts for Epstein’s victims.

Mr Deckoff had informed Forbes that the resort can have 25 rooms. The property spans greater than 230 acres – 70-plus-acre in Little St. James and 160-plus-acre in Nice St. James. It’s situated simply off the shores of tourism hub St. Thomas and already boasts a helipad, a number of swimming pools and a number of other visitor villas.

“I very a lot sit up for working with the US Virgin Islands to make this dream a actuality,” the billionaire had stated after the deal was broadly reported.

Epstein’s possession had forged a darkish shadow over the islands. The disgraced financier had purchased them in 1998 for $8 million. Since his demise, a number of girls have come ahead to say they had been trafficked to the islands and abused.

Their accounts had been revealed when a New York decide unsealed paperwork associated to Epstein. The paperwork, which embody virtually 1,000 pages of depositions and statements, had been former US presidents Invoice Clinton and Donald Trump, who haven’t been accused of any wrongdoing within the case.

The disclosure is a part of a defamation continuing between Epstein’s affiliate Ghislaine Maxwell, sentenced in 2022 to twenty years in jail, and a plaintiff towards the duo, Virginia Giuffre.

Epstein, a financier with a strong community in america and overseas, was himself accused of raping younger ladies, however his suicide by hanging in a New York jail in August 2019 halted his prosecution.