Follow me on this tangental journey as we trace Jeffrey Epstein’s influence in elite New York circles, and their eventual connection to a $1.2 billion dollar Ponzi scheme in the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler case.
It was reported in the Daily News, 23 Dec 1997, that a veritable “small castle” located on 32 East 69th Street, in Manhattan was rented out to Jeffrey Epstein by the US State Department in 1992 for $15,000 a month. Epstein lived there between the years 1992 and 1996, before subletting the place to Ivan Fisher—a lawyer from the “Pizza Connection Trial”.
Tracing the real estate transactions of the New York building reveals an interesting connection between Jeffrey Epstein, the US State Department, The Office of Foreign Missions, Don King, Ursula Hauser, the NY art elite, a $1.2 billion dollar Ponzi scheme, and campaign contributions made to Bill Clinton on key dates related to Epstein’s NYC apartment.
Jeffrey Epstein’s “Small Castle”
The highlighted years in this Propery Sharklisting for the location, are when the State Department apparently had the authority to rent the building to Epstein for $15,000 a month, from 1992 to 1996. There’s an intersection where Epstein’s residence coincided with Don King Inc’s ownership, and an unclear relation between Don King and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
There is however a clear link from Don King to a $1.2 billion dollar Ponzi Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler case, which has both Don King Inc and Jeffrey Epstein listed as an “interested parties”.
In the deposition transcript of Scott W. Rothstein, Don King Inc is listed as a defendant in the case, along with many other companies that have been slapped on the wrist like TD Bank, which played a ‘critical’ role in the Ponzi scheme.
The State Department and Land Deed Anomalies
Going back to Manhattan-based State Department building that was rented to Jeffrey Epstein, I sifted through all the names and also the associated “doc images” on Property Shark, which linked to the original realtor scans, and noted there’s two other points of interest on the Property Shark listed “title documents”:
1 — in 1986, a “Uniform commercial code 1”was issued for Don King Productions Inc that involved the American Savings Bank, and it’s the only document where the original file seems to have been removed.
2—in 1996, Jeffrey Epstein seemed eager to leave his Manhattan digs, and started to sublet the building to Ivan Fisher, a lawyer from the “Pizza Connection Trial”, unbeknownst to the State Department at the time.
Also in 1996, Don King Productions, INC. extended the deed of the Manhattan building over to Don King’s wife, Henrietta King.
Henrietta King held onto the property for two years and then passed on the deed of the Manhattan building to Swiss businesswoman, Ursula Hauser in 1998.
A 1985 case involving a Don King tax evasion trial for more that $1 million revealed that his wife Henrietta dodged a legal bullet when she was declared innocent of conspiracy. “The prosecution doesn’t contend any wrongdoing with respect to this 1980 wire transfer, which went to King’s wife, Henrietta.” Innocent in court perhaps, but it’s hard to imagine a spouse not knowing what their husband’s getting up to, especially when moving millions of dollars around.
The Daily News, reported in 1997, that “in November 1996, the feds sued Epstein and Fisher. Later, an eviction order was served on July 16, 1998 and the marshal noted on the service receipt that the tenants had moved out.”
We’ve established Henrietta King tangentially involved on the fringes of Don King Inc’s more underhanded dealings, so it’s suspect that on paper, the corporation transferred the deed of the building to a sole person on October, 10th, 1996, and then suddenly the feds are suing Jeffrey Epstein a month later. The court case dragged on for two years time before a marshal served up the eviction notice in ’98. There’s a discrepancy between the printed story and the legal ownership of the building on paper. What was really going on at the time?
What’s wild, is that Don King Productions was entangled in a $1 million trial with the US District Court in 1985, and then somehow started overseeing a supposed State Department building in 1986 that was reported as being “an official Iranian residence that was seized by the feds when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini took over the US Embassy in Tehran in 1980.” When you add Jeffrey Epstein, billionaire sex offender, into the equation, things just get stranger!
Update — August 8 — Jeffrey Epstein, his ties to the Office of Foreign Missions and Bill Clinton
The voluminous court documents in the federal case that started in Nov 1996, and saw court appearances in 1998, between Jeffrey Epstein and the United States, revealed that Richard C. Massey, an official from the Office of Foreign Missions was Jeffrey Epstein’s point of contact for his lease.
The Office of Foreign Missions has a mandate to “serve the foreign diplomatic community residing in the United States ensuring that all diplomatic benefits, privileges, and immunities would be properly exercised in accordance with federal laws.” One can only wonder why the OMF would rent a building to Jeffrey Epstein, billionaire sex offender.
On April 19, 1996, Epstein had a telephone callwith the United States Department of State’s Office of Foreign Missions. The recorded details reveal that, “In 1992, OFM entered into a two-year lease with Epstein, to run from February 1, 1992 through January 31, 1994. The agreed rent was $15,000 per month. Pursuant to the lease’s Use Clause, only Epstein, his family, servants, or approved subtenants or assignees could occupy the premises.” On August 28, 1992, OFM and Epstein extended the lease for three more years, to January 31, 1997.
