--- alias: - Ericka Kellerhals - Erica Kellerhals - Erika A. Kellerhals - Attorney Kellerhals category: Crime & Abuse Networks created: 2026-09-25 location: St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands relations: - fn: 1 role: co-founder of Kellerhals Ferguson LLP start: 2011 type: founded with: '[[Kellerhals Ferguson Kroblin]]' - end: 2019 fn: 4 role: territorial counsel before the Economic Development Commission, Planning and Natural Resources, and the Department of Justice start: 2012 type: represented with: '[[Jeffrey Epstein]]' - fn: 4 role: counsel at the Economic Development Commission hearing start: 2012-11-15 type: represented with: '[[Southern Trust Company]]' - fn: 8 role: trustee type: director_of with: '[[Butterfly Trust]]' - fn: 2 reverse: true type: employed_by with: '[[Stacey Plaskett]]' - fn: 6 role: law partners at Kellerhals Ferguson Kroblin start: 2017-01 type: partner_of with: '[[David Bornn]]' summary: St. Thomas tax lawyer who represented Jeffrey Epstein before the Virgin Islands tax-incentive board and justice department, served as a trustee of his Butterfly Trust, and received his foundation's mail. tags: - Person - ErikaKellerhals - JeffreyEpstein - VirginIslands - TaxIncentives - SouthernTrust - ButterflyTrust - Lawyer updated: 2026-09-25 --- Erika A. Kellerhals is a tax and business lawyer on [St. Thomas](/places/st-thomas/), [U.S. Virgin Islands](/places/us-virgin-islands/), and a founder of Kellerhals Ferguson LLP, later styled Kellerhals Ferguson Kroblin PLLC. She represented [Jeffrey Epstein](/people/jeffrey-epstein/) in the territory from at least 2012 until his death: she appeared with him at the November 2012 [Economic Development Commission](/organizations/economic-development-commission/) hearing that led to the tax-incentive certificate of [Southern Trust Company](/organizations/southern-trust-company/), received the wire for its application fee, drafted a 2017 suit against the territory over his construction on [Great St. James](/places/great-st-james/), sought to restore his 24-hour travel notice in 2019, and filed the petition to probate his estate. She was a trustee of his Butterfly Trust and the care-of addressee of his foundation, [Gratitude America](/organizations/gratitude-america/). The future congressional delegate Stacey Plaskett and the future chief legal counsel to Governor [Albert Bryan](/people/albert-bryan/), David Bornn, both worked with her firm.[^1][^2][^3][^4] ### Career Kellerhals holds an LL.M. in taxation from [New York University](/organizations/new-york-university/). She practiced at a boutique New York firm giving tax advice to individuals and closely held corporations, relocated to the Virgin Islands in 2003, and worked at the Law Offices of Marjorie Rawls Roberts, P.C. before opening her own practice in 2008 and forming Kellerhals Ferguson, LLP in 2011 with a former co-worker. Her firm biography describes a practice "rooted in her years of practice in the Virgin Islands and in depth knowledge of the U.S. Virgin Islands incentive programs," advising clients "on obtaining economic development incentives from the U.S. Virgin Islands Economic Development Commission and the University of the Virgin Islands Research & Technology Park," and representing taxpayers before the [Internal Revenue Service](/organizations/internal-revenue-service/) and the Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue. By 2019 the firm, Kellerhals Ferguson Kroblin PLLC, was at 9053 Estate Thomas, Suite 101, in the Royal Palms Professional Building on St. Thomas.[^1][^5] Plaskett, who was general counsel of the Economic Development Commission from 2007 to 2014, had worked for Kellerhals. In August 2014 the firm congratulated "our colleague and friend Stacey Plaskett" on her Democratic primary victory for delegate to Congress. On January 4, 2017 the firm announced that "David A. Bornn, Esq. has become a Partner of the Firm," operating a branch from the Bornn Building on Norre Gade in Charlotte Amalie; Bornn later became Bryan's chief legal counsel. The journalist Lee Fang published in 2025 a territorial campaign-finance record showing a check from Kellerhals to Bryan's 2018 campaign.