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Epstein building compound on Great St. James | News | virginislandsdailynews.com
5/7/19, 9(15 AM
http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/epstein-building-compound-on-great-st-james/article_a49261e9-40f0-57b1-9501-605e26e74cf3.html
Epstein building compound on Great St. James
By SUZANNE CARLSON Daily News Staff 6 hrs ago
A schematic filed with the Department of Planning and Natural Resources shows development plans for Great St.
James island.
ST. THOMAS —Wealthy sex o!ender Je!rey Epstein has been
quietly working for years to construct a new compound on
Great St. James island o! the East End of St. Thomas, adding
to a massive real estate portfolio that also includes
neighboring Little St. James island, which has been his
primary residence for decades.
Je!rey Epstein
HOGP
V.I. Department of Planning and Natural Resources
spokesman Jamal Nielsen confirmed Monday that at least
some of that construction activity has been taking place
without permission from the government — the third time
in as many years that Epstein has gone beyond the scope of
permitted building plans.
“We have confirmed that there’s unauthorized work going on
at Great St. James, we have been in touch with the owners
and we are setting up to have a meeting with them soon, to
rectify this,” Nielsen said.
http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/epstein-building-compoun…n-great-st-james/article_a49261e9-40f0-57b1-9501-605e26e74cf3.html
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Epstein building compound on Great St. James | News | virginislandsdailynews.com
5/7/19, 9(15 AM
Nielsen could not say what specifically the unauthorized
work consists of, but said DPNR Commissioner nominee
Jean-Pierre Oriol would be available by phone today to
answer questions about the situation.
Documents on file at the Coastal Zone Management division
of DPNR show that Epstein used “Great St. Jim, LLC,” a shell
company organized by St. Thomas attorney Erika Kellerhals,
to purchase three parcels totaling 80.1 acres from the Danish
Kjaer family for $17.5 million on Jan. 18, 2016.
The remainder of the island — 12 parcels totaling 81.22 acres
— was transferred from another St. Thomas company, GSJ
Properties Corp., to Great St. Jim LLC for $5 million on Jan.
21, 2016.
While it’s long been rumored that Epstein had purchased
Great St. James, for years his name appeared nowhere on
publicly available documents listing property ownership of
the island.
The Daily News requested access to documents contained in
Coastal Zone Management permit application files for the
island on April 18, and was provided access to those records
Monday.
The documents show that in 2011, Kellerhals, another
attorney in her firm, Gregory Ferguson, and business
consultant Brett Geary organized the St. Thomas company
Poplar Inc.
A certificate of incumbency contained in the file lists Epstein
as president of Poplar Inc., his longtime lawyer Darren
Indyke is listed as vice president and secretary, and another
longtime associate, Richard Kahn, is listed as treasurer.
The Daily Beast reported in April that Kellerhals, Indyke, and
Kahn are listed as the only o"cers of other defunct
nonprofits run by Epstein, including the C.O.U.Q.
Foundation, J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, and Epstein
Interests. They’re also listed as o"cers for Gratitude America
Ltd., a nonprofit formed in the Virgin Islands in 2012 through
which Epstein has made financial contributions to various
organizations.
The certificate specifically states that those individuals are
authorized to act on behalf of the corporation with respect to
all transactions, “including but not limited to transactions
related to permitting matters submitted on behalf of Great
St. Jim, LLC.”
http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/epstein-building-compoun…n-great-st-james/article_a49261e9-40f0-57b1-9501-605e26e74cf3.html
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Epstein building compound on Great St. James | News | virginislandsdailynews.com
5/7/19, 9(15 AM
Kellerhals organized Great St. Jim LLC on Oct. 26, 2015, with
herself as the sole member, and identified Geary’s company,
Business Basics VI LLC, as the resident agent.
Kellerhals could not be reached for comment Monday.
Documents contained in the permit application file show
that DPNR employees and Epstein’s sta! have been
communicating for years about the project.
“[H]i Erika, spoke with Je! yesterday and let him know that
the scopes of work from both applications are being
combined into one single permit. Dave of my sta! is
supposed to reach out to the LSJ [Little St. James] sta! and
arrange when he can make the required site visit. there are
some specific details that were not included in the
application package, so they will have to be verified during
the site visit and notes made on the submitted drawings,”
Oriol wrote to Kellerhals in an email dated Aug. 16, 2016,
under the subject line, “RE: Cistern Permit.”
An email from DPNR legal counsel Michele Baker to
Kellerhals dated Aug. 26, 2016, lists a number of documents
required for the permit application to proceed, and indicates
that “the OWNER” has to sign o!.
Kellerhals responded in an email that “I understand that
there are some places where the owner needs to sign if the
attorney completes the application. I will discuss with Je!rey
and get you copies of those signed attachments asap. You are
correct that I am no longer the sole member. In fact, I am not
a member at all. The only position I serve is as counsel to
Great St. Jim.”
Epstein signed o! on the application for a Coastal Zone
Management major permit on Jan. 10, 2017, identifying
himself as “President of Poplar, Inc., sole member of Great
St. Jim, LLC.”
Permit application documents and site plans on file show
that Epstein is planning a complex of buildings across the
approximately 160-acre island, connected by private road.
The plans include a barge dock, two homes, cottages, an
amphitheater, gardens, a marine electrical cable, solar array
and generator, storage building, security building, workshed
and machine shop, and an “underwater o"ce & pool.”
The permit application addresses mitigation e!orts for
endangered corals and the Virgin Islands tree boa — which
was spotted on the island during site visits — and indicates
http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/epstein-building-compoun…n-great-st-james/article_a49261e9-40f0-57b1-9501-605e26e74cf3.html
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Epstein building compound on Great St. James | News | virginislandsdailynews.com
5/7/19, 9(15 AM
that the public will still have free access to the island’s
shoreline, which includes Christmas Cove, a popular boating
site and home to floating restaurant Pizza Pi.
A wealthy financier long associated with the rich and
powerful, including former President Bill Clinton and
President Donald Trump, Epstein, 66, was convicted in 2008
of procuring a child under the age of 18 for prostitution.
An investigation by the Miami Herald found that despite
evidence Epstein sexually abused dozens of underage girls,
some who say they were forced to have sex with Epstein’s
rich friends at his various homes, including on Little St.
James, federal prosecutor Alexander Acosta — who now
serves as U.S. secretary of labor — worked with Epstein’s
defense attorneys to craft an extraordinarily lenient plea
deal.
A federal judge ruled in February that Miami prosecutors
violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act when they
intentionally kept that agreement secret from victims in the
case.
While Epstein owns lavish properties in New York City, Palm
Beach, and New Mexico that he travels between on his private
Boeing 727, he lists Little St. James as his primary residence
on his sex o!ender registration.
Epstein last verified his registration with the V.I. Justice
Department on March 15, which lists the 11 vehicles he owns
— all of which are black — including a Mercedes-Benz S550,
Bentley Arnage, Hummer II, Dodge Caravan, Range Rover,
three Chevy Suburbans and three Cadillac Escalades.
— Contact Suzanne Carlson at 340-714-9122 or email
scarlson@dailynews.vi.
Suzanne Carlson
http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/epstein-building-compoun…n-great-st-james/article_a49261e9-40f0-57b1-9501-605e26e74cf3.html
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