Latest / The Epstein Chronicles / Epstein’s Offshore Bank: The Mystery of Southern Country International (7/6/26)

Transcript

Epstein’s Offshore Bank: The Mystery of Southern Country International (7/6/26) · The Epstein Chronicles

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Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
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Epstein Chronicles. Whenever we're talking about Jeffrey Epstein, we're talking
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about a lot of unanswered questions. But I think that
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the biggest unanswered question when it comes to Epstein is
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where did his money come from? And how come the
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financial trail was never really followed, especially considering that there's
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been so much evidence throughout the years. I mean, the
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guy had fake banks, for God's sakes. You would think
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that a guy that had fake banks and had all
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these front operations, that the government would be all over it.
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But when you're working for the government, well that kind
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of gives you the cover you're looking for, doesn't it.
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So today we have an article from the Miami Herald
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and the headline Epstein moved millions through mysterious Virgin Islands
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bank right before arrest. This article was authored by Shirso
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Das Gupta. In the months leading up Tojeffrey Epstein's arrest
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on federal sex trafficking charges on July sixth, twenty nineteen,
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a small US Virgin Islands bank he owned that had
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employed no one and laid dormant for years, suddenly came alive.
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A flory of transactions totaling more than twenty million passed
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through the bank named Southern Country International from April to
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early July that year, according to a Miami Herald investigation
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based on the recently released documents by the US Justice Department.
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And it's just one of the many schemes in scams
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and plots. This guy had schemes in scams and plots
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wrapped up together, and all of it was being done
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with the tacit approval of at least some people in
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the American government. Who those people are, Well, that's anybody's
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guests and anybody telling you that they know, well, they're
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lying to you. But there was some clandestine organization within
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the United States government, some black project that was running
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Jeffrey Epstein And those are just the facts. And months
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after the disgraced finance here was found dead in a
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Manhattan detention facility on August tenth, an additional twenty five
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million was moved through Southern Country, with roughly a quarter
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of that amount coming from unspecified sources. No, let's not
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look at the money trail though. Let's continue to talk
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about the most salacious, unverifiable details, because that's what people
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want to do. And honestly, at this point it's getting tiresome,
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and coverage of this has become just a gigantic circus,
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and it's making me want to talk about something else.
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To tell you the truth, all these tourists want to
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show up and they all know what they're talking about. Cool.
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Let them run the story, let them continue to tell it,
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and I'll just move on to other things. How about that,
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Because obviously there's no appetite for the truth anymore. It's
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all about selaciousness and using this topic as a political cudgel,
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and I won't take part in it. I just won't
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do it. Southern Country ended twenty nineteen with less than
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five hundred thousand dollars, leading Virgin Island prosecutors who later
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sued Epstein's estate to question in court where nearly thirteen
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million dollars the bank held in mid December twenty nineteen
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went in two weeks. According to The New York Times,
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we covered this story when it was happening. All of
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a sudden, it's breaking news. One thing that I've noticed
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is that the legacy media likes to recycle stories that
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have been out there for a very long time. And
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act like they're breaking news, while they would have been
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breaking news in twenty nineteen if you bitch asses weren't
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so worried about Russia. US federal and local Virgin Island
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investigators had also jointly opened the wire fraud probe in
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twenty twenty into the mysterious transfer of fifteen million to
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Southern Country from an Epstein account at Deutsche Bank in
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New York, the day after the convicted sex offender died,
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but the investigation was closed four years later. A Federal
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Bureau of Investigation memo says. The memo does not state
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any findings or the reason for the closure because they
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got paid off. Come on, what do you think all
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that money going to the USVII was? It was a payoff.
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Leon Black just ponied up sixty two million because it
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was a good time for him. It was to get
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him out of trouble, to get him out of the crosshairs.
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But instead of focusing on that, people want to focus
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on bullshit and all the people that are doing that. Congratulations,
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you're a part of the problem. You're now enabling Jeffrey
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Epstein's friends. Hope you're happy with yourself. Go collect that bag.
