Demolition crews began tearing down the Palm Beach estate where the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein once lived.
The home, which entered demolition efforts Monday, is where prosecutors said Epstein abused underage girls and was a key location for a sex-trafficking operation that he ran for several years.
Developer Todd Glaser bought the mansion on 358 El Brillo Way for $18.5 million in March and previously announced plans to raze the property, according to the New York Post.
Funds from the estate sale have been allocated to the Victims’ Compensation Program established by Epstein’s estate holders to make payments to his victims.
Watch: Demolition has begun on the former Palm Beach estate of late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. https://t.co/gfpnqjD62A pic.twitter.com/8u4VuUK2si
— NBCWashington (@nbcwashington) April 21, 2021
EPSTEIN ESTATE HOLDERS CLOSE NEARLY $50M SALE OF MANHATTAN TOWNHOUSE
A real estate broker said he helped bring the sale together to make sure the property, which has a troubled past, is demolished entirely.
“I only got involved in the sale of Jeffrey Epstein’s residence to ensure it would be wiped off the map of Palm Beach,” Lawrence Moens reportedly said.
Located near the Intracoastal Waterway, the 14,223-square-foot, 1952 six-bedroom mansion was demolished to clear room for a new property.
“The former owner of this house did unmeasurable damage to the lives of countless children and was able to corrupt the legal system to the point that the courts have called it a national disgrace,” said former Palm Beach police chief Michael Reiter.
Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse also sold for $50 million on March 10, with the funds allocated to the compensation fund to help pay out additional victims of the late financier.
Epstein was arrested on charges of sex trafficking in 2019 and later died while in federal custody on Aug. 10, 2020.
His former associate Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested in July 2020 on accusations that she participated in recruiting young girls and participated in sexual abuse.
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A judge denied Maxwell bail, citing that her international passports could make her a flight risk. Her trial is slated to commence in July.
