Jeffrey Epstein eyed Malta flight and Libya ‘billions’

Jeffrey Epstein appeared to eye a cut from recovering billions in “stolen” assets during the bloody 2011 Libyan revolution and features in correspondence about a potential flight to Libya via Malta.

The April 2011 correspondence updates Epstein on the costs of insuring a flight into the war-torn African nation through Malta.

Reference to the prospective Malta flight is found in the millions of new documents released by the United States Justice Department as part of what has become known as the Epstein files.

In the email, Epstein, a convicted sex offender and financier, is told about the possibility of flying unnamed passengers from West Palm Beach in Florida to Malta, via a stopover in Portugal, then taking “a boat” to Libya.

The email also speaks of the possibility of a short flight to Libya “with no more than 4hrs” on the ground.

A separate email sent to Epstein by an associate three months later may explain the financier’s interest in Libya during the revolution. The email details plans to identify and recover “billions” in potentially stolen and misappropriated assets in Libya.

“…if we can identify/recover 5% to 10% of these monies and receive 10% to 25% as compensation we are talking about billions of dollars... But the real carrot is if we can become their go-to guys because they plan to spend at least $100 billion next year to rebuild their country and jump start the economy,” Epstein’s associate wrote.

Stolen assets

The associate also boasted of having ties with former intelligence operatives from the UK’s secret intelligence service and Israel’s Mossad, who could help in identifying and recovering the stolen assets.

Malta served as a critical humanitarian and logistical hub during the 2011 Libyan uprising, facilitating the evacuation of foreign nationals and providing medical aid to the injured.

The ties between Malta and Libya also saw substantial financial flows. In 2021, former foreign minister Evarist Bartolo said Malta held €200 million worth of frozen Libyan assets. He said that half of that amount was linked to Mutassim Gaddafi, one of the sons of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

A Maltese court ruled in 2022 that the funds linked to Muammar Gaddafi should be returned to the Libyan state, triggering an appeal by Gaddafi’s heirs.

From the files, it is unclear whether Epstein ever came to Malta. It is also unclear whether he had any business in the country or what interest he had in it, if any. But Malta is, nonetheless, mentioned a few times by him and his associates, and this was several years after his first sex-offence conviction in the US.

‘Houses in Malta’?

Epstein’s emails were often short, cryptic one-liners. One such email is that which he sent to one of his female associates in June 2014, in which he simply wrote: “houses in Malta?”

In her reply, she asked: “Commercial or private use?” To which he replied: “For you and I”.

Three days later, she replied: “Not for us”. And the exchange seemed to stop there.

It seems another associate of Epstein in the cryptocurrency world was quite keen on meeting Epstein in Malta in July 2014. He wanted him to meet “some bitcoin wizards” on the island.

At one point, Epstein appeared to be intrigued by the idea. In a reply, he wrote: “... yes maybe Malta or you guys meet me in Paris.”

It is unclear whether Epstein ever made it to Malta but a month later, his associate followed up, asking: “Any update on plans to drop into Malta? Just attempting to plan the week: we may take a boat or [go] for some deep sea fishing, so let me know if it’s still in the cards (sic).”

In another set of emails, Epstein and his associates discussed chartering a private jet with a Malta-registered company that tailors private jet flights for business and leisure travellers.

Epstein appeared to truly have had at least some interest in Malta around 2014 and 2015.

A female associate emailed him in June 2014, saying she was scheduled to meet “Maltese lawyers” and “auditors” the next day and asked if there was anything he wanted to know.

To which he replied: “Everything.”

In another email, he also said: “After we spoke I rcasearched (sic) the Malta Germany tax treaty, navigating is pretty straightforward.”

In a separate exchange a year later, he told another associate: “later let’s talk Malta etc.” The reason remains unclear from the exchange.

The files suggest Epstein viewed Malta as an attractive jurisdiction for emerging financial sectors, specifically cryptocurrency and fintech. This occurred while Malta was positioning itself as a “Blockchain Island” due to its flexible financial regulations.

But, again, it remains unclear from the files whether Epstein ever did business of any kind in Malta.