New York

The islands owned by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will be turned into a resort, reports in the US media claimed. The real estate in the Caribbean, now nicknamed 'Paedophile Islands', is one of the places where Epstein reportedly held the infamous parties that became mass events for sexual perversion with 'underage' girls.

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Who owns Epstein's 'Paedophile Islands' now?

According to a report in Forbes, the islands were bought by billionaire Stephen Deckoff, founder of private equity firm Black Diamond Capital Management, for $60 million in May 2023.

Also read | Stephen Hawking visited Epstein's disgraced island but did he engage in 'underage orgy' too?

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The publication said that the Great St. James and Little St. James were listed on the market for more than a year.

When will these resorts be inaugurated? 

The New York Post said that the island resort will be inaugurated in 2025.

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Also watch | Who was Jeffrey Epstein? Where did he source his $580 mn fortune?

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The to-be-turned resort was initially listed for $125 million in 2021. The report added that the bulk of the proceeds would also be utilised towards compensation efforts for Epstein's survivors.

What will the resort be like?

Deckoff told Forbes that the resort will have 25 rooms. The property spans more than 230 acres;  70-plus-acre in Little St. James and 160-plus-acre in Great St. James. It is located just off the shores of tourism hub St. Thomas and has a helipad, multiple pools, and several guest villas.

"I very much look forward to working with the US Virgin Islands to make this dream a reality," the billionaire had said after the deal was widely reported.

Epstein had bought these islands in 1998 for $8 million. 

Jeffrey Epstein disclosures in Jan 2024

In January 2024, after a New York judge unsealed documents related to Epstein, former US presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, late physicist Stephen Hawking, and others, who have not been accused of any wrongdoing in the papers, appeared as Epstein's associates. 

The disclosure is part of a defamation proceeding between Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell, sentenced in 2022 to 20 years in prison, and a plaintiff Virginia Giuffre.

Also read | Jeffrey Epstein's court files unsealed, Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew emerge as big names

Epstein was found hanging in a New York prison in August 2019 and pronounced dead soon after.

(With inputs from agencies)