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The Herald sent detailed questions to the US Justice Department,
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but did not receive any response. The Virgin Islands Prosecutor's
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office also did not answer The Herald's questions. Why would
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they denise George? The USVII all in on it, and
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they got more money than all the survivors put together.
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But I'm sure that's not a big deal, right. Everybody
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out here is just so pro survivor. Meanwhile, the truth
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is the vast majority of people don't give a fuck.
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They want to score points, they want to be tribalists,
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and frankly, I've had my fill. And the good thing
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for me is I'm not beholding to anybody. I'll not
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beholding to donors, I'm not behold into advertisers, nobody. So
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you can damn well guarantee when I say something on
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this podcast, it's because I believe it. The Herald's reporting
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provides the first full accounting of how Epstein used this
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obscure financial institution in the Caribbean, likely the first of
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its kind in the US territory. And how do you
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think that he got that bank there? How do you
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think that all of that was set up magically? He
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didn't have help within the USVII government. He just showed
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up and was like, Yo, I want a bank. Hook
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it up. Of course not people were getting paid. Twenty twelve,
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in the US Virgin Islands, where Epstein had established many
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of his businesses, it was moving to allow the creation
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of international banking entities. The specialized banks typically offer favorable
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tax incentives, but are not allowed to have customers in
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the territories in which they are established. The idea behind
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these financial institutions, effectively offshore of banks on US soil,
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is that they encourage foreign investment and generate revenue and employment.
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Stop it. What they do is give rich people a
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vehicle to park their money and hide it. That's what
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the translation is. I'm so tired of the bullshit. I'm
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so tired of the half step in and the half
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measures and people make and pretend they care. And at
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this point, I don't really give a fluck. Who's offended.
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If you're on the left, if you're on the right,
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I don't care be offended because I'm offended by your behavior.
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I'm offended by your bitch ass tribalism. But federal authorities
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have more or recently warned that they generally do not
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have the rigorous background checks of traditional banks and are
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high risk institutions that threaten the integrity of the American
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financial system. Oh, you needed a whole ass report to
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figure that out. Well, what do you know. A bank
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that none of us are ever going to use that's
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offshore is being used as a vehicle to launder money.
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I am completely shocked, breaking news. If they weren't trying
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to launder money, they'd bring their money to the local
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federal credit union. Just a month after John DeJong, then
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governor of the US Virgin Islands, signed the law, in
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September of twenty twelve, Epstein's longtime tax attorney, Erica Keller Hall's,
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wrote Epstein a memo about the advantages of having an
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offshore a bank. She noted that the island's Banking and
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Insurance Office did not yet have the manpower to finalize
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the rules that would govern the application process, but that
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the agencies then head John McDonald had promised to proceed
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with their application if they got all of their paperwork
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in order. And I'm sure that mister McDonald got nothing
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in return for that. I'm sure he was doing that
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because he was just a good guy, right, and he
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wanted to tell Jeffrey Epstein out there was no quid
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pro quo. We anticipate having a leadership role in the
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formation of the application and the drafting of the regulations,
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keller Halls wrote Epstein in the October twenty third, twenty
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twelve memo. Epstein's bank would be the first existing IBE
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in the United States Virgin Islands, and executive summary read
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keller Halls did not respond to The Herald's request for
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a comment, and why would she? Again, that is the
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standard operating procedure. They're not going to respond. Why would
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they say anything about the story when they haven't said
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anything all these years. Epstein applied for a banking license
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in March of twenty thirteen. He called it Financial Strategy
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Group Ltd. Roughly a year later, in January twenty fourteen,
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Epstein was scheduled to meet with McDonald and Saint Thomas,
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and another meeting was scheduled in October that year. The
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agendas for the meetings are unclear from the emails. We
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know what the agenda is. The agenda is to give
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Jeffrey Epstein the license. That's what the agenda was. McDonald
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granted Epstein a banking license on December nineteenth, twenty fourteen,
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a month after the island's government finalized the regulations governing
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offshore of banks on its territory. McDonald also used his
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discretionary power to waive the requirement that the usvii's international
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banking entities employ at least three people. The Herald was
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unable to find current contact details for McDonald. Just another
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guy that's lost in the wind? Is it? Tell me
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again about that investigation. Tell me how Jeffrey Epstein was
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looked at, how all of his associates were looked at,
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and how everything we're doing now is just to repeat
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bunch of clown ass motherfuckers. Epstein later changed the name
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of the bank to Southern Country International Ltd. In twenty fifteen.
