TLDR
The USVI Economic Development Commission granted Southern Trust Company a 90% income tax exemption in 2013 based on its claimed business of "DNA database consulting" (PAPER TRAIL Project, 2026a). The USVI Attorney General later found no evidence of legitimate scientific work (USVI Department of Justice, n.d.). Meanwhile, Southern Trust grew from $198.5 million in assets at the time of approval to $391.3 million by 2017, and its subsidiary processed over $600 million in flows (PAPER TRAIL Project, 2026a).
A Tax Break for Science
In 2013, Southern Trust Company applied to the U.S. Virgin Islands Economic Development Commission for a tax incentive under a program designed to attract legitimate businesses to the territory. The program offered extraordinary benefits: a 90% reduction in income tax liability for qualifying enterprises. Southern Trust's application described its business as "DNA database consulting and data analysis" (PAPER TRAIL Project, 2026a).
The commission approved the application. For the next several years, one of the largest financial entities in the Epstein network operated under a tax rate that was one-tenth of what it would have been on the mainland.
There was one problem. When the USVI Attorney General later investigated, the office found no evidence of legitimate scientific work to support the DNA database consulting claim (USVI Department of Justice, n.d.). The tax exemption, the AG alleged, had been fraudulently obtained.
The Name Change
Southern Trust Company did not always exist under that name. It was originally incorporated as "Financial Informatics Inc." on November 18, 2011. In September 2012 -- one year before the EDC application -- it was renamed to Southern Trust Company (PAPER TRAIL Project, 2026a). The timing raises an obvious question: was the rename designed to make a financial holding entity look more like the kind of consulting firm the EDC program was meant to attract?
By 2013, the year the tax exemption was granted, Southern Trust held $198.5 million in assets. By 2017, that figure had grown to $391.3 million (NYDFS, 2020). Its subsidiary, Southern Financial LLC, processed $606.9 million in total inflows and $194.7 million in outflows -- a net flow of $412.3 million (PAPER TRAIL Project, 2026a). Southern Financial's Legal Entity Identifier (549300KB8YL2XC7B4K14) lapsed on October 17, 2018, suggesting the entity stopped maintaining its regulatory standing well before Epstein's 2019 arrest (PAPER TRAIL Project, 2026b).
The Red Hook Quarter Cluster
The USVI operation was concentrated at a single address: 6100 Red Hook Quarter, St. Thomas. At least seven Epstein entities shared this registered office: Southern Financial LLC, NES LLC (after its 2013 address change from New York), JEGE LLC, F T Real Estate Inc., Southern Country International, and Financial Trust Company (PAPER TRAIL Project, 2026a). Clustering entities at one address is not inherently suspicious -- many businesses use registered agents. But when seven entities controlled by one beneficial owner share a single address in a tax haven jurisdiction, the concentration takes on a different character.
The Migration
The USVI did not start as Epstein's primary corporate jurisdiction. That distinction belonged to Delaware and New York. JEGE Inc. was incorporated in Delaware in 2000 (OpenCorporates, n.d.). In 2012, JEGE LLC was filed in the USVI. NES LLC, the entity that held the 9 East 71st Street mansion in Manhattan, changed its address from New York to 6100 Red Hook Quarter on October 16, 2013 -- the same year the EDC tax exemption was granted (PAPER TRAIL Project, 2026a).
The migration was systematic. Aviation entities, financial entities, and property holding entities all moved from mainland jurisdictions to the USVI within a two-year window. The result was a corporate infrastructure that combined the legal protections of a U.S. territory with tax rates more commonly associated with Caribbean offshore havens.
The $105 Million Settlement
The USVI's patience with the arrangement eventually ran out. In December 2022, the territory settled with the Epstein estate for $105 million (NPR, 2023). The settlement named ten Epstein-created entities, including Southern Trust Company, Financial Trust Company, Gratitude America, the Butterfly Trust, IGY-AYH St. Thomas Holdings, LSJ Employees LLC, CDE Inc., and Financial Informatics (the original name of Southern Trust, appearing as a separate entry).
Gratitude America, a USVI-registered 501(c)(3), had received a $10 million donation from BV70 LLC, a Leon Black entity (ProPublica, n.d.). It peaked at $10.2 million in assets in 2015. When Epstein attempted to open an additional Deutsche Bank account for Gratitude America, the request was withdrawn after he resigned from the bank's Account Relationship Review Committee -- the moment external due diligence was ordered (NYDFS, 2020).
The Islands
The most visible USVI assets were the islands themselves. Little St. James was purchased in 1998 for $7.95 million. Great St. James followed in January 2016 for $22.5 million, acquired through Great St. Jim LLC using Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem as a straw buyer to conceal Epstein's identity as the true purchaser (PAPER TRAIL Project, 2026b).
Both islands were sold together for approximately $60 million in May 2023 to Stephen Deckoff, who announced resort development plans that have since stalled (NPR, 2023).
What This Means
The USVI arrangement was not offshore banking in the traditional sense. It was something more novel: a domestic offshore strategy. By establishing entities in a U.S. territory, Epstein gained access to tax incentives designed for economic development while maintaining the legal protections of U.S. jurisdiction. The "DNA database consulting" claim that secured the 90% exemption was, according to the territory's own attorney general, unsupported by any evidence of actual scientific work (USVI Department of Justice, n.d.).
The system operated in plain sight, approved by a government commission, for years. The $105 million settlement was, in effect, the price of unwinding it.
References
New York Department of Financial Services. (2020). Consent order: Deutsche Bank AG [Regulatory filing].
NPR. (2023, May 4). Epstein islands sold to Stephen Deckoff for ~$60M. NPR.
OpenCorporates. (n.d.). JEGE Inc. (Delaware #3284812). https://opencorporates.com
PAPER TRAIL Project. (2026a). Entity ownership research [Data set]. research/ENTITY_OWNERSHIP.md
PAPER TRAIL Project. (2026b). Corroboration report [Data set]. research/CORROBORATION_REPORT.md
ProPublica. (n.d.). Gratitude America (EIN 66-0789697). Nonprofit Explorer. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits
USVI Department of Justice. (n.d.). USVI v. Estate of Jeffrey Epstein [Court filing]. https://usvidoj.com
USVI Superior Court. (2022). Estate proceedings [Court records].