New York, Aug. 20 (IANS): Multi-millionaire financier and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide in his New York prison cell earlier this month, had signed his will two days before his death, according to court documents.
Epstein's lawyers filed the will, which valued Epstein's estate at $577.6 million, in the US Virgin Islands, according to the New York Post daily, which was the first to report the news of the will on Monday.
Details of the beneficiaries are not included in the document, which groups all of Epstein's assets into a trust called The 1953 Trust, reports Efe news.
In the absence of a will, Epstein's only brother, Mark, was presumed to be his heir.
Epstein's properties include two islands located in the US Virgin Islands: Little St James, valued at $63 million, and Great St James, valued at $22 million.
Epstein had a mansion on the Little St James island, which the FBI raided after his death and where he allegedly organized parties and orgies with minors.
Epstein's properties also included a townhouse in New York City, one of the largest private homes in Manhattan, valued at $55.9 million, a ranch in New Mexico ($17.2 million), a mansion in Palm Beach ($12.4 million) and an apartment in Paris ($8.7 million).
The will also lists $56.5 million in cash, $112 million in stocks and bonds, another $14 million in fixed-income investments, as well as luxury cars, airplanes and boats worth $18.5 million.
The lawyers of Epstein's alleged victims have asked the government to confiscate his properties to pay damages to the victims as the trial against him can no longer be held.
Epstein was arrested on July 6 after landing in New Jersey on his private jet and was subsequently charged with sex trafficking of minors crimes similar to those he faced over a decade ago in Florida. On that occasion, he ended up evading severe punishment after reaching a very advantageous deal with federal prosecutors.
The prosecution team was headed by former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, who was recently forced to resign from his cabinet post in the Trump administration after The Miami Herald published an in-depth investigation into Epstein's extraordinarily lenient plea deal.
Epstein was being held without bail inside a federal prison in New York City while awaiting trial.
Following a failed suicide attempt on July 23, he finally killed himself on August 10.
Although the coroner confirmed suicide as the cause of death, the fact that Epstein was not under surveillance after the first attempt has given rise to multiple conspiracy theories given his friendships with high-profile figures such as US Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton or the UK's Prince Andrew.