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That Epstein, a registered sex offender, was able to obtain
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his license at all is unusual. No, it's not. We
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all know that the fix is in, just like with Maxwell.
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Nobody wants to admit it, but that's what's going on.
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Tell me a little bit more about the great fireworks display.
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Fuck outa here. I don't care about any of it.
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Traditional bank operators and owners in the United States are
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subject to rigorous background checks and fall under the oversight
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of the US Treasury Department and typically the Federal Reserve.
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But this was not the first time Epstein, who employed
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Cecil DeJong, the governor's wife, as the office manager for
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several of his businesses, had to receive preferential treatment by
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the government in the Virgin Islands. Yo, I told you
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all of this years ago, and I call mad flack
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for it. Oh, come on, there's no way that the
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government on it down on the USVII. Denise George is
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the only one trying to get anything going here though.
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She was trying to get paid like everybody else. And
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to all the dumb fucks that were out here running
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that narrative, well guess what you were wrong again. But
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these days that doesn't matter. All that matters is that
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you tickle people's bias, right, That's all that matters. While
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defending itself in court against the Virgin Islands accusation that
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JP Morgan had enabled Epstein, the bank alleged that Governor
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de Jong had approved a tax break for epstein similarly
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named firm Southern Trust Company, that helped Epstein generate around
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three hundred million in profit over six years. How much
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of that money was used to abuse people? Ah? Good question, right,
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Maybe someone should ask John DeJong. The bank also alleged
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that Epstein in twenty eleven, had sent secialed DeJong proposed
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legislation to ease travel restrictions for sex offenders under the
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territorial laws. Cecialed DeJong The Record Show later apologized to
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Ebstein because the law had passed without his suggested amendments.
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That had nothing to see here, Come on, just a
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couple of friends, A couple of friends thrown around emails.
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Danny Savalis, John Dejong's attorney told The Herald that DeJong
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had not extended any personal favor to Epstein and had
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not had any conversations with McDonald about Southern Country International. Governor.
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DeJong had no role in the operation of Southern Country International.
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Savala said he had no involvement in its banking license
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application or in any subsequent review of its operations. DeJong
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declined to discuss his wife's relationship and employment with Epstein. Well,
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I wonder why if everything was on the up and up,
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don't you think you'd want to get that out there?
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And let's remember these are democrats. Where's the uproar. Are
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we going to have Robert Garcia and the Commission come
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out and demand we get testimony from DeJong and his
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wife and from all the other officials that were in
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the USVII. Well, if you want to be taken serious,
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that's what you would be doing. But we all know
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they don't want to be taken serious. You have one
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side of the committee doing everything they can to protect Trump,
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and then the other side of the committee. That's all
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they're focused on. Let's get Trump. Meanwhile, the story's in
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the middle. Why exactly Epstein created an offshore a bank
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is unclear. Besides paying for occasional operating expenses, Southern Country
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International remained dormant for years. Business and accounting record show
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the bank held a little less than five hundred thousand
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in its checking account at First Bank in San Juan,
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Puerto Rico, and by December twenty seventeen had yet to
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hire a single employee, and not one regulator down in
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the USVII had anything to say. Almost like they were
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in on it. Huh. But in twenty nineteen it suddenly
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came alive with a dizzying series of transactions worth tens
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of million dollars. Epstein wired two point six million in
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three installments in April of that year to Southern Country.
