Andrew Farkas

Andrew Farkas is a New York real estate investor who founded the marina company Island Global Yachting in 2005 on St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands and, months after Jeffrey Epstein was charged in Florida in 2006, invited him into the purchase of the American Yacht Harbor marina at Red Hook. The two men exchanged nearly 2,000 emails over more than a decade, and Farkas visited Epstein in Palm Beach while Epstein was serving his county jail sentence. JPMorgan Chase's 2019 internal review of Epstein's correspondence listed Farkas among the people Epstein had referred to the bank. After the Justice Department's release of Epstein records on January 30, 2026, Farkas said, "I deeply regret ever associating with Jeffrey Epstein."¹²

The Marina

In 2005 Farkas, a boater, started Island Global Yachting to enter the luxury marina business, basing it on St. Thomas, where Epstein had owned the private island Little St. James since 1998. In July 2006 Epstein was charged in Florida with felony solicitation of prostitution. About four months later Farkas wrote to him: "We are now in contract to buy American Yacht Harbor, where you keep your tenders." Epstein answered, "I would like to be in on that." A later message from Farkas read: "IGY finance and tax guy are going to speak with your guys to reconcile the tax treatment for you." The New York Times reported that Epstein's Virgin Islands tax arrangements cut his tax bill by as much as 90 percent and, according to the JPMorgan litigation, saved him more than 300 million dollars.¹

In February 2020 the Virgin Islands Daily News reported that Epstein owned 50 percent of American Yacht Harbor, where his company Southern Trust Company kept its office, and that the marina was still receiving tax breaks from the territory's Economic Development Commission.³ Farkas sold Island Global Yachting in 2022 and later sought to buy it back. A legal filing accused him of a "bribery scheme" involving payments of up to 3 million dollars in connection with that effort; Farkas called the allegations "false and meritless."¹

The Correspondence

The emails released in 2026 show Farkas calling Epstein "one of the blessings" in his life and "one of the bravest men I've ever known." A New Year's note read: "You are one of the blessings in my life and I cherish our friendship." During Epstein's 2008 to 2009 jail sentence in Palm Beach County, Farkas wrote of "regular pilgrimages to Palm Beach to visit a dear friend," and in November 2008 Epstein wrote to him, "great seeing you,, sorry it was such a schlep." Farkas said, "I did not visit him inside prison."¹

Epstein's office recorded a "2:30pm call w/Andrew Farkas" on March 15, 2019, four months before his arrest.⁴ On January 16, 2019, in a pre-dawn exchange with Cecile de Jongh about a matter involving "Albert," hurricane repairs and a septic connection on his property, Epstein wrote, "I have spent time walking back Farkas"; de Jongh replied that she would speak with David Bornn, identified in the exchange as "Albert's legal counsel."⁵

The JPMorgan Referrals

After Epstein's July 2019 arrest JPMorgan's compliance staff reviewed his emails with the bank's executives under the code name Project Jeep. In a June 7, 2023 letter motion to Judge Jed Rakoff, the Government of the United States Virgin Islands told the court that the review's summary set out "more than four pages of Epstein referrals to JPMorgan," including Farkas, Boris Nikolic, Bill Gates and Peter Mandelson, while the bank's chief executive, Jamie Dimon, had testified, "We did not need introductions to anybody." JPMorgan's lawyers at WilmerHale answered that the emails showed Epstein mentioning prominent people but did not show that he had referred them or that they became clients because of him.²⁶

Statements

In 2019 Farkas told his investors that his negotiations with Epstein had begun "before he was charged with, let alone convicted of, any crime." The released emails date the marina offer to several months after the July 2006 charge. After the 2026 release he issued no denial of the friendship and said, "I deeply regret ever associating with Jeffrey Epstein," while disputing that he had been obliged to disclose the marina partnership. In a second statement he said the exchanges could "be mischaracterized" if "taken out of context or without understanding my broader communication style," and added, "At no time have I conducted myself inappropriately."¹