The billionaire who bought Epstein Island is under siege from trespassers
Sridhar Natarajan and Ava Benny-Morrison
US Virgin Islands: The latest reports from “Little St Jeff’s”, the notorious Caribbean hideaway of Jeffrey Epstein, are startling.
One recent visitor was allegedly hog-tied naked. Would-be interlopers on jet-skis have been chased away. Another, apparently, was bound with duct tape and assaulted in the presence of police officers.
Epstein has been dead for almost seven years, but this strange new drama is now playing out on what was once his private island – Little St James in the US Virgin Islands. The new owner, distressed-debt billionaire and Black Diamond founder Stephen Deckoff, has been besieged by curiosity-seekers and voyeurs.
Some of the visitors believe Epstein is still alive. Others are on a mission to fight “monsters”. They’re arriving on jet-skis, they’re deploying drones to shoot footage and they’re risking arrest. Deckoff’s staff, in response, have occasionally taken matters into their own hands, according to police reports.
“The owners have made, and will continue to make, lawful citizens arrests if these trespasses continue,” a spokesman for the property said. He denied mistreatment of anyone who “threatened the safety of those lawfully on the island”.
The US Justice Department’s release of the Epstein Files, instead of putting conspiracy theories around the sex offender to rest, has spun the long-running social-media frenzy over him into a sweeping cultural phenomenon. School children are surreptitiously playing a viral video game, Five Nights at Epstein’s, on classroom laptops. Epstein-themed tourism is also a thing, with travel guides suggesting ways to see his former properties without technically trespassing.
Little St James is commonly referred to as Epstein’s Island, and the recent incidents there are now another twist in the dark story of the place where Epstein was known to entertain famous friends and where he was accused of having committed some of his worst crimes.
Ben Owen, who runs an anti-trafficking non-profit organisation in Tennessee, set out to plant a flag bearing his organisation’s name – We Fight Monsters – on the island last month. But in a run-in with island staff, Owen was the one allegedly restrained with duct tape, blindfolded and held in an underground bunker for several hours, according to police allegations and his Owen’s wife, Jessica.
Last month, police filed charges against Owen for trespassing. He is due to be arraigned on Friday and has yet to enter a plea.
“If I bought an island for millions of dollars I would want my own privacy,” Jessica Owen said. “But if I bought an island that horrendous things were done on and global attention had been on, I would expect people to come to the island.”
Reports of entry onto the island include people trying to retrieve a drone that landed on the beach while filming a documentary, YouTube creators scoring millions of views by sneaking ashore, and a man brandishing a Samurai sword.
“Epstein could literally be right there, bro,” a YouTuber filmed himself saying while making his way to the island – only to abort his mission after he was stung by sea urchins in the surf.
Luxury resort
Deckoff purchased the island and the neighbouring Great St James, also owned by Epstein, for $US60 million ($83.5 million) in 2023, which was less than half the asking price. When the founder of Black Diamond Capital Management swooped in to buy the land, he said he planned to build a luxury resort to help the place break free from its sordid past.
The resort is yet to materialise. The property spokesperson declined to comment on its status.
Deep-pocketed Wall Street executives haven’t shied away from finding deals in Epstein-owned real estate, despite the notoriety and cloud of conspiracies that have dogged everything tied to the disgraced financier.
Former Goldman Sachs Group equities-trading head Michael Daffey pounced on Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse in 2021, paying $US51 million for the mansion that was listed for more than double the price. At the time, the executive said he bought it because he was “a big believer in New York’s future”.
What opportunistic buyers didn’t count on was the durability of Epstein’s shadow in politics and culture.
One of Deckoff’s ventures pointed to his Wall Street prowess at the time of his buy, boasting he “has built a successful career crafting and executing plans to turn distressed situations into successful enterprises”.
His firm, Black Diamond, which oversees about $US11 billion of assets, has carved out a niche for itself in the rough and tumble world of distressed investing, specialising in snapping up loans tied to troubled companies at deep discounts.
“The current owner and his family never met or associated with Jeffrey Epstein in any way and will not tolerate this continued endangerment of the safety and wellbeing of people who live and work on the island,” the property spokesman said.
The owners were co-operating with police and “will also pursue every available legal remedy against anyone who unlawfully enters this property”, he said.
Bloomberg
The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.
