Which specific trusts and shell companies were tied to Jeffrey Epstein and what jurisdictions were they registered in?
Executive summary
Jeffrey Epstein used a lattice of trusts, U.S. and offshore shell companies, and nonprofit entities to hold property, operate businesses and move money; publicly documented names include Financial Trust Company (Financial Trust Co.), Southern Trust Company, Plan D LLC, Maple Inc., Great St. Jim LLC and at least one pour‑over revocable vehicle called the “1953 Trust,” with registrations and operations anchored in the U.S. Virgin Islands, New York and offshore jurisdictions revealed in the Paradise Papers [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. Core U.S. and U.S.‑territory entities: Financial Trust Company and Southern Trust Company
Epstein’s principal on‑paper financial vehicles were the Financial Trust Company (also styled Financial Trust Co.) and Southern Trust Company, with the Financial Trust brand dating to his New York money‑management operations and later relocated, for tax and regulatory purposes, to the U.S. Virgin Islands (St. Thomas) where Southern Trust was also based and where he sought economic incentives [1] [2] [5]. Court filings by the U.S. Virgin Islands describe Southern Trust as a conduit for payments, credit cards, aircraft and other instrumentalities used in the government’s pleaded “Epstein Enterprise,” and allege Southern Trust applied for EDC benefits while purporting to provide biomedical and financial services [6].
2. Named LLCs that held tangible assets: Plan D LLC, Maple Inc., Great St. Jim LLC
Corporate records reported in business coverage show discrete limited liability companies were used to hold high‑value assets: Plan D LLC owned Epstein’s Gulfstream G550, Maple Inc. held the Manhattan mansion, and Great St. Jim LLC owned the larger of his private islands — each LLC appearing in U.S. property and aviation filings as asset‑holding shells rather than operating businesses [2]. Those LLCs are reported in media reconstructions of asset ownership rather than as independent commercial operators in public filings [2].
3. Offshore vehicles revealed by leaked documents: Appleby / Paradise Papers connections
Investigative reporting based on the Paradise Papers shows a roughly 500‑page tranche describing an Epstein offshore vehicle managed via Appleby, the Bermuda‑founded offshore services provider, and indicates Epstein relied on a roster of offshore shell companies and nominee directors in secretive, low‑tax jurisdictions to cloak wealth and transactions [4]. The Paradise Papers reporting does not publish a full public ledger of every offshore entity but documents substantive use of Bermuda‑linked service providers and unnamed tax‑haven structures [4].
4. Trust instruments and estate vehicles: the “1953 Trust” and last‑minute pour‑over planning
Legal observers and estate filings note Epstein signed a pour‑over will and a revocable living trust often referenced as the “1953 Trust” two days before his death, an action described in commentary as an attempt to channel remaining assets into trust form; whether and how the trust was funded and how it interacts with creditor claims has been litigated in probate and settlement proceedings [3]. Public reporting emphasizes that the trust was contested and that substantial estate litigation and victim settlements followed, affecting net assets available [3] [5].
5. Financial institution links and prosecutorial allegations
The U.S. Virgin Islands’ litigation and other reporting identify JPMorgan Chase as the bank for some of Epstein’s trust vehicles and allege the bank maintained accounts for entities tied to Epstein’s enterprise; the U.S. Virgin Islands sued JPMorgan asserting facilitation of the network, while settlements and litigation followed [1] [6]. Those court pleadings list other named companies and nonprofit organizations that allegedly had accounts at the bank, and allege many were shell entities used to move funds and pay associates [6].
6. Limits of the public record and competing narratives
Available sources document many named entities and the jurisdictions most prominently involved — New York, the U.S. Virgin Islands (St. Thomas) and offshore service providers based in Bermuda — but the full roster of all trusts and shell companies remains incomplete in public leaks, litigation redactions and estate secrecy; investigative repositories (ICIJ Paradise Papers, reporting by Bloomberg/NDTV/Bloomberg‑derived stories and court filings) supply strong indicia but not a single consolidated public list of every entity and registration [4] [2] [6]. Alternative accounts and later reporting assert additional LLCs and nonprofits were used, and government complaints describe many unnamed shell companies, so any catalogue now is necessarily partial and subject to ongoing disclosure through court discovery and document dumps [6] [4].