As Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘Paedo Islands’ sell for a knockdown price of £48 million against a £95 million asking price, we ask: “Who’d want to go and stay in the ‘luxury resort’ planned there?”
In March 2022, The Steeple Times asked: “Who on earth would want to live in a place where such hellish abuse occurred?” of the islands owned by the croaked paedophile Ponzi schemer Jeffrey Epstein.
Purchased in recent days by billionaire Stephen Deckoff via an investment vehicle named SD Investments LLC for a combined total of just £47.7 million, the plan for the islands where countless young girls and likely countless young boys also too were so horrifically abused is to turn it into a “state-of-the-art, five-star, world-class luxury 25-room resort” supposedly.
Though clearly sold at a clear knockdown price, the figure achieved for Little St James and Great St James was “the highest-priced trade in the history of the U.S. Virgin Islands.” Though “a significant portion of the sale proceeds” will be “paid to the government of the Virgin Islands per a settlement between the government and Epstein’s estate” according to a report this morning in The Washington Post, some of the proceeds will no doubt end up in the hands of the Ponzi scheming monster’s brother, Mark Epstein – whose bizarre nickname is ‘Puggy.’
Mr Deckoff himself has had an illustrious career and is listed by Forbes as having a “real time net worth” of £2.4 billion. He co-founded Black Diamond Capital Management in 1995 and is a resident of the U.S. Virgin Islands. He “also owns multi-million dollar properties in Colorado and New York City, and a Beverly Hills mansion previously owned by the Latsis shipping family.”
This morning on Twitter, I asked: “When billionaire Steven Deckoff completes the transformation of Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘Paedo Islands’ into a ‘luxury resort’ would you be tempted to visit?” By 11:30am, just 8.7% of respondents answered: “Yes; great re-use.” Mr Deckoff may thus find himself struggle to attract paying guests.
Editor’s Note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.
Pictured Top (left to right) – Jeffrey Epstein with one of his ‘victims’, the main compound currently on Little Saint James and its new owner, Stephen Deckoff.
The Names & Numbers – ‘The Jameses’ (Great Saint James and Little Saint James islands), United States Virgin Islands (USVI)
May 2023 – Sold to billionaire Stephen Deckoff via an investment vehicle, SD Investments LLC for a combined total of just £47.7 million ($60 million, €54.3 million or درهم220.4 million), a sum 50% lower than the initial asking price.
March 2022 – Listed for sale through Bespoke Real Estate for £94.5 million ($125 million, €113.8 million or درهم459.1 million) with “subdivision capabilities.” Listed as “two exceptional private Caribbean islands with 230 acres, 6 beaches and 5.8 miles of coastline.”
Media reports have previously estimated the islands to be worth a combined sum of £181.8 million ($240 million, €218.4 million or درهم881.4 million), a figure 92% higher than the current listing price and 178% higher than the July 2019 valuation.
10th August 2019 – Jeffrey Epstein dies by supposed suicide in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in New York. He had previously supposedly attempted suicide on 23rd July 2019 whilst sharing a cell with alleged quadruple killer cop Nicholas Tartaglione.
July 2019 – Forbes reports Little St. James to have been valued at £48.4 million ($63.9 million, €58.2 million or درهم234.7 million) and Great St. James at £17 million ($22.5 million, €20.5 million or درهم82.6 million) – or a total sum of £65.5 million ($86.4 million, €78.7 million or درهم317.3 million) – in documents filed by Epstein’s legal team when he applied for bail.
6th July 2019 – Jeffrey Epstein is arrested after his private jet lands at Teterboro Airport, New Jersey.
April 2016 – Epstein begins to clear Great St. James without seeking permission and is fined by the Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources (DNPR). Court cases have continued about this matter beyond the paedophile’s death.
January 2016 – Epstein purchases the 161.3-acre Great St. James for a total sum of £17 million ($22.5 million, €20.5 million or درهم82.6 million) through various shell companies and with the help of Dubai businessman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem as a “beneficial owner” as the then owner, a Danish politician named Christian Kjær, had been “begged” not to sell to the paedophile due to rumours about his “sexual preferences.”
