Stephen Deckoff, a billionaire, recently spent $60 million to purchase two islands in the Caribbean that were allegedly used as a base by convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s global sex trafficking operation.
The smaller of the two islets has been called “Paedophile Island” or “Epstein Island,” and the 57-year-old co-founder of private equity firm Black Diamond Capital Management has plans to develop the islets into a 25-room luxury resort by 2025.
Three years after Epstein’s suicide in his Metropolitan Correctional Centre cell in 2021, the islands of Great St. James and Little St. James were put on the market for a combined $125 million.
Deckoff bought almost two for the original asking price of $110 million in 2022 when the price was reduced to that level.
According to AP, a large chunk of the sale’s revenues will go towards paying off the $105 million settlement reached in the US Virgin Islands’ sex trafficking case against Epstein’s estate.
However, it appears that Deckoff has no intention of demolishing the eerie compound where Epstein sexually molested young women and girls.
As part of his expansion, he reportedly intends to “convert” Epstein’s estate into a hotel, as reported by the Financial Times.
Deckoff told the FT, “I’ve been proud to call the US Virgin Islands home for more than a decade, and I’m tremendously pleased to be able to bring the area a world-class destination befitting its natural grace and beauty.”
The Post’s request for a response from a Deckoff representative went unanswered.
The Great St. James Island, at 165 acres, and the Little St. James Island, at 70 acres, are the newest additions to Deckoff’s $3 billion real estate holdings.
Epstein’s islands are located in the US Virgin Islands, where the private equity tycoon currently resides.
Epstein entertained high-profile guests
He spent $12 million on a mansion on Peter Bay in St. John, where he currently resides.
He also has mansions in both Beverly Hills and Manhattan worth several million dollars.
Epstein and his ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell are renowned for sexually abusing young girls and women in Little St. James.
New evidence suggests that this is also where Epstein entertained high-profile guests like Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.
Epstein paid $7.95 million to acquire Little St. James in 1998.
Five structures were constructed there, including a villa-style compound believed to be the primary residence of the disgraced banker, as well as a library, cinema, detached bathhouse, and cabanas (as reported by Business Insider).
In 2019, the FBI conducted a raid in Little St. James and seized Epstein’s laptop in an attempt to find evidence of the sex crimes that were allegedly committed by him two decades ago.
Meanwhile, in 2016, Epstein paid close to $20 million to acquire Great St. James. Although Epstein was rumored to be constructing a compound on the largest of his two islands—165 acres—in 2019, he was granted a stop-work order in December of that year, and construction has since ceased.
