COVID-19 is causing a delay in the compensation payout to Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, as the settlement fund is running low on cash because the late sex perv’s estate is having trouble finding buyers for his many properties, officials announced Thursday.
Victims’ Compensation Program administrator Jordana Feldman said that she won’t make any more compensation offers to victims until after March 25 because the estate informed her it doesn’t currently have enough cash to replenish the fund.
Estate lawyer Daniel Weiner confirmed that the estate is having issues selling off its non-liquid assets to convert them into liquid cash due to the havoc the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked on the global economy.
“Because the great bulk of the estate’s assets are illiquid — including residential properties, private investments and aircraft — the co-executors have been attempting for months to sell those illiquid assets in order to fund the program and cover the estate’s expenses,” Weiner said in a statement, which did not specify which of Epstein’s assets were up for sale.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre, an Epstein accuser, speaks during a press conference outside a Manhattan court. Bebeto Matthews/AP“The co-executors continue to seek to liquidate assets of the estate, in the full expectation that the program can soon fully result its regular operations,” Weiner said.
Feldman said in the meantime, she will continue to accept and review claims and will be ready to begin issuing offers as soon as possible.
“Although I sincerely regret having to take this action, I have concluded that it is necessary to protect the interests of eligible claimants who have not yet resolved their claims through the program,” Feldman said in a statement. “Issuing a compensation offer that cannot be timely and fully funded and paid, consistent with the way the program has operated to date, would compromise claimants’ interests and the guiding principles of the program.”
“I remain deeply committed to ensuring that the program continues to operate with transparency and integrity, and that all eligible claimants receive the compensation and validation they deserve,” Feldman said.
Since the fund went into effect in June, it has received over 150 claims by women who say they were sexually abused by Epstein. The fund has paid out $50 million to those who had eligible claims, Feldman said.
A building is seen at Little St. James Island, one of the properties of financier Jeffrey Epstein. Marco Bello/ReutersWeiner said that as of Dec. 31, Epstein’s estate was valued at $240 million after the estate paid taxes, funded the victim compensation fund and defended against multiple lawsuits. Epstein’s estate was once valued at $634 million.
Weiner said while over $50 million has already been paid out to victims, the estate has funded the program with $87 million so far, not including additional costs it has paid to run the program.
Jeffrey Epstein’s $77 million townhouse in Manhattan KAT/SplashNews.comFeldman noted that the final deadline to register with the program is Feb. 8 and that all claims must be submitted by March 25.
In October, lawyers for the estate said that the US Virgin Islands attorney general’s suit against the estate was crippling its ability to meet its monthly costs as the AG froze estate funds as part of the case.
The fund has received over 150 claims by women who say they were sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein. Florida Department of Law Enforcement via Getty ImagesThat case, brought in January 2020, alleged that Epstein ran a decades-long sex-trafficking scheme from his private Caribbean island.
The 66-year-old hedge funder died by suicide in August 2019 in a Lower Manhattan jail cell as he was awaiting criminal sex-trafficking charges.







