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60 - PLACES/LANDMARKS/Great St. James.md
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@ -8,19 +8,31 @@ tags:
- Island
- ShellCompany
- Construction
summary: "Great St. James is the larger island adjacent to Little St. James that Jeffrey Epstein acquired in 2016 for 22.5 million dollars through a shell company whose listed beneficial owner was a Dubai businessman used without consent, on which Epstein conducted extensive unpermitted construction that drew U.S. Virgin Islands stop-work orders and fines, and which his estate sold with Little St. James to Stephen Deckoff in 2023."
summary: "Great St. James is the island beside Little St. James that Jeffrey Epstein bought in January 2016 through Great St. Jim LLC, developed without permits, and whose estate sold it to Stephen Deckoff in 2023."
location: "U.S. Virgin Islands (off St. Thomas)"
created: 2026-06-20
updated: 2026-06-20
updated: 2026-09-25
relations:
- type: owned
with: "[[Great St. Jim, LLC]]"
reverse: true
start: 2016-01-28
role: "title holder, Epstein manager"
fn: 1
- type: owned
with: "[[Poplar, Inc.]]"
reverse: true
role: "title holder per estate probate petition"
fn: 1
---
Great St. James is a private island of roughly 160 to 165 acres in the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]], lying directly across a narrow channel from [[Little St. James]] off the southeastern end of [[St. Thomas]]. [[Jeffrey Epstein]] acquired it in January 2016 for a total of about 22.5 million dollars through the shell entity Great St. Jim LLC, after the seller declined to deal with him directly because of his status as a registered sex offender. Epstein then conducted extensive construction across the island without the required permits, drawing a cease-and-desist order in 2016 and a stop-work order in December 2018 from the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources, along with a 70,000 dollar penalty for unpermitted land clearing. The estate sold Great St. James together with Little St. James to the investor [[Stephen Deckoff]] in 2023.[^1][^2][^3]
Great St. James is a private island in the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]], made up of at least three recorded parcels totaling about 5.15 million square feet,, lying directly across a narrow channel from [[Little St. James]] off the southeastern end of [[St. Thomas]]. [[Jeffrey Epstein]] acquired it in January 2016 for a total of about 22.5 million dollars through the shell entity Great St. Jim LLC, after the seller declined to deal with him directly because of his status as a registered sex offender. Epstein then conducted extensive construction across the island without the required permits, drawing a cease-and-desist order in 2016 and a stop-work order in December 2018 from the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources, along with a 70,000 dollar penalty for unpermitted land clearing. The estate sold Great St. James together with Little St. James to the investor [[Stephen Deckoff]] in 2023.[^1][^2][^3]
### Acquisition and the Shell Company
Epstein sought to buy Great St. James from Christian Kjaer, described as one of Denmark's wealthiest men, who according to later reporting did not want to be publicly associated with Epstein given his sex-offender status. Epstein structured the purchase through the shell entity Great St. Jim LLC and arranged for the name of the Dubai businessman [[Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem]], the longtime chairman of the ports operator DP World, to appear as the ultimate beneficial owner on contractual paperwork. Reporting indicated that bin Sulayem had declined Epstein's request to use his name and that no signature of his appeared on the documents.[^2]
The acquisition closed in two recorded transactions in January 2016: a purchase of Kjaer's parcels through Great St. Jim LLC for about 17.5 million dollars, and a further purchase of additional parcels through the same LLC for about 5 million dollars, totaling roughly 22.5 million dollars. Some accounts cite an 18 million dollar figure that reflects only part of the transaction; the combined recorded total is about 22.5 million dollars.[^4]
Great St. Jim, LLC was organized under Virgin Islands law on October 26, 2015, three months before the purchase, with Epstein as manager and member and its business described as "holding assets." According to the Recorder of Deeds, it acquired three parcels on January 28, 2016: Parcel 109801010100 (3.5 million square feet, valued at 17.5 million dollars), Parcel 109801010200 (450,000 square feet, valued at 2.8 million dollars), and Parcel 109801010300 (1.2 million square feet, valued at 2.7 million dollars). The warranty deed shows Epstein paid 5 million dollars each for the two smaller parcels, about 10 million dollars against their combined valuation of 5.5 million. The territory's complaint gives no purchase price for the largest parcel; reporting at the time of the 2023 sale put the total price at about 22.5 million dollars. The estate's petition for probate listed a second Epstein company, Poplar, Inc., incorporated November 22, 2011 with Indyke and Kahn as officers, as holding title to Great St. James, and a certificate of incumbency filed with the Department of Planning and Natural Resources authorized Poplar to handle "transactions related to permitting matters submitted on behalf of Great St. Jim, LLC."[^1][^4]
