St. Croix attorney Kevin Rames, acting on behalf of New York Times reporter Matthew Goldstein, has appealed to Magistrate Judge Simone VanHolten-Turnbull to unseal several documents in the ongoing probate proceedings of Jeffrey Epstein’s estate.
In a letter to the judge filed on the V.I. Superior Court docket July 31, Rames noted that the documents Goldstein seeks — the special master’s third, fourth, fifth and sixth reports to the court — have been designated as “confidential” without any justification.
“Despite being sealed, these judicial documents are subject to right of access under Virgin Islands law, the First Amendment, and the common law, and the high bar for overcoming these rights has not been met here,” Rames wrote.
“For the foregoing reasons, The Times respectfully requests that the Reports be made public, or, alternatively, that the parties be required to demonstrate why the records should remain under seal. If they seek to do so, The Times respectfully requests an opportunity to reply and otherwise be heard,” he said.
A registered sex offender who pleaded guilty to procuring a minor for prostitution in Florida in 2008, Epstein died by apparent suicide in August 2019 at age 66 while in detention in New York on federal trafficking charges. His primary residence was Little St. James, his private island off St. Thomas, where for years he ran a complex web of shell companies registered in the USVI — and was afforded some $300 million in tax breaks through the territory’s Economic Development Commission — that enabled his crimes.
Goldstein, who has covered the Epstein case since 2019 with a focus on his financial affairs and those of his estate, initially requested the records in an email to Clerk of the Superior Court Tamara Charles on June 10, asking that she forward his request to the judge.
“I am making a request to unseal all seven of the special master reports filed by Rosalie Ballentine. Ms. Ballentine was appointed by the court to keep tabs on the estate and its coexecutors but I do not believe it was envisioned that all of her reports would be kept confidential — certainly not in their entirety,” Goldstein wrote.
“I believe these reports should be public because they contain critical information about the finances of the Epstein estate and are one way for the media, the public and Epstein’s nearly 200 victims to make sure that the estate is being properly liquidated and money is going to the appropriate places. It is also another way for the public to best learn where Epstein had invested his money,” he said.
In his letter last week to the judge, Rames wrote that although “Virgin Islands Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2 contemplates a specific limited procedure for filing documents under seal, this process does not appear to have been adhered to in this case. … Although almost every document appears to have been withheld from public view, no sealing order has been entered in this action regarding these Reports. Accordingly, the relevant documents seem to have been improperly withheld because of self-sealing practices.”
Rames goes on to note that even if the reports were not public under Virgin Islands law, “they would still be subject to the public’s right of access under the First Amendment,” which imposes a “presumption of openness” to judicial documents that “may be overcome only by an overriding interest based on findings that closure is essential to preserve higher values and is narrowly tailored to serve that interest,” citing the 1984 case, Press-Enterprise Co. v. Supreme Court of California.
“In short, the First Amendment’s requirements for barring public access have not been satisfied,” he wrote.
The right to the records is “also firmly grounded in the common law,” according to Rames. “The Special Master, under the Court’s appointment, authors these Reports to provide the Court with a summary of the ‘assets, liabilities, income, and expenditures of the Estate’ and an assessment of ‘the Estate’s ongoing abilities to meet its known and potential obligations.’”
The request comes as demand grows for the Justice Department to release its files related to Epstein, with the House Oversight Committee issuing a subpoena Tuesday to the DOJ as well as 10 former Democratic and Republican government officials it said it wants to depose in relation to Epstein and his one-time girlfriend and enabler Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking and other crimes related to their scheme.
According to the last quarterly accounting report cover sheet that is publicly available on the docket, submitted April 30 by longtime Epstein legal representatives in the Virgin Islands, Kellerhals Ferguson Kroblin PLLC, his estate had assets of $131,126,422.52 as of March 31, with $50,241,027 cash on hand. The disgraced financier was reportedly worth some $600 million when he died.
The report notes that the “total amount is unknown” as to the victims’ claims outside the Epstein Victims’ Compensation Program, which concluded in 2021 and distributed more than $121 million to approximately 150 of his abuse survivors. However, not all of them participated in the program and are pursuing further legal action against his estate or related entities.
Maxwell has filed her own suit against Epstein’s estate, claiming it is responsible for her legal fees and other expenses stemming from her arrest and subsequent conviction following her trial in Manhattan federal court in December 2021. The estate filed a motion to dismiss the case in January 2024. The court has yet to rule on the matter.