According to the BBC, Epstein “had drawn up plans to develop the 161-acre island by building homes, an amphitheatre, as well as an underwater office and pool.”
2007 onwards – According to the Independent, “Epstein began a massive programme of building and remodelling that drew suspicion from local officials. His main compound nearly doubled in size, sprouting into a plush mansion with an outside terrace connecting the master bedroom and the swimming pool, along with a desalination system.”
“Satellite photos show a sprawling network of terraces, cottages, beach houses, swimming pools, docks, utility buildings, a helipad, a tennis court, slipways, some kind of enclosed lake or lagoon, and various huts of unknown purpose, all connected by palm-lined roads where golf buggies ferried guests from place to place (a journey across the island reportedly took about five minutes).”
1998 – Epstein purchases the 7.16-acre Little St. James for £6.02 million ($7.95 million, €7.24 million or درهم29.20 million) through a shell company named L. S. J. LLC. It had been marketed for sale for £8 million ($10.5 million, €9.6 million or درهم38.6 million) on behalf of a venture capitalist named Arch Cummin.
Some of the ‘Famous Faces’ who’ve visited the ‘Paedo Islands’
- Royal rotter Prince Andrew. Alleged to have flown to the islands on 4 occasions and is alleged to have had sexual relations with the then underaged in the territory Virginia Roberts there.
- Now croaked paedophile and cocaine addict Jean-Luc Brunel. Known to have supplied three 12-year-old sisters to Epstein and visited him in jail at least 70 times during his 2008 incarceration. Known to have visited the ‘Paedo Islands’ on multiple occasions.
- Temperamental supermodel Naomi Campbell.
- Prone to tell porky pies politician President Bill Clinton was reportedly a visitor according to Virginia Roberts Giuffre. Hillary Clinton’s husband has denied this however.
- Magician David Copperfield – who reportedly proposed to supermodel Claudia Schiffer there.
- Socialite Clementine ‘Clemmie’ Hambro. Known to have visited in 1999.
- Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking. Known to have visited in March 2006.
- American-Canadian theoretical physicist and cosmologist Lawrence Krauss. Known to have been amongst a group of 21 physicists invited to Little St. James for a meeting about gravity. Of Epstein, the scientist later remarked: “As a scientist I always judge things on empirical evidence and he always has women ages 19 to 23 around him, but I’ve never seen anything else, so as a scientist, my presumption is that whatever the problems were I would believe him over other people… I don’t feel tarnished in any way by my relationship with Jeffrey; I feel raised by it.”
- Labour spin doctor and associate of Putin cronies Lord Mandelson and his partner Reinaldo Avila da Silva. Known to have visited on several occasions – including when his host was not present – between 2000 and 2005.
- Convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. Known to have visited the islands on many occasions from when Epstein purchased them until his death in 2019.
- Disgraced actor Kevin Spacey.
- Now former CEO of Barclays Jes Staley. Known to have visited Little St. James in 2015 with his wife and to have taken their 90-foot yacht, Bequia, there also.
- Comedian and actor Chris Tucker.
- Billionaire businessman and L Brands founder Leslie Wexner. Known to have visited in 1998 “with several Victoria’s Secret models in tow.”
Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘Temple’
The gruesome paedophile Jeffrey Epstein built a structure described by many as a “temple” between 2009 and 2013. It is unclear what the structure was actually used for, but it certainly sent conspiracy theorists crazy.
The building was said to have “acoustic walls” and a “door to prevent people from leaving” complete with a “medieval era lock.” Its base was painted with broad, vivid horizontal stripes and for a time it featured a gold dome atop.
Statues including one of the trident-wielding Poseidon, the Greek God of the sea, and birds “perched” on its corners and aside was a terrace with a labyrinth motif.
Insider suggested “it strongly resembles a temple, though of which sort remains elusive.”
The gold dome supposedly “flew off” during the “deadly 2017 hurricane season.”
Further images of Great Saint James and Little Saint James