After the deal closed, bin Sulayem's name did not appear on subsequent filings, and local land-use permit documents identified Epstein as the sole member of Great St. Jim LLC, revealing his ownership. The concealment surfaced again in 2026 when the connection to bin Sulayem drew renewed scrutiny; on February 13, 2026 he was removed from his chairman and chief-executive roles at DP World and a related Dubai entity after disclosures tied him to Epstein.[^2]
@ -38,15 +50,27 @@ Great St. James was sold together with Little St. James in May 2023 to an entity
Deckoff announced plans to develop a luxury resort of about 25 rooms on one of the islands, with reporting citing a planned opening in 2025. The sale resolved part of the estate's obligation under the 2022 U.S. Virgin Islands settlement, which had also directed half of the Little St. James sale proceeds to the territorial government and required environmental remediation on Great St. James.[^7][^8]
The transaction transferred both islands out of the Epstein estate. The combined sale ended Epstein's ownership of the two adjacent islands he had assembled off St. Thomas, the second of which he had acquired and developed largely outside the territory's permitting system.[^8]
The transaction transferred both islands out of the Epstein estate. Poplar, Inc. was listed as the signatory for Great St. Jim's 2017 annual report, with a signature that appears to be Epstein's; at his death the estate valued Great St. James and Little St. James together at 86 million dollars, against the 60 million dollar sale price. As of February 2026 no resort had been built, and the only construction permit Deckoff had requested for either island was for a warehouse on Little St. James.[^1][^9] The combined sale ended Epstein's ownership of the two adjacent islands he had assembled off St. Thomas, the second of which he had acquired and developed largely outside the territory's permitting system.[^8]
### Purpose and Inspections
The territory's 2020 complaint against the estate alleged that Epstein bought Great St. James, "the island with closest proximity to Little St. James," to "further shield his conduct on Little St. James from view, prevent his detection by law enforcement or the public," and continue the enterprise, and that the scale of the investment showed an intent to expand it "for years to come." It alleged that Epstein's organization repeatedly objected to routine Department of Planning and Natural Resources site visits to inspect unpermitted construction on the island, calling them "invasions" of Epstein's constitutional right to privacy in his home, "which he described defined as the entire island."[^1]
### The 2019 Stop-Work Dispute and the Governor
In May 2019 [[Jean-Pierre Oriol]], Governor [[Albert Bryan|Albert Bryan's]] nominee for commissioner of the [[Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources|Department of Planning and Natural Resources]], told the Virgin Islands Daily News that Epstein was continuing illegal construction on Great St. James despite the stop-work order. Epstein complained to Bryan in text messages later released by the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]]: "Jp going after me in the press!! Army corps told us ok. This is very wrong!" and "Accusing me of illegality!!!" Bryan replied, "We got u." Bryan did not answer the Daily News's questions about why he told Oriol to recuse himself. At a March 2026 briefing he said he had not helped Epstein secure permits, and that "even if I had told DPNR to grant his permit, it's perfectly within the right and power of the governor of the Virgin Islands."[^10]
The stop-work order had been issued on December 21, 2018, in the last weeks of Governor [[Kenneth Mapp|Kenneth Mapp's]] administration; Bryan was inaugurated on January 7, 2019, and Epstein contacted him days later, corresponding with him in the months before his arrest. Epstein was arrested in [[New Jersey]] on July 6, 2019, two months after the exchange over Oriol.[^10] Under the estate's 2022 settlement with the territory, the 450,000 dollar remediation payment for Great St. James covered damage where, according to the government, Epstein had razed the remains of structures built by enslaved workers.[^7]
### Footnotes
[^1]: "Great Saint James, U.S. Virgin Islands" entry, used here for non-controversial geographic data only (acreage, channel position relative to Little St. James); claims sourced solely to it are omitted. For ownership and price, see the reporting in notes 2 and 4.
