This process began in Jersey, in the 1960s. Marcus Samuel, the proprietor of the bank HM Samuel and Co, had multiple clients around the empire who were looking to relocate back home due to decolonisation, but who wanted to avoid Britain’s upper tax rate, which was above 90 per cent at the time. In 1962, he persuaded Jersey’s parliament to scrap a cap it had on interest rates and set the island up as an offshore haven. Samuel was a member of the House of Lords, the third Viscount Bearsten. The first Viscount, his grandfather, from whom he had inherited both his title and his bank, was also the founder of another company: Shell. This connection between Britain’s oil industry and its tax havens is more than just one historic familial quirk. To this day, Big Oil is a major utiliser of British offshore zones.
The illegal war on Iran has resulted in a windfall for oil companies and their shareholders:
Oil prices in Europe are approaching a record $150 a barrel in response to the ongoing crisis in the Strait of Hormuz. As a result, the share value of the world’s six biggest stock-market-listed oil companies has soared by more than $130bn, hitting record highs. Report by ADAM RAMSAY
For the two British companies on that list – Shell and BP – the combined spoils of Trump and Netanyahu’s war are estimated at £5bn, while US oil companies can expect a $63bn boost.
If Brexit was about transforming Britain into even more of an offshore haven for corporate wealth and power, then this single relocation is perhaps its biggest success. The move means that Shell’s global headquarters is now just one mile from BP’s, and that London hosts two of the world’s six ‘oil supermajors’. Houston, Texas hosts another two (ExxonMobil and Chevron), while Paris and Rome host one each (TotalEnergies and Eni).
Adam Ramsay explains about Royal Dutch Shell becoming just Shell:
Its full name, Royal Dutch Shell, wasn’t a reference to the House of Windsor, but to the House of Orange – the Netherlands’ royal family. From 1917, its global headquarters had been in a Renaissance Dutch-style building in the Hague. But in 2022, it abandoned that history. The Shell Centre, a modernist tower on the south bank of the River Thames, just behind the London Eye and across the water from the Houses of Parliament, became its International HQ. Now, it’s just Shell plc. And now, legally at least, it’s just ‘Anglo’.
They were escaping legal action by Friends of the Earth in the Netherlands and did so by moving to London.
The Epstein files reveal the history of his offering a service to wealthy individuals of concealing and/or investing their funds, often utilizing offshore banks, thus avoiding high taxes which would fund the nation they are registered in. He also offered his services of wealth management to oil rich magnates.
In Feb 2026:
HSBC and Barclays hit with £9.5bn Epstein-linked trust lawsuit
US heirs allege offshore trust was used to divert family wealth.
HSBC and Barclays are defending a £9.5bn US lawsuit linked to a Jersey trust under scrutiny.
February 18, 2026 8:28 AM GMTUpdated February 21, 2026
Item 1 of 2 Late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem are seen in this undated handout image from the Epstein estate released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee in Washington, D.C., U.S., on December 18, 2025. House Oversight Committee Democrats/Handout via REUTERS
[1/2]Late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem are seen in this undated handout image from the Epstein estate released by Democrats on the House Oversight… Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab Read more
Summary
Companies
Files show Epstein sought powerful network of ties across Middle East
Saudi Aramco’s potential IPO among issues touched on in files
DP World CEO resigns after being named in Epstein files
DUBAI, Feb 19 (Reuters) – The departure of the chief executive of Dubai port giant DP World is the biggest fallout in the Middle East from U.S. Department of Justice documents which show that disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein tried to build a powerful network of political figures and business leaders across the region.
DP World announced on Friday that Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem had resigned as chief executive and chair. The decision to act was taken after Bin Sulayem’s name appeared in the Epstein files, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters, and as his relationship with the late convicted sex offender faced increasing scrutiny.
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Dubai’s ruler on Friday also issued a decree appointing a new chairman for Dubai’s Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, one of several roles Bin Sulayem held.
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Being named in the file is not evidence of criminal activity. But after members of the U.S. Congress said Bin Sulayem’s name appeared in files released by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), he faced renewed questions from some of DP World’s financial backers over his past interactions.
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UK development finance agency, British International Investment, and Canada’s second-largest pension fund said last week they would suspend all new investment with DP World over Bin Sulayem’s alleged ties to Epstein.
