Who is Mark Epstein? Jeffrey Epstein’s brother may be trying to pocket victims’ compensation, says their lawyer
A lawyer is complaining about delayed payouts for Jeffrey Epstein's victims and is now speculating that his brother might be trying to keep the money meant for them for himself.
Representing nine victims of Epstein, Spencer Kuvin reportedly told The Sun that he wants to see the "entire amount" of the proceeds to the multi-million dollar sales of Epstein's mansions in Palm Beach, Florida, and in Manhattan, New York, "immediately" go to the Epstein Victims Compensation Program (EVCP).
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Victims kept in the dark
"One of the concerns I have on behalf of my clients - I represent nine victims with respect to the current Epstein compensation fund - is that these funds go immediately to the claims administrator to be distributed to the victims," Kuvin told The Sun. "Up until now things have been put on hold because the fund advised the victims that there were insufficient funds to satisfy claims."
"They assured the victims more funds would be made available soon so on behalf of the victims we would certainly hope that the entire amount of the sale of the house be immediately handed over to the fund administrator because that's where the money belongs - it's for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and no one else," he added.
"Unfortunately like most of the Epstein saga the victims have been kept in the dark in regards to the specifics of Epstein's funds and all as they have been told is that their claim will be a fair amount regardless of what funds exist," Kuvin said.
Fund to release the money
According to the latest report, the victims' compensation fund announced on Friday that it would start making payments to victims once more since $10 million had been provided to the fund from the sales of the properties - the Manhattan property sold for $51 million and his Palm Beach home sold for $18.5 million - and additional funds will be made available in the future. This is after a month-long delay caused apparently due to insufficient funds.
"I am pleased to report that the Program can now resume full operations after this unfortunate and unexpected month-long delay,” said fund administrator Jordana Feldman. "We have continued to process claims and hold meetings with claimants in anticipation of the resolution of the Estate's liquidity issue, and will begin issuing compensation offers immediately."
Where's the rest of it?
Kuvin, however, has questions about what happened to Epstein's fortune which is estimated to be around $577 million. "We know that there was over half a billion dollars seized by the US attorney's office but the question is where has that money gone? No one knows at this point," Kuvin said.
The lawyer speculates that Mark Epstein, Jeffrey's brother who is named as his heir in court papers, "is trying to keep as much of the money as he possibly can as opposed to compensating the victims fairly."
But the estate denies the claim. Lawyers for Epstein's estate denied that Mark Epstein had "anything to do with the administration or operations of the Estate" and said that all the money from the recent sales will go to the fund. Dan Weiner, counsel for the co-executors, told The Sun, "It would be nonsensical for the Co-Executors to hamstring an independent program that they themselves voluntarily developed, designed and implemented for the very purpose of compensating victims of Mr. Epstein’s sexual abuse."
Who is Mark Epstein?
Mark Epstein, Jeffrey's younger brother, grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and attended the art school Cooper Union in Manhattan and Stony Brook University. The Daily Beast had reported that in 2002, Mark was named Cooper's Alumnus of the Year and in 2009 he donated at least $500,000 to his alma mater. The very same year, he was named as chairman of its board of trustees
According to reports, childhood neighbors "have only good things to say about the Epstein [Mark] they still call Puggie," who apparently had a knack for business. He once ran a "business silk-screening T-shirts" that has been described as "one of the most versatile silk screening printing companies in New York."
He is also on the board of directors for The Humpty Dumpty Institute, which works with the UN to rebuild developing countries. He reportedly loaned the international charity at least $100,000 in 2014.
Very involved in politics, he led a congressional delegation of Republican and Democratic representatives to an event being held in Belgium in April 2019.
Jeffrey killed himself while awaiting trial for his sex crimes back in August 2019. After his death, in July 2020, Mark had come on record to say, "I believe my brother was murdered. I want to know what kind of investigation they did. I have no indication that there was one. They said the cause of death was pending. Just five days later they said it was suicide."
When contacted by The Sun, Mark Epstein hit out at Kuvin calling him a "moron" but declined to comment further.