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20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Southern Trust Company.md
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@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ Southern Trust Company was a [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] corporation controlled by [
### Formation and the Economic Development Commission Benefits
Epstein's territorial operation began with Financial Trust Company, incorporated in St. Thomas on November 6, 1998 (a 2018 investor complaint gave the year as 1996), which received territorial tax exemptions from 1999 and was the principal company managing his wealth and client investments. Southern Trust Company, incorporated in November 2011, followed after Epstein registered as a sex offender in the Virgin Islands; the territory alleged that most of his Virgin Islands companies were created in 2011 and 2012.[^1][^4] The company applied to the Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority in October 2012 and received a package running from February 1, 2013 through January 31, 2023 that included a 90 percent exemption from income taxes and 100 percent exemptions from gross-receipts, excise, and withholding taxes.[^2][^5] At a public hearing of the Economic Development Commission on November 15, 2012, Epstein and his lawyer [[Erika Kellerhals]] testified under oath that the company would provide "cutting edge consulting services" in "biomedical and financial informatics."[^1] The certificate itself is dated January 24, 2014 and signed by the commission's chairman, [[Albert Bryan]], then also Governor [[John de Jongh]]'s Commissioner of Labor, and by Epstein as president. That day [[Cecile de Jongh]] asked Epstein to match 15,000 dollars she had raised for the governor's State of the Territory reception, and an hour later emailed Epstein's accountant [[Richard Kahn]]: "Hi Rich, Can you please prepare a check for $15,000 made payable to Governor's Special Events Fund." Bryan had also signed the 2012 amendment to Financial Trust Company's certificate, and was elected governor in 2018.[^4][^6]
Epstein's territorial operation began with Financial Trust Company, incorporated in [[St. Thomas]] on November 6, 1998 (a 2018 investor complaint gave the year as 1996), which received territorial tax exemptions from 1999 and was the principal company managing his wealth and client investments. Southern Trust Company, incorporated in November 2011, followed after Epstein registered as a sex offender in the Virgin Islands; the territory alleged that most of his Virgin Islands companies were created in 2011 and 2012.[^1][^4] The company applied to the Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority in October 2012 and received a package running from February 1, 2013 through January 31, 2023 that included a 90 percent exemption from income taxes and 100 percent exemptions from gross-receipts, excise, and withholding taxes.[^2][^5] At a public hearing of the Economic Development Commission on November 15, 2012, Epstein and his lawyer [[Erika Kellerhals]] testified under oath that the company would provide "cutting edge consulting services" in "biomedical and financial informatics."[^1] The certificate itself is dated January 24, 2014 and signed by the commission's chairman, [[Albert Bryan]], then also Governor [[John de Jongh]]'s Commissioner of Labor, and by Epstein as president. That day [[Cecile de Jongh]] asked Epstein to match 15,000 dollars she had raised for the governor's State of the Territory reception, and an hour later emailed Epstein's accountant [[Richard Kahn]]: "Hi Rich, Can you please prepare a check for $15,000 made payable to Governor's Special Events Fund." Bryan had also signed the 2012 amendment to Financial Trust Company's certificate, and was elected governor in 2018.[^4][^6]
To qualify, Southern Trust represented that it would operate a consulting service mining DNA and financial data for a global clientele, a database that, according to the application, would let pharmaceutical companies and physicians use Epstein's mathematical models to test drug protocols. The Economic Development Commission program conditions large tax reductions on a beneficiary maintaining a qualifying business and meeting employment and investment requirements in the territory. The Virgin Islands later alleged that the company never built or operated the represented informatics business.[^2][^5]