“We are shocked by the allegations emerging in the Epstein
Files regarding Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem,” said a spokesperson for BII, without saying which allegations he was referring to. “In light of the allegations, we will not be making any new investments with DP World until the required actions have been taken by the company.”
Canadian pension fund La Caisse said it was “pausing additional capital deployment alongside the company” until DP World clarified the situation and took “the necessary actions”.
In a statement after Friday’s leadership changes at DP World, BII welcomed DP World’s decision and said it looked forward to continuing “our partnership to advance the development of key African trading ports”. La Caisse said “the company took the appropriate measures” and that it would “move quickly to work with DP World’s new leadership to continue our partnership on port projects around the world”.
Bin Sulayem did not immediately respond when asked by Reuters to comment on the actions taken by BII and La Caisse. DP World declined comment.
NETWORK OF CONTACTS
The large cache of documents released by the DOJ, including text messages and emails, also shows the Middle East was no exception to Epstein’s efforts to use his wealth to build relationships with prominent people in politics, finance, academia and business around the world.
Reuters was unable to ascertain how successful Epstein was in seeking to influence his contacts in the Middle East, and whether his advice was heeded.
The DOJ documents reviewed by Reuters show Epstein tried to advise Qatari business leaders and political figures during the 2017-21 blockade of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt over accusations that Doha failed to curb ties with Iran and supported terrorism, which Qatar denied.
In exchanges with a Qatari businessman and ruling family member Sheikh Jabor Yousuf Jassim Al Thani, Epstein urged Qatar to “stop kicking and arguing…let the heat come down a bit”. He said “the current Qatar team is very weak” and “FM is not experienced and it shows.”
Qatar’s foreign minister at the time was Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who now serves as both foreign minister and prime minister. Sheikh Mohammed has not commented publicly on Epstein’s portrayal of him. Asked about the exchange, Qatar’s International Media Office, which handles media requests for the prime minister, declined to comment.
There was no response to a Reuters request for comment emailed to three companies in Qatar that Sheikh Jabor is listed as chairman of, or to a text message sent to an individual who, according to the files released by the DOJ, works in Sheikh Jabor’s office.
Epstein urged Doha to forge links with Israel to stay in the good graces of Donald Trump, who was then in his first term as U.S. president. He suggested the Gulf state either move towards recognising Israel or pledge $1 billion to a fund for terrorism victims. Ultimately, Qatar stuck to its independent course. In 2021, the blockading countries restored ties with Doha, and ties between the Trump administration and Qatar are now strong.
DISCUSSION OF SAUDI ARAMCO IPO
Epstein discussed Saudi Aramco’s initial public offering in dozens of email exchanges. In one exchange dated September 10, 2016, with a person named as Aziza Alahmadi, and with former Norwegian diplomat Terje Roed-Larson copied in, Epstein warned that Aramco going public could expose Saudi Arabia to lawsuits and asset seizures. Saudi Aramco declined to comment on these emails.
Alahmadi could not be reached for comment and Reuters was unable to establish her role, if any, in Epstein’s activities.
In an email dated October 16, 2017, and also sent to Alahmadi, Epstein suggested selling China an option to buy a $100-billion stake in Aramco rather than pursuing a traditional IPO, saying it would provide liquidity while limiting exposure to public markets.
Saudi Aramco declined to comment to Reuters on the emails. Roed-Larsen did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by email via his lawyer.
Epstein’s reach also extended to Egypt, the documents released by the DOJ show. Some emails show a request from a family member of Hosni Mubarak – the wife of his son Gamal Mubarak – that was passed on to Epstein asking for help in 2011, following the former president’s ouster and subsequent legal troubles. They did not say what kind of assistance was sought and Reuters was unable to establish whether Epstein had tried to intercede on the family’s behalf.
Lionel Halperin, a lawyer for Gamal Mubarak, told Reuters by email that no member of the Mubarak family ever knew of Epstein or ever sought or received assistance from any source, directly or indirectly.
He said Roed-Larsen and others had attempted in 2011 to reach out to Gamal Mubarak to better understand the situation in Egypt and that of the Mubarak family. As Gamal Mubarak was in prison at the time pending an investigation, he asked his wife, Khadiga El Gammal, to send back “messages of appreciation” to those who reached out to him and his family.
It was in this context that “a few emails” were sent to Roed-Larsen, Halperin said.
“Gamal Mubarak has no explanation, and does not know the context, as to why some of such emails were forwarded to an email account of Mr. Epstein at the time,” Halperin said.
