EFTA00037529.pdf

From: [Redacted]
To: [Redacted]
Subject: RE: FW: VI Daily News: AG says Epstein lawyers have agreed to revise victim compensation fund protocol
Date: Tue, 02 Jun 2020 18:43:18 +0000
Importance: Normal
Inline-Images: image001.jpg

Thanks, [Redacted].
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On Jun 2, 2020 2:40 PM, "[Redacted]" <[Redacted]> wrote:
Hey [Redacted],
I will check with our VSD personnel and get back to you. My guess is the fund would be used to pay for victim services as recommended by the FBI but I couldn't say for sure.
[Redacted]

From: [Redacted]
Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2020 7:39 AM
To: [Redacted]
Subject: Fwd: FW: VI Daily News: AG says Epstein lawyers have agreed to revise victim compensation fund protocol

[Redacted],
I hope you're doing well and staying safe during all this craziness.
DOJ is asking about the victim compensation fund protocol, specifically the following aspect:
• Access to counseling and referral services through the FBI Victim Services program and Child USA.
Is this something FBINY was involved in? I've checked with VSD, but they are not aware of this.
Thanks,
[Redacted]
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "[Redacted]" <[Redacted]>
Date: Jun 1, 2020 5:36 PM
Subject: FW: VI Daily News: AG says Epstein lawyers have agreed to revise victim compensation fund protocol
To: "[Redacted]" <[Redacted]>
Cc:
Hey [Redacted]!
Can you provide me more details on the below and FBI's role in this settlement?

[Page 2]
Thanks

From: [Redacted]
Sent: Monday, June 1, 2020 8:04 AM
To: [Redacted]
Subject: FW: VI Daily News: AG says Epstein lawyers have agreed to revise victim compensation fund protocol

See below: access to FBI Victim Services is part of the settlement??
How does that work?

AG says Epstein lawyers have agreed to revise victim compensation fund protocol
• Jun 1, 2020
Attorneys for sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s estate and the Virgin Islands government have resolved disputes over a proposed victims’ compensation fund, and V.I. Attorney General Denise George said she “will allow the release of a portion of estate funds for the victims so that the program may proceed.”

George issued the written statement Friday, saying that her office has reached an “agreement in principle” for a victim compensation program with the estate’s and victims’ attorneys.

The estate proposed the fund in November as a way for Epstein’s victims to receive compensation without having to go to court, after Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell on Aug. 10 while awaiting trial on new charges.

In January, George filed a civil enforcement action under the territory’s Criminally Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act against Epstein’s estate and six of his companies, claiming that Epstein and his attorneys used the Economic Development Commission’s tax benefit program to save millions of dollars that helped fund his criminal sex trafficking operation.

As part of that action, George placed liens on the more than $600 million estate that have restricted his attorneys from paying settlements to victims, and argued that the terms of the compensation fund are illegal and help protect others who conspired with Epstein to abuse dozens of women over the last two decades.

V.I. Superior Court Judge Carolyn Hermon-Purcell has said she cannot move forward with probate until George and Epstein’s attorneys resolved their differences, and George lifts the liens.

George said in the statement Friday that she’s now willing to do that, and “the Attorney General’s Office, working closely with Epstein’s victims and their counsel, have now reached an agreement upon the terms of the fund, which include a set of reforms that provide a process that will be more fair, credible, and victim-oriented.”

George said she’s always supported the existence of such a fund, which “would allow victims to avoid the publicity and trauma of a trial and provide them, promptly, with a measure of justice and closure,” according to the statement. “The victim compensation fund as it stands now, is a substantial improvement from the original victims’ claim fund proposed by the estate.”

According to George, the victim compensation fund now includes:
• Involvement of victim advocate [Redacted] and the country’s preeminent expert and advocate on child sexual abuse issues. This will help ensure that the decisions of the fund administrator are fully informed by and sensitive to the unique experiences and needs of survivors of trafficking and sexual abuse.
• Dedicated funding to ensure that victims who have not yet come forward or who are not satisfied with the claims process or award can opt-out without sacrificing the chance of a judgment or recovery.
• Protections to ensure that information shared by victims in the claims process is not provided to the estate and, potentially, used against the claimant or other victims.
• Access to counseling and referral services through the FBI Victim Services program and Child USA.

[Page 3]
• Approval of the program’s administrative budget by the Probate Court and monthly reporting to the Attorney General’s Office and the Probate Court on the number and value of claim awards.

“The attorney general opposed the estate’s initial demand that, in order to obtain funds under the program, victims be required to sign broad releases to protect other individuals who sexually abused them. With that broad release in place, the Fund could not ensure a fundamentally fair and legally sufficient process for victims who choose to participate,” according to the statement. “The parties now agree, and the program administrator has committed, that no information obtained solely through the program by the estate will be disclosed publicly or used by the estate in defending itself from any claim, regardless of forum.”

The estate “has agreed that there is no assertion that the attorney general’s release of compensation program funds does not act as a waiver of any ability by the government to object to the program’s administrative expenses, including those paid with these initial funds,” according to the statement.

“I continue to admire the tremendous bravery and strength of the women who have come forward to work with my office on this process,” George said. “I’m hopeful the agreement will receive final approval, so these women are able to receive the help they need. My office will forcefully continue its work to hold accountable Epstein’s criminal enterprise through the Government’s CICO lawsuit and send a clear message that the USVI is not, and will not, be a safe haven for sex traffickers or sexual abuse.”

— Contact [Redacted]
U.S. Attorney for the Virgin Islands
https://www.justice.gov/usao-vi