Epstein Signed His Will Two Days Before Committing Suicide: Report

Epstein Signed His Will Two Days Before Committing Suicide: Report
Jeffrey Epstein looks on near his lawyer Martin Weinberg and Judge Richard Berman during a status hearing in his sex trafficking case, in this court sketch in New York on July 31, 2019. (Jane Rosenberg/Reuters)
Zachary Stieber
8/19/2019
Updated:
8/20/2019

Jeffrey Epstein signed a will just two days before he was found unresponsive in his prison cell, according to a new report.

Epstein was found on Aug. 10 and declared dead about an hour later. Officials said last week that the death was a suicide.
Epstein, who was said to be involved in the financial world, signed his will, which was filed in the U.S. Virgin Islands, on Aug. 8, according to a copy obtained and published by the New York Post. TMZ also reported on the document.

The will showed that Epstein was worth $577,672,654, or about $18 million more than he previously stated in court papers when his legal team was trying to get him bailed out, and that he put all of his holdings in a trust called The 1953 Trust.

The entire filing was 21 pages and included a copy of his death certificate.

The papers noted that Epstein, who didn’t have children or a wife, had only one heir: his brother, Mark Epstein. But that natural passage was interrupted by the trust.

A structure on Little Saint James Island, in the U. S. Virgin Islands on July 9, 2019. The island is owned by Jeffrey Epstein. (AP Photo/Gianfranco Gaglione)
A structure on Little Saint James Island, in the U. S. Virgin Islands on July 9, 2019. The island is owned by Jeffrey Epstein. (AP Photo/Gianfranco Gaglione)
Jeffrey Epstein's Zorro Ranch in Stanley, New Mexico, is seen in a file photograph. (KRQE via AP)
Jeffrey Epstein's Zorro Ranch in Stanley, New Mexico, is seen in a file photograph. (KRQE via AP)

The will notes that Epstein had some $56 million in cash, $14 million in fixed income, over $112 million in equities, nearly $200,000 in hedge funds and private equity, about $18 million in aviation assets, cars, and boats.

He also left behind six different properties: the large mansion in New York and a house in Palm Beach, Florida, where authorities alleged he ran a large child sex trafficking ring; a gigantic ranch in New Mexico, where hordes of young women were seen; an apartment in Paris, France—French authorities are doing a preliminary probe into Epstein’s activities there; and two islands in the Virgin Islands, Great St. James and Little St. James, the latter which was known as “Pedophile Island” by some locals because of Epstein’s alleged proclivities.

The will provides the executor of Epstein’s estate the power to take possession of assets and to invest and reinvest the assets and to sell or dispose of them.

The executors were named as Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, both longtime lawyers for Epstein.

According to Yahoo!, Indyke started working with Epstein since 1995 or earlier, citing public records.

“Indkye’s name appears on charitable filings, real estate records, trademark filings, and other business matters related to Epstein and his inner circle,” the outlet reported. It said Kahn has also worked for decades for Epstein.

Jeffrey Epstein in a booking photograph in Palm Beach, Fla., on July 27, 2006. (Palm Beach Sheriff's Office)
Jeffrey Epstein in a booking photograph in Palm Beach, Fla., on July 27, 2006. (Palm Beach Sheriff's Office)
Jeffrey Epstein, center, appears in court in West Palm Beach, Florida, in this July 30, 2008 file photo. (Uma Sanghvi/Palm Beach Post via AP, File)
Jeffrey Epstein, center, appears in court in West Palm Beach, Florida, in this July 30, 2008 file photo. (Uma Sanghvi/Palm Beach Post via AP, File)

When Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting an underage girl in 2008 and served 13 months in prison, jail logs showed Indyke visited his client at least 38 times, and he was involved with nearly all of Epstein’s business dealings.

Epstein’s estate was sued by a woman who said she was raped by the millionaire when she was 15, a claim made by over 100 women over the years.

Jennifer Araoz said that she was 15 when an Epstein assistant began treating her to lunch and asking her personal questions before eventually convincing the high schooler to go to Epstein’s mansion to perform massages, which quickly became inappropriately intimate.

Araoz said she never went back after Epstein raped her.

The suit is one of the first filed under New York’s Child Victims Act, which enables victims of child sex abuse to bring cases against their alleged abusers for the next year, even if the alleged crimes happened years ago.

Epstein was arrested in July on sex trafficking charges. Authorities said he sexually abused and exploited dozens of girls—some as young as 14—in New York and Florida.

Zachary Stieber is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times based in Maryland. He covers U.S. and world news. Contact Zachary at [email protected]
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