Additional reporting by Nadine Awadalla and Yousef Saba in Dubai, Writing by Michael Georgy, Editing by Timothy Heritage
Libya abandons Arctic Metagaz as ghost ship floats aimlessly in Mediterranean
Ship tracking websites show that the tugboat Maridive 701, which was keeping the uncrewed Russian LNG carrier, Arctic Metagaz, on tow off the eastern Libyan coast has now returned back to base in Tripoli, suggesting the ghost ship is once again adrift in the Mediterranean
26 April 2026, 7:30am by Kurt Sansone
2 min read
The Arctic Metagaz wreck was last located some 90 nautical miles off the Libya’s eastern coast before tugboat operations to keep it on tow were abandoned
The Arctic Metagaz is part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” transporting fossil fuels in violation of international sanctions over Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
The tanker, carrying liquefied natural gas, was badly damaged in a suspected sea drone attack near Maltese waters earlier this month.
According to Russian authorities, it was hit and badly damaged by Ukrainian naval drones. Ukraine has not commented.
UAE announces decision to withdraw from Opec, Opec+ from May 1
After leaving Opec, the UAE will continue its responsible role by gradually and thoughtfully increasing production, in line with demand and market conditions
The decision, which comes after six decades of being a part of the organisation, was made after the nation’s production policy and its capacity was reviewed.
Roughly half of the United Arab Emirates’ daily oil exports are delivered through Fujairah, whose location on the Gulf of Oman allows the United Arab Emirates to bypass the geopolitically volatile Strait of Hormuz. Oil is delivered to Fujairah from the oil-rich emirate of Abu Dhabi through the Habshan-Fujairah oil pipeline, which began operations in 2012. In 2025 about 1.7 million barrels of crude oil were exported from Fujairah per day.
Africa could face a refined fuel shortfall of 86 million tonnes by 2040, according to a new report by the Africa Finance Corporation, which warns that recent geopolitical tensions have exposed the continent’s reliance on external energy supply routes.
Riverside, Jetty with vessels drone view. [Stock Photo/Getty Images]
Africa could face an 86 million tonne refined fuel shortfall by 2040, according to the Africa Finance Corporation.
The report warns that over 70 per cent of Africa’s fuel is imported, alongside $230 billion in essential goods annually.
Geopolitical tensions, including disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz, have exposed supply vulnerabilities.
Leaders and investors are calling for increased domestic refining capacity to reduce dependence on imports.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that earlier this month, a ship called ABINSK entered the Haifa port with wheat cargo from Russian-occupied territory. Kyiv said it alerted Israeli authorities but the vessel was allowed to unload its cargo and leave Haifa in mid-April.
It said the ship was part of the “shadow fleet” that helps prop up the Kremlin’s war economy by shipping products for countries facing international sanctions — such as Venezuela, Russia and Iran — often by concealing or spoofing their location data. They also often engage in ship-to-ship transfers of their cargo while at sea in an effort to obscure its origin.
Using data from ship-tracking website MarineTraffic, NBC News tracked the Russian-flagged Abinsk from the occupied Crimean port of Kerch on March 17 to Haifa on April 12.
The ship left Haifa on April 15, according to the tracker, and arrived at the port of Kavkaz in southern Russia on April 22. MarineTraffic doesn’t track the type of cargo aboard a ship or where it originates from.
Ukraine named the ship at the center of Tuesday’s firestorm as Panormitis. According to MarineTraffic data, the Panama-flagged ship left Russia’s Kavkaz port April 11 and arrived at Haifa on April 25. The ship is currently drifting in the area of Haifa Bay, per the tracker.
As if Iraq has not had enough trouble and strife, Wajeeh Lion Substack explains their peril to those of us who maybe, like me, were ignorant of the US Sword of Damocles held over them:
The clock has officially run out in Baghdad. As of late April 2026, Iraq has blown past its constitutional deadline to form a new government, plunging the nation into a perilous political freeze. To understand the paralysis gripping the country right now, you do not need a degree in international relations or game theory. At its core, the crisis is a high-stakes game of political chicken between two powerful men, complicated by the United States holding the country’s purse strings and Iran watching closely from the shadows.
