Late financier and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein shipped almost $50,000 worth of cement to Little St. James, his luxury island hideaway dubbed “Paedophile Island,” The Sun reported Thursday.
According to the report, the delivery was ordered mere weeks before a November 2018 Miami Herald expose that led to his arrest earlier this year.
Interestingly, Epstein paid extra money and even took monetary responsibility for any damage to the Carmix 5.5 XL mixer truck so that it would be delivered faster, the report says.
It is unclear why exactly the financier needed the cement so fast. The Sun notes that it was not uncommon for Epstein to conduct construction works at his hideaway, so the cement could have been used for innocent purposes.
"While the purchase of the cement mixer on its own is not suspicious, particularly given the reported and approved repair of cisterns on Little St. James, both the timing of the shipment and the fact that it's the item in our records shipped with an express bill of lading do raise concerns,” said William George, an analyst from the shipping data company Import Genius.
According to George’s data, the shipment arrived on Epstein's island on 7 November, 2018, “21 days before Julie Brown's expose was published in the Miami Herald and 23 days before Epstein allegedly began to try to pay off witnesses.”
"Considering both the scope of Brown's article and the urgency of the shipment, the possibility that the cement mixer was used to literally cover up evidence cannot be discounted,” he adds.
In 2008, Epstein also ordered an industrial shredder to be installed on the island, shortly after he was convicted of soliciting an underage girl for prostitution – a conviction for which he served a 13-month prison term. These types of shredders can destroy hard evidence, such as CDs, papers and even metal objects, with ease and in large quantities.
Earlier this month, Epstein was found dead in an apparent suicide, which sparked many conspiracy theories, as Epstein himself had claimed he had “dirt” on a number of rich and powerful figures in the US, as reported by The New York Times.