Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to CBP agents sparked a DOJ investigation

US prosecutors and federal law enforcement spent more than a year investigating ties between Jeffrey Epstein and Customs and Border Protection officers stationed in the US Virgin Islands (USVI), according to documents recently released by the Department of Justice.

Bait Guardian and New York Times reported, emails, text messages and investigative records show that Epstein cultivated friendships with various officers, entertaining them on his island and offering to take them on whale-watching trips in his helicopter. He even brought one cannolis for Christmas Eve. In turn, Epstein would bring certain officers his complaints about his treatment into the hands of other CBP and federal agents. Most of the interactions described in the records took place years after Epstein pleaded guilty to sex-crime charges in Florida in 2008.

The CBP officers were never charged with any crimes related to Epstein, and at least one later retired from the agency with a pension, suggesting the government ultimately found no wrongdoing. However, the documents describe patterns of behavior — two of the officers referred to Epstein as a “friend” — that one expert on government ethics described as inappropriate and possible violations of federal guidance. They also contain grand jury subpoenas that specifically name the officers and compel the recipients, who were largely financial services companies, to assist federal prosecutors investigating allegations of a conspiracy to defraud the US government.

CBP and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which led the investigation into Epstein, did not respond to requests for comment.

For years, Epstein He allegedly brought numerous women and girls as young as 12 to his private island, Little Saint Jamesaccording to s 2020 complaint submitted by the former USVI Attorney General. Epstein often flew in and out of USVI on his private jet.

To depart from USVI to other parts of the US, Epstein’s plane had to be cleared by CBP, according to a November 2020 FBI interview report with Epstein’s personal pilot, Larry Visoski.

Visoski told the FBI that some passengers were college students with letters from their schools explaining why they were traveling. At other times, according to the report on Visoski’s interview, Epstein traveled with a woman who had a foreign passport. If CBP officers began questioning these passengers, Visoski said, Epstein would intervene and begin arguing with the officers.

However, Visoski told the FBI that Epstein made an effort to be friendly with CBP officers and sometimes directed Visoski to collect agents’ contact information. (In an email to one CBP officer, Epstein wrote, “as you know, I’m very respectful of people just doing their jobs.”) Over the years, emails and text messages show, several CBP officers tried to reach out to Epstein, either directly or through Visoski or other associates. Sometimes Epstein had the officers go to Little Saint James.

In May 2014, for example, Visoski emailed Epstein: “While we were going through customs in STT, our nice person gave me his cell phone contact.” The pilot added that the “nice person” would be available to visit Little Saint James that week. Visoski also attached the person’s contact details. The next day, Epstein’s island estate manager emailed Epstein to let him know the person, a CBP officer, would be picked up for lunch on Wednesday. (It is unclear if this lunch ever happened.)

Emails in 2015 and 2016 show that Epstein would have another officer, Glen Samuel, come to Little Saint James to perform on steel pan drums — a side gig that Samuel at one point advertised informally on his Facebook page. In a January 2015 email thread, Epstein asked an associate to explain Samuel’s course. The associate replied, “Mr. Samuel says he has no intention of charging you. He considers you a friend and did this for you. If you want to give him something, he would appreciate it, but there is no fee.” Samuel did not respond to a request for comment.