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In June and July, he deposited seventeen point seven million
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after cashing out an investment portfolio. Those funds were then
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debited to Southern Trust Company, the similarly named firm that
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he owned. Why he did not send the funds directly
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to Southern Trust after selling his investments is unclear. No,
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it's not. He wanted to paint the money up. He
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wanted to color it, bundle it, hide some of it.
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This is not rocket science. On July thirty first, less
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than two weeks before he was found dead, Epstein's Southern
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Country Bank wired two million to a third firm he owned,
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and paid one point six million to Richard Kahn, Epstein's
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longtime accountant. The transactions continued after Epstein's death. In November
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of twenty nineteen, around nine point three million, four point
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six million from a trust controlled by his longtime business
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CA Council Darren Endyke and the rest from unknown sources
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was deposited to Southern Country, and two days before Christmas,
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Southern Country received fifteen and a half million from Epstein's
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estate and sent back two point six million. Cohn and Indyke,
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who together managed his estate, told a Virgin Islands court
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that it was for a loan Southern Country had issued
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to Epstein to pay for his legal defense. Local prosecutors
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did not find any loan agreement because there was none.
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It's all a hustle, it's all a game to these people.
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They know they're not going to be held accountable. Who's
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going to hold them accountable? That same day, December twenty third,
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twenty nineteen, Epstein's Southern Country Bank also paid out a
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twenty four million dollar check to a Southern Trust Company.
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Southern Countries ending balance, according to legal documents, at the
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end of the year, returned to its initial value of
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less than five hundred thousand dollars. Money laundering, fraud, all
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sorts of wild shit. Some of the transactions may have
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been a proper, well, no shit, All those transactions were
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improper because that bank should have never been set up
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in the first place. Under the territorial law, Southern Country
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was only allowed to do business with people or companies
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that were not from the Virgin Islands. But the similarly
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named Southern Trust Company was incorporated in and operated out
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of the islands in Dyke, did not answer The Herald's
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questions about the transactions. The Herald could not find current
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contact information for account and Con. They're on the run.
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These dudes want nothing to do with the story. They
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just want all the benefits. And if this was Rico,
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Con and Endyke would both be in the crosshairs. Southern
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Countries' activities raised eyebrows among compliance officers at traditional banks
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where it maintained checking and brokerage accounts, but only after
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Epstein's death. A majority of the affected accounts were opened
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in twenty nineteen, and the subsequent funding of those accounts
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appears to have been conducted in a wilfully deceitful manner
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intended to disguise the sources of funds as originating with
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Jeffrey Epstein. TD Bank noted in a report to the
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US Treasury Department after conducting a review a month after
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Epstein's death. The report, known as a Suspicious Activity Report,
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and another filed by the bank Charles Schwab, were initially
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released by the US Justice Department as part of the
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Epstein files, but have since been completely redacted. Oh I
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wonder why you guys onto the game yet, Or do
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you want to hear more about Slacia's bullshit? Do you
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want to hear about the chup of Cabra and how
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he was working with Jeffrey Epstein in the massade? Or
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do you want the truth? Because if you want the truth,
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this is where you're going to go to find it.
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The US Justice Department did not respond when The Herald
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asked why the reports had been redacted. The US Virgin
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Island settled its lawsuit with Epstein's estate in twenty twenty
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two for one hundred and five million. And all the
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people that set these banks up, all these people that
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were giving them help, they're all in on it, and
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they ate off both sides of the plate. When Epstein
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was alive, they were enjoying his large ass. When he died,
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they sued and they said that they were victims too.
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And I told you at the time it was bullshit,
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and it's even more bullshit now. So what's Congress is
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going to do? Are they going to subpoena all the
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people from down in the US Virgin Islands? Are they
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going to bring them in and talk to them and
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find out why they were taking money from Jeffrey Epstein
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and why they called themselves victims in the aftermath. Well
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they should be, but they won't. And that's because that
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stupid ask Congressional Committee was never about finding the truth.
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For one side, it was about protecting Trump, and for
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the other side, it was about getting Trump. Meanwhile, you
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me the survivors, and the truth, Well we're left in
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the middle. All the information that goes with this episode
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can be found in the description box.