Two days before committing suicide, financier Jeffrey Epstein initialed a will trusting all his assets to a trust with unknown beneficiaries, according to the New York Post citing court documents. According to these documents, registered in the US Virgin Islands, Epstein has entrusted his assets, amounting to some $ 577 million, to a "trust" called the "Trust 1953," says the newspaper.
Such a method is traditional to protect the confidentiality of beneficiaries, according to a lawyer quoted by the New York Post. No beneficiary is named in the will, which only identifies the persons responsible for executing it, the newspaper added.
A residence in Manhattan, a ranch in New Mexico, an apartment in Paris, two islands in the Caribbean ...
In the will, the vast residence of the financier in Manhattan - where he would have abused many girls including minors - is valued at nearly 56 million dollars; his New Mexico ranch at 17 million; its Paris property, avenue Foch, at 8.6 million; and the two islands he owned in the Virgin Islands - Little St James Island, nicknamed by some "Island of pedophilia", and Great St James Island, recently bought and where he planned work - about 85 million in total.
To these properties would be added some 307 million in shares and other investments, 56 million in cash, and 18.5 million for its private planes, boats and cars, according to the newspaper. The documents filed also include a copy of the financial officer's death certificate, dated August 15, without specifying its cause. Death was confirmed as a hanging suicide by the New York Chief Medical Examiner on August 16.
Detention conditions hard to bear
This information comes as other sources said the financier, found dead in his cell on August 10 at dawn, was increasingly unable to hold his detention in Manhattan federal prison. According to sources quoted by the New York Times , Jeffrey Epstein hated his conditions of detention so much that he paid lawyers to visit him, 12 hours in a row, and spend the day in a room reserved for visits. In the days before his death, Epstein rarely washed, did not shave, and slept on the floor instead of using his bed, these sources said.
The US Department of Justice announced on August 10 two investigations into his death, which scandalized the United States. Even before the conclusions of these investigations, the director of the prison has already been transferred and the two people responsible for keeping Epstein that night too.
The prison director replaced
The director of the US federal prison administration has been replaced in the wake of the suicide in prison of financier Jeffrey Epstein, accused of sexual assault on minors, announced Monday the Minister of Justice William Barr. This replacement of Hugh Hurwitz appears to be the latest fallout from the heated debate over the death of Mr. Epstein, who hanged himself in custody when he was supposed to be under close surveillance.
Last Monday, Minister William Barr denounced the deficiencies "to secure adequately" the prison where he was held since early July. Prison officials quoted in the press said the guards had slept for about three hours, when they were supposed to perform rounds every half hour.