Epstein’s Great St. James Permit Files Reveal Direct Involvement of Island Officials and Corporate Structures

Epstein building compound on Great St. James | News | virginislandsdailynews.com 5/7/19, 9:15 AM Kellerhals organized Great St. Jim LLC on Oct. 26, 2015, with herself as the sole member, and identified Geary’s company, Business Basics VI LLC, as the resident agent. Kellerhals could not be reached for comment Monday. Documents contained in the permit application file show that DPNR employees and Epstein’s staff have been communicating for years about the project. “(H]i Erika, spoke with Jeff yesterday and let him know that the scopes of work from both applications are being combined into one single permit. Dave of my staff is supposed to reach out to the LSJ [Little St. James] staff and arrange when he can make the required site visit. there are some specific details that were not included in the application package, so they will have to be verified during the site visit and notes made on the submitted drawings,” Oriol wrote to Kellerhals in an email dated Aug. 16, 2016, under the subject line, “RE: Cistern Permit.” An email from DPNR legal counsel Michele Baker to Kellerhals dated Aug. 26, 2016, lists anumber of documents required for the permit application to proceed, and indicates that “the OWNER” has to sign off. Kellerhals responded in an email that “I understand that there are some places where the owner needs to sign if the attorney completes the application. I will discuss with Jeffrey and get you copies of those signed attachments asap. You are correct that I am no longer the sole member. In fact, 1am not a member at all. The only position I serve is as counsel to Great St. Jim.” Epstein signed off on the application for a Coastal Zone Management major permit on Jan. 10, 2017, identifying himself as “President of Poplar, Inc., sole member of Great St. Jim, LLC.” Permit application documents and site plans on file show that Epstein is planning a complex of buildings across the approximately 160-acre island, connected by private road. The plans include a barge dock, two homes, cottages, an amphitheater, gardens, a marine electrical cable, solar array and generator, storage building, security building, workshed and machine shop, and an “underwater office & pool.” The permit application addresses mitigation efforts for endangered corals and the Virgin Islands tree boa — which was spotted on the island during site visits — and indicates http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/epstein-building-compoun...n-great-st-james/article_ a49261e9-40f0-57b1-9501-605e26e74cf3.html Page 3 of 4 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_031211