[^2][^6][^7] ### Southern Trust and the Tax-Incentive Board On September 21, 2012 Epstein's bookkeeper [Harry Beller](/people/harry-beller/) faxed [JPMorgan Chase](/organizations/jpmorgan-chase/) a memorandum directing a wire of 5,000 dollars from Epstein's account through Pacific Coast Banker's Bank to Merchants Commercial Bank in St. Thomas, "for further credit to Kellerhals Ferguson LLP," and Epstein's September 2012 statement records the debit with the reference "Southern Trust Company Application Fee." At a public hearing of the Economic Development Commission on November 15, 2012, "Epstein and his attorney Ericka Kellerhals described the company as providing 'cutting edge consulting services' in 'biomedical and financial informatics,'" according to the territory's later complaint; no one asked about his 2008 conviction or his registration as a sex offender. The commission granted Southern Trust a ten-year package from February 1, 2013 with a 90 percent income-tax exemption, and the territory later estimated that the certificate let Epstein avoid 80,576,236 dollars in taxes.[^3][^4] ### Trusts and the Foundation A [Deutsche Bank](/organizations/deutsche-bank/) know-your-customer page headed "The 2013 Butterfly Trust," produced to a federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York, lists Kellerhals as a current trustee with the note "(Deutsche Bank already has on file)," and names among the trust's "Current Potential Beneficiaries" Epstein's assistant [Lesley Groff](/people/lesley-groff/), his pilot [Lawrence Paul Visoski Jr.](/people/larry-visoski/) and his lawyer [Darren Indyke](/people/darren-indyke/). The Internal Revenue Service record of Gratitude America Ltd, recognized as a private foundation in September 2012, gives its address as 9053 Estate Thomas, Suite 101, St. Thomas, "in care of Erika Kellerhals." It reported revenue and assets of one dollar for 2012 through 2014 and gross contributions of 10,003,000 dollars for 2015.[^5][^8] In September 2025 Senator [Ron Wyden](/people/ron-wyden/) introduced the Produce Epstein Treasury Records Act, S. 2746, which would require the Treasury to produce suspicious activity reports relating to Epstein and a list of individuals and entities that includes "Erika Kellerhals," alongside Indyke, [Richard Kahn](/people/richard-kahn/), Beller, Southern Trust Company, the Butterfly Trust and Gratitude America Ltd.[^9] ### Great St. James Epstein bought Great St. James in January 2016, and the Department of Planning and Natural Resources issued a cease-and-desist order over unpermitted construction there on October 28, 2016. After text exchanges in which Governor [Kenneth Mapp](/people/kenneth-mapp/) told Epstein he was "a bit disappointed" at an "end run around the VI code," Kellerhals drafted a lawsuit in March 2017 alleging "unauthorized entry" by the government. The dispute was settled with the original 280,000 dollar fine reduced to 160,000 dollars.[^10][^11] ### The 2019 Travel Notice On March 14, 2019 acting Attorney General [Carol Thomas-Jacobs](/people/carol-thomas-jacobs/) revoked the arrangement, granted by Attorney General [Vincent Frazer](/people/vincent-frazer/) in 2012, under which Epstein gave 24 hours' notice of travel by email, and required 21 days' notice in person for travel abroad. On April 30, 2019 Kellerhals's firm wrote to the Attorney General nominee, [Denise George](/people/denise-george/), "We represent Mr. Jeffrey Epstein, who is registered on the U.S. Virgin Islands Sexual Offender Registry," asking the department to "reinstate the proven travel notification procedures that have been in effect since Mr. Epstein's initial registration." It blamed Epstein's February 2019 detention in the [Dominican Republic](/places/dominican-republic/) "solely" on the department's failure to notify that country, and stated that the department "has been aware of Mr. Epstein's location every single day of his life without exception for the past ten (10) years." On May 1 Kellerhals apologized "profusely for incorrectly addressing my prior correspondence" and sent a corrected letter.[^12] George asked on June 2, 2019 whether Kellerhals was "still representing Mr. Epstein in this matter" or whether to write to the attorney Clive Rivers; Kellerhals asked that correspondence go to both. George then wrote that the department had no record that "reasonable and reliable proof" of frequent travel had ever been submitted to Frazer, and asked for it. On June 17 Kellerhals asked what information would satisfy that standard, and on June 20 Rivers wrote that "Erika and I would like to meet with you." In July 2019 Kellerhals asked George for a meeting about the waiver; Epstein was arrested on July 6.