The deadlock centers on the dominant political coalition in parliament, which had exactly fifteen days following the election of a new Iraqi president earlier this month to agree on a prime minister. That deadline came and went in total silence. The group is fundamentally paralyzed because two political heavyweights refuse to step aside. On one side is Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, the current caretaker prime minister who is determined to keep his job. On the other side is Nouri al-Maliki, a formidable former prime minister fighting aggressively for a political comeback. Neither man is willing to back down, knowing that surrendering would look like a massive public defeat. Yet, if neither yields, their political coalition risks fracturing entirely, leaving the government stuck in a constitutional void.
This is not merely a local political dispute. The United States has inserted itself forcefully into the outcome, utilizing a unique and devastating point of economic leverage. Because of how Iraq’s economy is structured, the revenue it generates from selling oil is held at the Federal Reserve in New York. To keep the Iraqi economy functioning, the U.S. Treasury physically flies pallets of U.S. dollars to Baghdad’s Central Bank. Following recent regional conflicts, the U.S. government issued a stark, public ultimatum: if Maliki is reinstated as prime minister, Washington will cut off those dollar shipments. American officials view Maliki as too closely aligned with Iran and blame his past policies for fueling regional instability. Without those regular dollar shipments, Iraq’s economy would collapse almost overnight. This puts the Iraqi political establishment in an agonizing bind. While certain factions desperately want Maliki back in power, absolutely no one wants to be responsible for bankrupting the country.
Adding fuel to the fire is the chaos unfolding just outside Iraq’s borders. Following the late-2024 collapse of the Syrian government to extremist groups, Iraqi leaders are terrified that violence will spill over their borders, mirroring the devastating invasions of a decade ago. Furthermore, Iraq remains the primary proxy battleground for influence between Washington and Tehran. While the United States threatens economic ruin from afar, Iranian generals have recently traveled to Baghdad to exert direct pressure on politicians, demanding a leader sympathetic to their interests. This intense regional anxiety makes Iraqi politicians feel an acute need for a strong, decisive leader, yet they cannot agree on who that should be without severely angering one of the competing global superpowers.
So, how do Maliki and Sudani avoid crashing the entire system? In high-stakes political standoffs, the most logical exit strategy is a compromise candidate—a third party whom neither side adores, but both can tolerate. Behind closed doors, intense negotiations are reportedly underway to elevate an independent constitutional expert and businessman named Ali Shakir Mahmoud Al-Zaidi. For the United States, Al-Zaidi is an acceptable choice simply because he is not Maliki, which would keep the crucial dollar shipments flowing. For Iran and the Iraqi coalition, he is acceptable because he remains deeply integrated within their established political network. Elevating a middle-ground figure like Al-Zaidi would allow both Maliki and Sudani to save face without triggering an economic catastrophe.
Because the stakes are so incredibly high, the Iraqi media landscape is currently flooded with disinformation designed to manipulate the negotiations and cause panic. Rumors frequently circulate that either Maliki or Sudani has secretly dropped out, or that the United States has already suspended the vital dollar shipments. In reality, both men remain officially in the race, and the Central Bank of Iraq has been forced to step in and confirm that the money is still flowing, proving the rumors were merely psychological tactics meant to force a rushed decision.
Even if a compromise is reached, the situation remains incredibly precarious. Iraq’s highest religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, possesses the power to make or break a politician with a single statement, yet he has remained notably quiet during this crisis. Furthermore, with the legal deadline now missed, the highly politicized Iraqi Supreme Court may be forced to step in to interpret the law, potentially sparking even more bitter disputes over who actually has the power to appoint the next leader. Finally, heavily armed, Iran-backed militias could still lash out with violence if they feel a compromise candidate threatens their grip on power.
For now, Iraq is holding its breath. The country’s political elite must untangle their bitter rivalries and find a workable compromise in the coming days, or they risk dragging the entire nation over an economic cliff.
King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive in the US for a four-day visit
They will have tea with President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump at the White House before attending a garden party. The King will address a joint meeting of Congress tomorrow.
Some Trump officials leave homes for US military bases amid political protests – report
Senior White House officials are swapping their traditional homes to live on military bases as the political climate grows more threatening.
U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrive at Fort McNair, due to the preparations on the South Lawn for the Easter Egg Roll, as they return from a weekend getaway at Camp David, in Washington, U.S., March 31, 2024.(photo credit: REUTERS/Michael A. McCoy)ByJERUSALEM POST STAFFOCTOBER 31, 2025 22:08Updated: NOVEMBER 2, 2025 00:32
Several senior Trump administration officials are living in or will soon be living in military base housing in the Washington area, The Atlantic reported on Friday.
