Epstein Case: AG in Virgin Islands Will Subpoena Projo’s Parent Co.’s Financier
GoLocalProv News Team
Epstein Case: AG in Virgin Islands Will Subpoena Projo’s Parent Co.’s Financier
Black is a titan on Wall Street and is the money man that has provided the $1.79 billion in funding for the merger of the Providence Journal’s parent company creating the new Gannett. There is little reporting in the Providence Journal about Black's relationship with Epstein despite the multiple ties to Rhode Island and the case being one of the biggest media stories in the world.
The Providence Journal and the other Gannett newspapers have been in near revenue free-fall. Gannett reported in August that its same-store, year-over-year circulation revenue fell 13.6%, the print advertising revenue fell 45%, and digital revenue fell 26.7%.
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In 1998, Epstein bought Little St. James, a 72-acre private island in the US Virgin Islands, for $7.95 million. The island was dubbed "Pedophile Island" and "Orgy Island" by locals, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Both Epstein and Black have business interests linked to the Islands.
Epstein, a convicted child abuser and registered sex offender, and Black's relationship started before his conviction and continued after Epstein was released from prison. Epstein was facing multiple federal charges at the time of his death for sexually abusing girls as young as 14-year-of-age. READ INDICTMENT
U.S. Virgin Islands wants billionaire investor Black to hand over information about his decades-long business ties to Epstein.
“The subpoenas, copies of which were filed with the court, seek financial statements and tax returns for a number of entities, including Black Family Partners and Elysium Management, which oversee some of Mr. Black’s $9 billion fortune. Subpoenas will also go to Apollo and entities that help manage Mr. Black’s extensive art collection,” reports the New York Times.
As GoLocal reported in August of 2019, Epstein along with Black and Black’s wife served as the directors of the Leon Black Family Foundation in the years leading up to Epstein’s first plea deal that made him a registered sex offender and for four years after Epstein’s conviction.
In 2008, Epstein pled guilty to a felony charge of solicitation of prostitution involving a minor, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison; he served 13, and was granted work release, which allowed him to commute to an office outside the jail six days a week. During his jail time, he continued to serve as a member of the board of the non-profit.
The foundation has donated tens of millions of dollars in gifts to top prep schools, universities including Brown, Harvard and other members of the Ivy League, as well as top art museums.
Billionaire Black has homes all over the world and according to the Wall Street Journal owns one of four versions of Edvard Munch’s The Scream, acquired at an auction price of $119.9 million in 2012.
Beyond the family foundation, Epstein also had access to Apollo. On July 30, Apollo reported that it had surpassed over $400 billion under management.
“Despite a continued volatile market backdrop during the second quarter, Apollo once again delivered strong growth for our investors, reinforcing the value of our integrated global investment platform,” said Black. “Following the completion of two significant transactions which reflect our continued leadership in insurance solutions, combined with other inflows and market appreciation, Apollo’s total assets under management grew by nearly $100 billion during the second quarter and have surpassed $400 billion for the first time in our history. Over the last twelve months, Apollo’s total AUM has grown by 33% to reach $414 billion as of June 30, 60% of which is in permanent capital vehicles.”
“Almost a decade after Jeffrey Epstein was first accused of preying on young women, he still had access to the inner sanctum of Apollo Global Management,” reports Bloomberg.
“For instance, in 2015, Black dispatched Apollo co-founder Marc Rowan to attend a meeting at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion with Edmond de Rothschild Group to discuss how the two firms could work more closely, two people said,” according to Bloomberg.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Black and Apollo are now trying to distance themselves from the longstanding personal and professional relationship with Epstein.
Denise George, the attorney general for the U.S. Virgin Islands specifically is seeking documents from Black related to Southern Trust and other companies and organizations that were controlled by Epstein.
"The requests represent a significant step in Ms. George’s efforts to unravel the mystery of how Mr. Epstein amassed an estate valued at more than $600 million. They are part of a civil forfeiture suit she filed against his estate in January, claiming Mr. Epstein had misled government officials in the Virgin Islands to secure lucrative tax breaks for his businesses while engaging in sex trafficking and the abuse of underage girls," reports the Times.
"Ms. George has also sent subpoenas to banks that handled Mr. Epstein’s money, including JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank. Some of the payment information involving Mr. Black surfaced during a review by Deutsche Bank, according to one of the people briefed on the matter. Deutsche Bank recently reached a settlement with regulators in New York who found the bank had done little to vet Mr. Epstein’s financial dealings," the Times reports.
The complicated web of business and philanthropy touched College Hill.
According to federal tax records, the Debra and Leon Black Family Foundation made donations to a range of not-for-profit organizations including Harvard University, the Michael J. Fox Foundation, the New York Jets Foundation, and the Tony Blair Foundation — the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Brown received a $33,000 gift from the Black Foundation in 2004.
“We have reviewed our records on giving to Brown by Leon and Debra Black and their foundation. We are confident that the conversations related to their giving included no interaction between Brown and Jeffrey Epstein,” Brian Clark, spokesman for Brown University told GoLocal.
Epstein served as a director of the Foundation through 2012 according to 990 tax filings — four years after he was prosecuted for sexually abusing teenage girls.
The board of the Black Family Foundation was reconstituted in 2013 and Epstein was removed and John Hannan, a close business associate of Leon Black's joined board as the third member of the family foundation.
Hannan was “elected” as a Trustee of Brown in 2011.
“John J. Hannan, a Brown parent, is a co-founder (1990) and senior partner of Apollo Management LP, a private equity firm specializing in buyouts, distressed assets and corporate restructurings. Hannan is also the chairman of the board of Apollo Investment Corp., a public investment company and affiliate of Apollo Management,” Brown announced in May of 2011.