As prosecutors work to determine the full scope of Jeffrey Epstein’s fortune in the wake of his apparent suicide, more details are emerging about the ties to his brother, Mark.
Like Jeffrey Epstein, his brother’s wealth is also shrouded in mystery. But records link Mark in a business relationship with his brother through a Manhattan building, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“Other than the obvious relationship of being brothers, the only other relationship between Jeffrey and I is as landlord/tenant,” Mark Epstein wrote over email, the Journal reported.
The two brothers are linked financially by a 200-unit condo on East 66th Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Records show that the entity that owned Jeffrey Epstein’s Upper East Side mansion used a unit at the 66th Street building for its mailing address.
Jeffrey Epstein allegedly housed some of his victims in individual apartments in the building, charging them $1,000 a month through his business partner Jean-Luc Brunel, who owned the modeling agency Mc2, the Miami Herald previously reported.
Retail mogul Leslie Wexner, whose L Brands Inc.owns retailers like Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works, sold the 16-story building at 301 East 66th Street to Mark Epstein in the early 1990s, the Journal reported, citing Crain’s. Wexner was one of Jeffrey Epstein’s clients.
Mark Epstein told Crain’s in July that he purchased the Manhattan building based on a tip from his brother. The company that bought the building is Ossa Properties, a former affiliate of Jeffrey Epstein’s J. Epstein & Co. Mark was once listed as president of the affiliate.
The ownership changed from a partnership to a corporation by 2010, a move that can protect investors from liabilities.
When Jeffrey Epstein was seeking bail, which was denied, Mark Epstein offered to put up a Florida condo valued at $100,000.
Mark Epstein, who launched businesses ranging from a silk-screen T-shirt company to a modeling agency, also became a big donor to Cooper Union, the art, architecture and engineering college he graduated from. [WSJ] — Katherine Kallergis