According to the report, several US administration officials, including Stephen Miller, Marco Rubio, and Kristi Noem, have moved into houses that hosted senior military officials on bases in the Washington area to shield themselves from protests outside of their homes and political violence.
However, the number of Trump officials who have moved onto bases is now impacting housing for the nation’s top uniformed officers, as well as other administration officials.
US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard requested earlier this year to move onto Fort McNair, but was denied based on the lack of availability.
The threat level against administration officials has changed recently, including Iranian-backed attempted assassinations, as well as the multiple assassination attempts against Trump. However, there has not been a record of this many political appointees living on military bases, the report stated.
…….. But instead of choosing homes in Georgetown, Kalorama, McLean or Great Falls, some officials in Donald Trump‘s Cabinet and among his White House staff — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi and former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem — are living in secure military housing, citing safety concerns. In doing so, they are embracing the literal architecture of authoritarianism.
Mali’s Defence Minister, General Sadio Camara has been killed in coordinated attacks on military sites nationwide, a government spokesperson has confirmed.
Camara was killed when assailants targeted his house, the spokesperson, Issa Ousmane Coulibaly, said in a statement on Sunday.
Camara’s residence in the garrison town of Kati came under assault on Saturday during simultaneous attacks by an al-Qaeda affiliate and Tuareg rebels.
Camara was a central figure in the military government that seized power after back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021.
“He was one of the most influential figures within the ruling military leadership and had been seen by some as a possible future leader of Mali,” said Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque, who has reported extensively from Mali.
“His death is a major blow to the country’s armed forces.”
Haque said attackers carried out a suicide car bomb assault on Camara’s residence in Kati, a heavily fortified military town about 15km (9 miles) northwest of the capital, Bamako, where Interim President Assimi Goita also lives.
Camara’s second wife and two of his grandchildren were also killed in the attack on his home, the AFP news agency reported.
“Kati is considered one of the most secure locations in the country, yet fighters from the al-Qaeda-linked Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), along with Tuareg fighters from the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), were able to launch the attack”.
Goita was “alive and well in a secure location”, Haque added.
Mali Attacks Deepen Investor Risk, Threaten Gold Output and Digital Expansion
Security shock compounds regulatory pressure as miners, telecom firms and lenders reassess exposure across the Sahel
A surge in militant attacks in Mali is sharpening concerns over the country’s investment outlook, with risks spreading from its gold sector to transport networks and the fast-growing digital economy.
The latest violence, which struck strategic sites including military and transport infrastructure, highlights the reach of insurgent groups into areas critical to commerce. For investors, it reinforces a deteriorating operating environment in a country already navigating sweeping policy changes in its mining industry.
Mali is among Africa’s top gold producers, making the sector central to exports, fiscal revenue and foreign exchange inflows. Any disruption to mining operations or supply chains threatens to ripple through the broader economy, raising the prospect of production losses, shipment delays and higher security costs for companies.
The attacks come as the military leadership continue to tighten control over the sector through revised mining rules aimed at boosting state participation. The combination of regulatory overhaul and escalating insecurity is creating a high-risk environment, where capital allocation decisions will be done more cautiously and, in some cases, delayed.
Transport and trade flows are also exposed. As a landlocked economy, Mali depends heavily on regional corridors to move goods. Disruptions linked to insecurity can quickly translate into higher logistics costs, delays at borders and pressure on import-dependent sectors.
London-listed Endeavour Mining (EDV.L) has announced, along with two other gold producers, their agreement to transition to Mali’s new mining code, according to government officials.
This code, which increases taxes and aims to transfer significant ownership of mining assets to the state, has led to intense conflicts with mining companies since its implementation in August 2023, contributing to a 23% decline in Mali’s gold production last year, totaling 51 metric tons.
On state television late Monday, Finance Minister Alousseni Sanou and the Minister of Mines revealed a new memorandum of understanding with Somika SA – an entity that is 80% owned by Endeavour and 20% by the Malian government – along with Faboula Gold and Bagama Mining.
The specifics of the agreements were not made public.
The three companies represent just a small portion of Mali’s gold production, with Faboula and Bagama commencing their output in 2021, each contributing 500 kg, while the Kalana project managed by Somika has yet to initiate production.
Since the adoption of the mining code, all three have been mostly inactive.
Somika’s director, Abdoul Aziz, stated that the construction of the mine “will commence six months following the agreement’s signing, with production expected to begin 18 months thereafter.”
