Jeffrey Epstein was shopping around an idea to turn his private islands into a luxury resort with the help of a well-connected Dubai businessman, leaked emails show.
Epstein, a financial manager for the ultra-wealthy, had owned Little Saint James in the U.S. Virgin Islands since 1998. Locals have described it as a place where Epstein, who pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008 and was indicted for sex trafficking in 2019, would bring teenagers. Federal authorities, the government of the Virgin Islands, and several accusers have said that Epstein molested girls on the island.
