The New York Times has reported that billionaire investor Leon Black agreed to pay the U.S. Virgin Islands $62.5 million to be released from any claims related to the territory’s investigation into the sex-trafficking of late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Venetia H. Velaquez, V.I. Attorney General’s Office spokesperson said in a statement Friday evening that the settlement with Black reflects the department’s determination to fight human trafficking.
- Advertisement -
Some of the money from Black’s settlement will go to mental health programs and to combat sex trafficking in the territory, according to the Times.
“For the past several years, the Virgin Islands Department of Justice has made it a priority to support human trafficking victims and to enforce the law to prevent and deter human trafficking. Unlike any single individual, JPMorgan had detailed and comprehensive financial data on Epstein’s activities and a legal obligation to share that information with law enforcement so that it could act to stop his ongoing abuse,” said Velaquez. “The Virgin Islands DOJ has and will continue to allocate substantial resources from settlements and enforcement actions to enhancing and expanding its counseling and mental health services and preventing human trafficking.”
Black, 71 is the former chief executive of private equity firm Apollo Global Management, and had a decades-long relationship with Epstein. According to the Times, over the years, Black paid $158 million for tax and estate planning services from Epstein. In 2018, he severed that relationship “amid a dispute”, and was cooperating with the V.I. government’s investigation into the disgraced financier.
He stepped down as CEO and chairman of Apollo in 2021 after an internal investigation revealed his payments to Epstein. He sat on the board of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City, but did not seek re-election when his term as chairman ended that year.
Using Epstein’s tax-avoidance strategies, Black saved at least $1.3 billion. He pledged to donate $200 million to women’s initiatives in 2021.
Spokesman for Black, Whit Clay, told the Times that the mogul “engaged and made payments to Jeffrey Epstein for legitimate financial services, which, based on everything now known, he very much regrets. Consistent with settlements of other major U.S. banks, Mr. Black resolved the USVI’s potential claims arising out of the unintended consequences of those payments,” which allegedly involved Epstein’s Southern Trust Company — the same one that received lucrative tax benefits through the territory’s Economic Development Commission and was at the center of the USVI’s suit against his estate.
He also said there is no suggestion in the USVI settlement that Mr. Black was aware of or participated in any misconduct.
