[Aljazeera] Jeffrey Epstein wrote a will just two days before his suicide, saying he had about $578 million in assets that he placed in a trust, which could complicate efforts by women who say he sexually abused them to collect damages.
Epstein, who died Aug. 10 in a federal jail cell in Manhattan, asked that Darren K. Indyke and Richard D. Kahn be appointed as executors, according to a copyof the will filed Aug. 15 with the court in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
All of his assets were transferred to the trust as of Aug. 8, two days before he died, assuring that details on how the proceeds are distributed may remain private. The will was first reported Monday by the New York Post, which also published a document detailing Epstein's fortune in real estate, cash, equities and other assets.
The real estate -- from his New Mexico ranch to his Manhattan mansion and private islands -- is held through various entities laid out in the will. The assets listed are similar to those in Epstein's unsuccessful bail request.
The valuation does not include his art collection, which is subject to appraisal, according to the document.
Indyke had served as an attorney for Epstein, the financier indicted on charges of conspiracy and trafficking, accused of sexually abusing dozens of girls. He pleaded guilty more than a decade ago to state prostitution charges in Florida, admitting to soliciting an underage girl. Epstein's estate is expected to face many lawsuits by women who claim he abused them when they were children. |