By James Whittaker and Norma Connolly
The latest release of what has become known as the ‘Epstein files’ contains more than 1,000 mentions of the Cayman Islands, although there’s no evidence of any links to the criminal activities of the notorious sex offender.
Billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein never spent much time in the Cayman Islands, according to his own account in a redacted set of emails released by the US Department of Justice earlier this month. One of his planes appears to have been registered here, however, and he seems to have transited through the island.
Cayman is referenced a handful of times directly by Epstein and his associates in the heavily redacted documents, mostly in connection to business deals or meetings, with few non-redacted details, making it difficult to discern their significance or context.
The majority of the non-redacted references in the released files are instances of corporate addresses of international companies with a tax presence in Cayman included in fax and email signatures or in corporate documents. There are several more material links to the islands, though nothing that suggests knowledge of or complicity with his illegal activities on the part of the Cayman based correspondents.
Epstein’s crimes and high-profile links
Epstein was indicted on federal charges of sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York but died in his jail cell in 2019 before his trial. His death by hanging was ruled a suicide.
Prior to the federal charges, police in Florida launched an investigation in 2005 into Epstein having illegal sexual contact with underage girls as young as 14 years old. Epstein was subsequently convicted of procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute in 2008.
Based between the US and the US Virgin Islands, where he owned an island, he cultivated a vast social circle of high-profile individuals including US president Donald Trump, former US President Bill Clinton and a former heir to the British throne, Prince Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor after being stripped of his royal titles.
The erstwhile prince was arrested by British police, Thursday, 19 Feb. in connection with new evidence contained in the Epstein files. King Charles released a brief statement expressing support for the investigation into his brother, saying, “the law must take its course”.
Since Epstein’s death, US officials have been under pressure to release details of their investigation and any links with other high-profile figures who may have been complicit in his activities.
The Epstein Transparency Act compelled the US Department of Justice to release an additional three million pages of emails, faxes and other documents, on top of 500,000 pages previously released.
The document release includes a searchable database on the Department of Justice website.
Cayman mentions
Searching ‘Cayman’ in the searchable database generates 1,297 results.
Many of the mentions are duplicates, as each time an email is responded to, it’s counted as another document.
A number of funds, trusts and companies mentioned in the files are incorporated in the Cayman Islands, or in the case of a yacht and a plane Epstein was considering buying or renting, they were registered in Cayman, as are thousands of aircraft and marine vessels worldwide.
Epstein, when asked in an email from his friend Dr. Peter Attia if he had ever spent time on in the Cayman Islands, simply responded, “Nope.” To which Attia replied, in an apparent reference to Little St. James, Epstein’s island, “Nothing like LSJ, I bet.”
The documents also indicate that Epstein would sometimes transit through Cayman while flying in his private plane from St. Thomas to New York. Timings of landings are outlined in a number of emails between Epstein and his pilot, Larry Visoski. For example, in one email, dated 11 Dec. 2013, Visoski wrote that it would take two hours and 20 minutes to fly from St. Thomas to Grand Cayman and then three hours and 10 minutes to fly to New York, “If I am able to obtain Cuban overflight”.
Though he may not have visited the territory, Epstein appears to have come close. In another missive in the files, he messaged an acquaintance, “cannot go tomorrow to Cayman”.
Business references
Cayman gets another mention in an email exchange between Epstein and Barry C. Loudermilk, director of business development at Orion Marine Group in September 2018.
After Epstein had met with Loudermilk and offered him a job, the businessman responded that he was busy with other projects, including being involved in the proposal to build a cruise pier in Grand Cayman.
Dr. Steven Victor, CEO of IntelliCell BioSciences, in another email, asked Epstein if he is “still plugged in politically in St. Thomas, US Virigin Islands. He wrote, “I need an offshore home for my cellular therapy. Need friendly government and will increase revenue for island and hospital. There are now places in Grand Cayman x2, DR, Panama City … all doing extremely well and I have much better technology. Let me know, I will send you info.”
Epstein responded that St. Thomas is a United States jurisdiction, and tells Victor that the British Virgin Islands, Cuba, St. Kitts or Dominica is “worth a shot”.
Dart also gets a couple of mentions.
In an email dated 10 Nov, 2015, Richard Kahn, of HBRK Associates Inc., sent Epstein a link to a Bloomberg Business story titled ‘Billionaire Dart Reinvents Himself as Cayman Islands Land Baron’. There is no apparent emailed response to this in the Department of Justice files.
A second mention of Dart in the files is made in an undated fax, apparently from Bill Sullivan of Dart Management and to a recipient whose name is redacted, which gives directions to a Dart property on West Bay Road – which would be a reference to the now-demolished Coral Caymanian Hotel, where Dart had small offices before relocating to Camana Bay.
Claim of recordings sent to Cayman lawyer
One of the more curious and salacious references in the files comes from an FBI intake memo dated 21 June.
It records a caller’s unverified allegations that underage sex parties occurred at a Trump golf course and that victims were buried there. The caller indicated these unsubstantiated allegations were captured on recordings sent to a lawyer in the Cayman Islands, according to the memo. Another unverified claim in the same release has prompted an investigation into whether two women’s remains were buried near Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico, though that, too, has not been confirmed by authorities.
Routine references to offshore regulations
The majority of references appear in boilerplate language about the island’s tax laws and regulations included in corporate documents of multi-jurisdictional funds or in addresses of banks. Cayman also comes up in the resumes of board directors and fund administrators.
There are also emails between Epstein and his associates that reference Cayman’s aircraft and shipping and funds regulations in comparison with other jurisdictions.
Other more casual references to vacations in Cayman crop up in the correspondence. After Hurricane Maria hit the US Virgin Islands in September 2017, Epstein’s friend Jonathan Farkas messages him to say, “Cayman destroyed 12 years ago and is now booming.”
Occasionally Epstein was sent articles about Cayman, including former US President Barack Obama’s famous reference to Ugland House containing thousands of companies.
Other offshore centres also crop up frequently including Bermuda (967 results), British Virgin Islands (1,291) and Hong Kong (4,078).
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