If you trace the dates when Jeffrey Epstein donated money to political candidates, it’s worth taking note, that on January 30, 1992, Epstein donated one payment of $1,000.00 to Bill Clinton. On February 1st, 1992, Jeffrey moved into his new palatial digs on 32 East 69th Street, through a deal that stemmed from within the Office of Foreign Missions.
Tracking Jeffrey Epstein’s donations in relation to the Manhattan building reveals some other startling coincidences. On September 17, 1996, Epstein donated a payment of $1,000.00 to a member of congress, Rick A. Lazio, then known for making housing one of his primary issues.
That SAME day on September 17, 1996, A “sundry agreement” was issued by the State Street Bank and Trust Company for the 32 E 69th St building Epstein was renting, and a satisfaction of mortgage was delivered to Don King Productions, INC. from the American Savings Bank.
On October 7, 1996, Epstein donated one payment of $5,000.00 to the Democratic National Committee and also donated another payment of $20,000.00 to the DNC Services Corp! Three days later on October 10, 1996, Don King Productions, INC. bequeathed the deed of the 32 E 69th St building to Henrietta King.
The cause-and-effect is a little less obvious here, but still interesting to note. On May 26, 1998, Epstein donated two individual payments of $1,000.00 to Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
On July 17, 1998, the power of attorney and the deed for Jeffrey Epstein’s old Manhattan mansion was transferred from Henrietta King to Ursula Hauser.
As they say, “follow the money.”
Hauser & Wirth—a richly historied building
The 32 E 69th St, New York, building that Epstein used to rent is now under the care of Ursula Hauser and is home to an art gallery: “Hauser & Wirth occupies two locations in New York. Located in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, 32 East 69th Street was Hauser & Wirth’s first American gallery. The space opened in September 2009 with the exhibition ‘Allan Kaprow YARD,’ a presentation of Kaprow’s seminal Environment Yard at the site of the work’s original creation.”
This exhibition extends the history of Kaprow’s relationship with the townhouse that Hauser & Wirth occupies at 32 East 69th Street in Manhattan. In 1961, Kaprow debuted his environment ‘Yard’ at the space, then the legendary Martha Jackson Gallery.
Ursula Hauser is a Swiss businesswoman, art collector and co-founder of art gallery Hauser & Wirth. “The dark side”, says Ursula, in a 2019 Financial Times article, is what attracts her to these artists. She points to an image of a pair of balletic fabric legs (Louise Bourgeois’ installation “Cell XXII (Portrait)” from 2000), and switches into English. Though timid and accented, her command is competent and our conversation is ultimately a linguistic hybrid.
“Look at this little ballerina, she was…” She searches for a word. “Not tortured but exhausted. She was maybe not nice-looking but she was hard-working… she works until she drops. That’s a mirror of the real life.”
Jeffrey Epstein and his MoMA art connections
As reported in New York Post: Leon Black — a billionaire buyout king who last year was named chairman of New York’s Museum of Modern Art — had retained Epstein as the sole non-family director of his family charity for at least seven years leading up to 2008, tax records show.
That was the year Epstein pleaded guilty to two charges of soliciting prostitution, one involving a minor, resulting in an 18-month sentence, with 13 months served.
What is unusual, however, is that The Black Family Foundation — whose only two other directors were Black himself and his wife, Debra — kept Epstein as a director until the end of 2012, according to tax filings. Jeffrey did not appear to collect a salary for his role at Black’s foundation, which donated millions of dollars to MoMA during his tenure.
Epstein met Maria Farmer when he was still renting the US State Department building in 1995
When Maria Farmer met Epstein at her art opening in 1995, he dangled his powerful connections and soon recruited Farmer to actively “acquire art” in New York. She filed an affidavit in April, 2019, claiming that Epstein leveraged her dreams of becoming an artist against her when she was a 25-year-old student at the New York Academy of Art. The billionaire and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, allegedly assaulted her and her younger sister, who was only 15 years old at the time.
It’s clear Jeffrey and Ghislaine had ties within the New York elite circles, and surely, those in the art scene like Leon Black, and Ursula Hauser, would have socialized at the same venues. What role did the State Department play when renting out this 32 E 69th St, Manhattan building to Epstein from 1992 to 1996 during the Clinton Era?
The 32 E 69th St, building was described as resembling a small castle, with carved oak doors, a white marble foyer, a steam room, 19th century chandeliers, and a white marble central staircase. A foreboding image and one where the Clinton State Department and Jeffrey Epstein make very strange bedfellows.
