Jeffrey Epstein, financier and former teacher worth over £475 million, signed a final Will just two days before committing suicide in his New York jail cell.
According to court papers filed in the Virgin Islands last week and reported by the Associated Press, Epstein’s fortune has been placed into a trust with no listed beneficiaries.
Epstein was awaiting trial for sex trafficking and conspiracy offences when the 66-year-old took his own life.
The New York medical examiner confirmed Epstein died of ‘suicide by hanging,’ a fate deemed more appealing than the 45-year prison sentence attached to his charges if he was found guilty.
The Will, signed on August 8th, placed the entirety of Jeffrey Epstein’s holdings into ‘The 1953 Trust’ which holds over $56 million worth of cash, $18 million worth of transport property including planes and $14 million in fixed income investments.
Epstein stood accused of multiple paedophilia charges which included paying underage girls for sex and other sexual acts between 2002 and 2005.
Although a plea deal for lesser charges was offered in 2008 and subsequently accepted by Epstein, the original charges resurfaced in recent years as victims flocked forward to ensure justice was carried out.
Furthermore, the financier and former friend to the rich and famous was accused of paying off potential witnesses in the weeks prior to the trial date.
Whilst beneficiaries were omitted from the released Will documentation, the alleged victims of Epstein’s alleged crimes will look to seek retribution. Some of Epstein’s victims have insisted that they will attack his assets in the hope of claiming damages for the crimes against them.
With a plethora of artwork currently awaiting appraisal and millions of dollars in Trust, those taken advantage of by Epstein could benefit financially from his death.