“Somika is projected to operate for 10 years, generating an annual revenue of 135 billion CFA francs ($238.9 million).
In contrast, Bagama and Faboula are each anticipated to have five-year lifespans, with revenues of 50 billion and 75 billion CFA francs respectively,” Sanou mentioned, noting that each firm is likely to create approximately 2,000 jobs.
Endeavour Mining chose not to provide a comment. Attempts to reach Faboula Gold and Bagama Mining for their input were unsuccessful.
Mali’s largest gold producer, Barrick Mining (ABX.TO), has halted operations in the Loulo-Gounkoto complex since mid-January after the government obstructed its exports, detained several executives, and confiscated three tonnes of gold bullion.
The Canadian mining company is currently embroiled in a dispute with the government and has initiated arbitration proceedings at the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
Although Mali ranks among Africa’s leading gold producers, regulatory uncertainties have negatively impacted both investment and production.
1982 – 1983 Robert Maxwell selling Promis software (with backdoor supplied by Israel, unknown to clients) to Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratories, the two biggest nuclear weapons labs in the United States.
1993: Jeffrey Epstein bought the New Mexico Zorro Ranch using his Power of Attorney, John J. Kelly, a Democrat.
Governor Bruce King – a Democrat, sold the ranch to Jeffrey Epstein.
The late pedophile appeared to confirm as much in a 2015 email that was released last month as part of a massive Epstein files dump.
In the email, Epstein attached a link to Norwegian cosmetics heiress Celina Midelfart, followed by the message: “My 20-year-old girlfriend in ’93, that after two years i gave to donald.”
Jeffrey Epstein writes in an email that
In September, the Wall Street Journal published a sexually suggestive birthday letter dedicated to Epstein that was illustrated and signed by Trump. The message, encased in a doodle of a woman’s body, made several references to a “wonderful secret” the two of them shared.
Les Wexner had been bank rolling Jeffrey Epstein since 1987 as his ‘financial manager’.
1996
Annie and Maria Farmer
Epstein victim’s sister reported him in 1996 but FBI failed to investigate, files show
Maria Farmer testified at 2021 trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, the accomplice of the dead paedophile financier
Annie Farmer was abused by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at age 16. Photograph: Gabriele Holtermann/PA
Victoria Bekiempis
Sun Dec 21 2025 – 20:25•5 MIN READ
While US president Donald Trump’s justice department did not deliver on a legal requirement to disclose all Jeffrey Epstein-related files by Friday, one document in an otherwise underwhelming disclosure lifted the veil on authorities’ inaction – and its dire consequences for dozens of teen girls.
That document is an FBI report from Maria Farmer, a painter who worked for Epstein around 1996.
Farmer, whose sister Annie Farmer was abused by Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell at age 16, told authorities in 1996 that the late financier “stole” nude images of her siblings.
Farmer reported Epstein’s behaviour with photographs, but the FBI has never openly recognised that she made such a report, according to the New York Times. The newspaper also noted how an internal investigation into the justice department’s handling of Epstein’s case did not mention this report.
April 11, 2026 New Mexico investigative journalist broke this news:
Breaking News Exclusive: The U.S. Attorney Who Should Have Investigated Jeffrey Epstein for Sexually Abusing 16-Year-Old Annie Farmer in 1996 in New Mexico Was Epstein’s Personal POA for Zorro Ranch.
Former U.S. attorney for the District of New Mexico John J. Kelly was Epstein’s personal Power of Attorney on Zorro Ranch matters. This has never been publicly disclosed until now.
That former federal prosecutor was John J. Kelly, a prominent attorney in Albuquerque, New Mexico who served as the U.S. attorney for the District of New Mexico from 1993 to 2000. In 2024, Kelly was asked by a local news outlet why his contact information appeared in Epstein’s contact directory, often referred to as Epstein’s “little black book.”
On July 8, 2012, King announced on an Albuquerque radio show that he would seek the Democratic nomination for governor in 2014. He challenged first-term incumbent governor Susana Martinez (R) for the office. He ran twice previously for the governorship, in 1998 and 2002, losing the first in the primary and dropping out in the second.[3] King lost in the general election on November 4, 2014.
