Epstein’s ‘paedophile island’ gets a price cut as millionaires shun buying troubled spot

Both Caribbean islands now available for $55m each after discount

Jeffrey Epstein’s “paedophile island” in the Caribbean has undergone a price cut as the super-wealthy continue to shun buying the troubled property.

The estate is actually two private islands, known as Great St James and Little St James.

They were listed for a total of $125m in March but have now had their price slashed by around 12 per cent to $55m each, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Listing rep Adam Modlin of Modlin Group told the Journal that several potential buyers had expressed interest in the islands, but that there was more interest in them individually than as a pair.

The sale of the properties will see proceeds go to any outstanding lawsuits that have yet been settled against his estate and the operation of the Epstein estate itself.

The estate of the late and disgraced financier has already sold his $51m mansion in New York, as well as his home in Palm Beach, Florida, for $18.5m. His New Mexico ranch remains up for sale for $27.5m.

Great St James is made up of more than 160 acres and was bought by Epstein in 2016, three years before his arrest for sex trafficking.

Little St James is a 70-acre island where Epstein was accused of sexually abusing underage girls. It comes with a private dock, helicopter landing pad, gas station, two swimming pools, a main residential property and four guest villas. It also has three beaches and a gym.

Undated handout photo issued by US Department of Justice of Jeffrey Epstein’s private island, showing a complex of grand buildings with pillared fronts and bright blue roofs clustered around the top of a hill (PA)

Epstein, 66, was found dead in August 2019 after killing himself at a New York prison while awaiting his trial on federal sex trafficking charges.

It was in the Virgin Islands that Epstein registered as a sex offender in 2010, following his first conviction for child prostitution in 2008. He also based his shell companies in a small unmarked office in a seaside strip mall on St Thomas, alongside a Sam’s Mini-Mart and a salon called Happy Nails.

In 1998, he bought Little St James from venture capitalist Arch Cummin via a shell company, reportedly paying just under $8m. The new owner quickly scoured away all the native vegetation and replaced it with 40-foot palm trees.

Starting in 2007, 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.