[^2][^12] ### After Epstein's Death After Epstein died in August 2019, Kellerhals filed a petition to probate his estate in the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands. When George investigated the estate, she found that its employees "had nondisclosure agreements and were informed if questioned by law enforcement to say nothing and alert Kellerhals," according to the notes of her October 2, 2023 interview with the [Federal Bureau of Investigation](/organizations/federal-bureau-of-investigation/). After the territory's outside counsel, Motley Rice, began interviewing employees, George received a call from Bornn, then Bryan's chief legal counsel, relaying that Kellerhals wanted to know what George was investigating; George told him it was "none of Kellerhals's business."[^2] [^1]: Kellerhals Ferguson Kroblin PLLC, "Erika Kellerhals," attorney biography, captured August 10, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190810121434/https://www.kellfer.com/attorneys/erika-kellerhals/ [^2]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Docs confirm Bryan pressed for special treatment of sex offender." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/docs-confirm-bryan-pressed-for-special-treatment-of-sex-offender/article_5e9483c9-38d2-406c-8bb0-e5757ce287f2.html (Plaskett's employment with Kellerhals; Bornn; probate petition; George's FBI interview; July 2019 meeting request). [^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01580553, DataSet 10, memorandum from Harry Beller to JPMorgan wire desk, September 21, 2012 (JPM-SDNY-00059908); EFTA01483636, DataSet 10, JPMorgan statement for Jeffrey E. Epstein, September 1-28, 2012 (JPM-SDNY-00004812). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01580553.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01483636.pdf [^4]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint, paragraphs 157 to 159 and 175, filed as Exhibit 1 to Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 1-1 (December 27, 2022). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf [^5]: Internal Revenue Service, Form 990-PF data for Gratitude America Ltd, EIN 66-0789697, tax years 2012 to 2022, and IRS Business Master File record (ruling date September 2012; in care of Erika Kellerhals, 9053 Estate Thomas Suite 101, St. Thomas), as indexed by ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/660789697 [^6]: Kellerhals Ferguson Kroblin PLLC, "Attorney Stacey Plaskett Wins Democratic Primary for VI Delegate to Congress," August 11, 2014, captured May 14, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190514002952/https://www.kellfer.com/blog/2014/08/11/attorney-stacey-plaskett-wins-democratic-primary-vi-delegate-congress/ ; Kellerhals Ferguson Kroblin PLLC, "Welcome David Bornn," January 4, 2017, captured August 20, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190820054157/https://www.kellfer.com/blog/2017/01/04/welcome-david-bornn/ [^7]: Fang, Lee. "Jeffrey Epstein Exploited the U.S. Virgin Islands for a Reason." *Lee Fang* (Substack), May 26, 2025. https://www.leefang.com/p/jeffrey-epstein-exploited-the-us (image of a Kellerhals check to Bryan's 2018 campaign). [^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01364303, DataSet 10, Deutsche Bank know-your-customer page "The 2013 Butterfly Trust" (DB-SDNY-0054829); EFTA01372887, DataSet 10, Deutsche Bank "KYC Print," July 15, 2019 (DB-SDNY-0066790). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01364303.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01372887.pdf [^9]: S. 2746, 119th Congress, "Produce Epstein Treasury Records Act," introduced September 9, 2025, section 2(b)(2). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-119s2746is/html/BILLS-119s2746is.htm [^10]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Files reveal Epstein's efforts to influence V.I. officials; emails with Mapp." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/files-reveal-epstein-s-efforts-to-influence-v-i-officials-emails-with-mapp/article_2dd4fe69-4daf-4dc2-b3b8-37a929002bb6.html (spelling the name "Erica Kellerhals"). [^11]: "DPNR Orders Cease and Desist for Unauthorized Development on Great St. James." *St. Thomas Source,* November 1, 2016. https://stthomassource.com/content/2016/11/01/dpnr-orders-cease-and-desist-for-unauthorized-development-on-great-st-james/ [^12]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), Exhibit 83, ECF No. 194-24 (filed June 20, 2023), pp. 2 to 7 (Kellerhals Ferguson Kroblin letter to Denise George, April 30, 2019), 56 to 60 (emails of May 1 to June 20, 2019). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011719/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/194-24.pdf