V.I. Attorney Objects to Broad Epstein Settlement

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The settlement would cover all sex-crime claims against Epstein between Jan. 1, 1995, and Aug. 10, 2019, when Epstein died in a Manhattan jail cell at 66. It would release Epstein’s estate — estimated to have dwindled to around $120 million — as well as its managers, longtime attorney and accountant for the sex offender Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, from the current litigation and any future legal action related to Epstein’s crimes, many of which allegedly took place in the territory.

St. Croix attorney Russell Pate, who has represented Virgin Islanders in suits against tobacco, oil, and other industries, wrote to the court expressing his objection. The settlement would reserve $80 million to be distributed as Epstein laid out in his will — potentially rewarding people who aided and abetted the financier’s notorious sex crimes, Pate said.

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“The Epstein Estate, however, is a Virgin Islands entity administered under Virgin Islands law, and the situs of the Estate – including its approximately $120 million in remaining assets – is in a U.S. Virgin Islands’ probate proceeding. The proposed Judgment from this Court would effectively adjudicate the rights of present and future tort claimants against the Epstein Estate, including those who might sue in the Virgin Islands,” Pate wrote.

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“In the plainest English possible: This settlement provides absolute immunity to the Epstein Estate from any future victim’s lawsuit, which, logically will protect tens of millions of dollars in Epstein’s Estate. The Epstein Estate will then distribute this excess money to Indyke and Kahn as Epstein’s heirs. This result is perverse,” he wrote. “Further, this class-action settlement robs victims who may come forward of going to the best venue possible for justice, the U.S. Virgin Islands.”

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https://stthomassource.com/content/2026/05/31/v-i-attorney-objects-to-broad-epstein-settlement/