[^1]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint, paragraphs 14, 28 to 32, and 135, filed as Exhibit 1 to Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 1-1 (December 27, 2022), ECF pp. 4 to 8, 29. https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf
[^2]: "Jeffrey Epstein used name of wealthy Dubai businessman to acquire second island in Caribbean, report finds." *Fox News,* 2026. https://www.foxnews.com/us/jeffrey-epstein-used-name-of-wealthy-dubai-businessman-to-acquire-second-island-in-caribbean-report-finds ; "Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem: Powerful Dubai tycoon replaced after DOJ reveals sexually explicit emails with Epstein." *CNN Business,* February 13, 2026. https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/13/business/epstein-files-bin-sulayem-friendship-intl (shell entity Great St. Jim LLC; bin Sulayem named without consent; February 2026 removal from DP World).
[^3]: "DPNR Orders Cease and Desist for Unauthorized Development on Great St. James." *St. Thomas Source,* November 1, 2016. https://stthomassource.com/content/2016/11/01/dpnr-orders-cease-and-desist-for-unauthorized-development-on-great-st-james/ (October 28, 2016 cease-and-desist; coastal-zone development).
[^4]: For the two January 2016 recorded transactions through Great St. Jim LLC (approximately 17.5 million dollars and 5 million dollars, totaling about 22.5 million dollars) and the discrepancy with the 18 million dollar figure, see the contemporaneous Virgin Islands land records as summarized in reporting on the Epstein islands; "Billionaire Stephen Deckoff buys Jeffrey Epstein's private islands." *CNBC,* May 3, 2023. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/03/jeffrey-epstein-private-islands-bought-by-billionaire.html
[^4]: "Billionaire Stephen Deckoff buys Jeffrey Epstein's private islands." *CNBC,* May 3, 2023. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/03/jeffrey-epstein-private-islands-bought-by-billionaire.html (total purchase price of about 22.5 million dollars; the complaint cited in note 1 gives 5 million dollars each for the two smaller parcels and a 17.5 million dollar valuation, not a price, for the largest).
[^5]: "Corporation cited by DPNR for development on Great St. James Island." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* 2016. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/corporation-cited-by-dpnr-for-development-on-great-st-james/ (70,000 dollar penalty and corrective-action settlement for unpermitted land clearing).
[^6]: "DPNR planning visit to Epstein's island." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* 2019. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/dpnr-planning-visit-to-epstein-s-island/ (planned complex of buildings; single minor permit approved; December 21, 2018 stop-work order; alleged violations involving a beach-bar cabana and a driveway).
[^7]: "U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Settles Sex Trafficking Case Against Estate Of Jeffrey Epstein And Co-Defendants For Over $105 Million." *U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice,* December 1, 2022. https://usvidoj.com/u-s-virgin-islands-attorney-general-settles-sex-trafficking-case-against-estate-of-jeffrey-epstein-and-co-defendants-for-over-105-million/ (450,000 dollars for environmental remediation on Great St. James; razed structures associated with enslaved workers).
[^8]: "Financier buys Jeffrey Epstein's private islands, with plans to create a resort." *NPR,* May 4, 2023. https://www.npr.org/2023/05/04/1173956903/jeffrey-epstein-island-sold-st-james ; "Jeffrey Epstein's two private islands sell for $60m." *AOL/The Independent,* May 2023. https://www.aol.com/jeffrey-epstein-two-private-islands-160710392.html
[^9]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Still no resort plans for Epstein's islands purchased by Deckoff." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 6, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/still-no-resort-plans-for-epsteins-islands-purchased-by-deckoff/article_84d776de-8427-4080-a1b5-6cf81418e23d.html
[^10]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Bryan unapologetic for texts with Epstein, doubles down on denial of wrongdoing." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* March 3, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/bryan-unapologetic-for-texts-with-epstein-doubles-down-on-denial-of-wrongdoing/article_8bab46a1-6075-4c7c-abec-6efb19622e62.html