The State Department and Pedophile Rings
Hillary Clinton served as the Secretary of State, under President Barack Obama, from 2009 to 2013. In 2013, allegations of sexual misconduct and a cover up were reported, where Hillary Clinton apparently stonewalled investigation into a pedophile ring being operated out of the State Department itself.
News report: NBC News has obtained documents relating to ongoing investigations into some disturbing allegations involving State Department personnel and at least one ambassador. A State Department memo says the ambassador, quote, ‘routinely ditched his protective security detail in order to solicit sexual favors from both prostitutes and minor children.’
The memo also says a top State Department official directed State Department investigators to, quote, ‘cease the investigation into the ambassador’s conduct.’ It’s just one of what another document describes as, quote, ‘several examples of undue influence from top State Department officials.’
Todd concluded: A former investigator for the department’s inspector general has complained to Congress and the media that the investigations have not been thorough because of the pressure from those high-level officials.
Neringa Venckiene, pedophile rings and the US State Department
Neringa Venckiene, 48, who led an anti-pedophilia movement in Lithuania that swept her and six others into the country’s parliament in 2012, told The Associated Press from jail last year that charges against her were politically motivated and that shadowy figures she upset with her accusations could kill her if she’s returned.
Venckiene was a central figure in a scandal that gripped and divided her nation of 3 million before she went on the lam in 2013, as prosecutors prepared charges against her. She is viewed by Lithuanians as a heroine for exposing an elite criminal pedophile network, and was jailed in Chicago for charges that include disobeying an order to relinquish custody of her 4-year-old niece, whom she alleges was one of the ring’s victims. She is also accused of hitting an officer as dozens of police pried the girl from her arms in a raid.
The former lawmaker and judge wanted a court to declare that the way the US administration OKed her extradition was unconstitutional. She had hoped the U.S. Department of State would agree to step in and deem the charges politically driven, a designation that would have halted the extradition. But that would have entailed criticizing a NATO member, and on April 20, 2018, the State Department declined to intervene and OKed her extradition back into the hands of seedy Lituanian criminals of influence.
Not their first rodeo
“Ahomosexual prostitution ring is under investigation by federal and District authorities and includes among its clients key officials of the Reagan and Bush administrations, military officers, congressional aides and US and foreign businessmen with close social ties to Washington’s political elite. Reporters for this newspaper examined hundreds of credit-card vouchers, drawn on both corporate and personal cards and made payable to the escort service operated by the homosexual ring.”
Operators of the ring told The Times that videotapes, audio tapes and still photographs were made of sex acts performed by clients and the call boys, including perverted acts.
Documents show that customers were charged for “videotapes” from the operation.
In an attempt to hide the nature of credit-card charges for some clients, Professional Services billed them for innocuous items such as a “cremation urn” or “prayer cards.” One of the ring’s “credit-card processing” companies was established by Robert A Chambers, a funeral director whose family owns Chambers Funeral Home.
Here a Ponzi scheme, there a Ponzi scheme
Steven Hoffenberg, a mentor to Jeffrey Epstein was also involved in a giant Ponzi scheme. It’s truly amazing how Epstein is always one degree of separation from the “world’s largest Ponzi schemes”.
Vanity Fair reports: Steven Hoffenberg, pleaded guilty to cheating investors out of $460 million in 1995 — at the time, the largest Ponzi scheme ever. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison and, after his release in 2013, began sounding the alarm on Epstein, who had worked at Hoffenberg’s Towers Financial Corporation after leaving Bear Stearns. He claimed that Epstein had been his co-conspirator in the scheme and that Epstein’s fortune was built on Towers Financial’s fraud. “He was great at moving money illegally,” Hoffenberg says. “He was the deeper architect to getting things accomplished.”
Hoffenberg still owes his victims some $1 billion in restitution, and in 2016 he sued Epstein to recover some of the money. (He eventually dropped the suit.) Last year, two victims brought a suit against Epstein making the same claims as Hoffenberg but voluntarily dismissed the suit two months later.
“You’re about to see an entire story about this supposed billionaire and the story about his financial empire, which is as big as the tragedy with the girls,” Hoffenberg says. “It’s billions of dollars, and it’s a fiasco.”
Wherever little Jeffrey went, a Ponzi scheme soon followed…
Who next?
Jeffrey Epstein, Don King, Bill Clinton—oh my! When you follow the money, one giant Ponzi scheme after another becomes apparent. How far does the corruption extend in the New York elite circles, and how much of these pedophile rings were kept as an “open secret”?
Citizen journalists deserve to know!
Further reading:
What was Epstein up to? Why had he abandoned the decadent mansion so abruptly and moved out without getting permission to sublet? https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/rosiegray/jeffrey-epstein-state-department
Jeffrey Epstein, and an eyewitness account from the NY scene in those years by Kirby Sommers:https://www.kirbysommers.com/blog-1/2019/7/30/department-of-state-rents-five-story-building-on-east-69th-street-to-jeffrey-epstein-in-1991
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