Immediately after graduating from law school, King formed his own private practice law firm, King & Stanley, based in Moriarty, New Mexico. Six years later, he assumed the dual roles of corporate general counsel and senior environment scientist for Advanced Sciences, Inc., an environmental consulting firm. In 1998, King was appointed as the policy advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management at the United States Department of Energy (DOE) in Washington, D.C. Within a year’s time, he became Director of the Office of Worker and Community Transition. During his time at the DOE, he developed and implemented a program fostering cooperation between federal, state, local and Native American governments to enhance cleanup activities.
Gary King’s father, Bruce, who sold the Zorro Ranch to Epstein, was researched by Daniel Greenfield – see above link.
Here is an extract:
Former Gov. Bruce King had been a power player in the state from the 50s through the 90s. During his final years in office, Gov. King sold what would become the Zorro Ranch to Jeffrey Epstein for $12 million. The deal with the governor gave Epstein his own compound, airstrip, and grazing rights around it, to keep Zorro as isolated as possible, allowing him to fly in guests and girls with no questions.
The sale was stranger still because the land around the Zorro Ranch, where Epstein would reportedly hold lavish parties featuring major New Mexico political figures, and bring teenage girls there to abuse, went on belonging to the King family.
Unlike New York and Florida, Epstein had no ties to New Mexico and no obvious reason to build a compound there. Santa Fe was much farther from the action than Palm Beach or Manhattan. But Epstein didn’t just buy land from anyone, he bought it from the man running the state longer than anyone else and a member of the most influential family in the state. Shortly after the governor left office, his son, Gary King, already a state legislator, went to work under Bill Richardson, the state’s future governor, before going on to become New Mexico’s Attorney General.
Jeffrey Epstein provided sizable donations to both Gary King and Bill Richardson. When the first phase of the Epstein scandal broke, Gary King was forced to return $15,000 in donations from the notorious sex predator. “I don’t think I’ve ever met him personally. He knows other members of my family better,” King claimed.
Look back to pre 2016, Conchita Sarnoff’s book, TrafficKing:
TrafficKing
TrafficKing yanks back the curtain on an underworld where children pay the ultimate price as victims. The story explores the darkest recesses of the corridors of power, from Harvard to the White House. Conchita Sarnoff, an investigative journalist, who despite bribes to stay silent, risked her life to expose the brutal reality of human trafficking and the Jeffrey E. Epstein case. Epstein, at the center of the saga, is a pedophile billionaire and Wall Street hedge fund manager and registered level-3 sex offender. It is a child sex trafficking story of epic proportions and the longest running human trafficking case in U.S. legal history; more poignant than the Lewinsky Scandal, Watergate Scandal and Profumo Affair combined. His team of attorneys included: Alan Dershowitz, Kenneth Starr, Roy Black and Gerald Lefcourt. HRH Prince Andrew, former President Bill Clinton, Alan Dershowitz and others were implicated in the case. A decade after Epstein’s arrest, Virginia Roberts Giuffre vs. Ghislaine Maxwell is pending, along with two more related cases. It’s a tug of war between lust and power and decency and human rights. The revelations in this book could have serious implications in the upcoming 2016 Presidential elections.
And when Ghislaine brought Jeffrey to New Mexico to, as she puts it, help him find a nice ranch property, they just happened to settle upon one that was already owned by the governor, that also sat next door to a ranch owned by a former U.S. intelligence operative turned weapons engineer and founder of Teledyne, a huge defense contracting company. And when Ghislaine helped Jeffrey build the massive 33,000-square-foot house of horrors there, the construction contractor they hired was Bradbury Stamm, which specializes in massive industrial, government and top security military and nuclear weapons laboratory builds, not private residences.
A later governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, would party at Zorro Ranch with Epstein, and not just there, but also in New York, and at Epstein’s island, Little St. James. Richardson flew on Epstein’s plane and helicopter both, and denied all of this, just as he denied Virginia Giuffre’s allegations that Jeffrey made her “massage” Richardson. But the release of the files last year and this year proved his denials were lies. As were the similar denials of Bruce King’s son Gary King, who Epstein supported financially in his winning bid to become New Mexico’s attorney general, and as attorney general King never investigated Epstein. In fact, he continued to meet privately with Epstein even after his conviction in Florida, and took more campaign donations from him in his losing bid for governor, working with Epstein’s lawyers to create a shell company so no one would know the donations came from the most famous pedophile and child sex trafficker of all time, which might have hurt Gary’s campaign as that campaign hinged on ending child sex trafficking in our state.
borderslynn 
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