Epstein Data Wiki

Laurel Inc

Properties2
tagsentity, virgin-islands, epstein-company
aliasesLaurel, Inc.

13 min read

TypeVirgin Islands corporation; the Government of the Virgin Islands pleads that it was formed and first licensed in or about November 20111
Address6100 Red Hook Qtr B3, St. Thomas, VI 008022
BankFirstBank Virgin Islands, a division of FirstBank Puerto Rico2
OfficersAs of December 31, 2018 Epstein was listed as president and director, Darren Indyke as vice-president/secretary/director and Richard Kahn as treasurer/director, as pleaded by the Government of the Virgin Islands1
PropertyEpstein’s Palm Beach, Florida property, transferred to the company in or about December 2011, as pleaded1
Articles of incorporation filedNovember 22, 2011; certificate of incorporation issued December 27, 2011, Corp No. 5819803
Resident agentKellerhals Ferguson LLP from formation; Business Basics VI, LLC from September 2012456
Stated business”Holding Property for Personal Use”, on each of the six franchise tax reports in the corporate file for the tax years 2012 to 20177

Laurel, Inc. was a Virgin Islands corporation at Jeffrey Epstein’s St. Thomas address, 6100 Red Hook Quarter B3, with an account at FirstBank Virgin Islands, a division of FirstBank Puerto Rico.2 The Government of the Virgin Islands’ second amended complaint against Epstein’s estate pleads that Laurel was formed and first licensed in or about November 2011; that as of December 31, 2018 Epstein was listed as its president and director, with Darren Indyke as vice-president, secretary and director and Richard Kahn as treasurer and director; and that the company owns Epstein’s Palm Beach, Florida property, transferred to it in or about December 2011.1 In 2014 Laurel gave $5,000 to the New Mexico gubernatorial campaign of Gary King, which returned it.892

The 2014 King contribution and refund

Laurel gave $5,000 to Gary King’s campaign for governor on July 7, 2014, one of several $5,000 contributions the campaign recorded that day from companies at the Red Hook address.8 The Santa Fe New Mexican reported on September 9 that King had received more than $35,000 from businesses using the address at which Epstein was listed in the New York sex offender registry.10 The campaign’s next report entered the contribution among seven “Refunded Contribution” entries dated September 12, 2014.9

The refund check, “Gary King 2014” check #1631 for $5,000, is dated 9-12-14, is drawn on Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. in New Mexico, and bears a signature reading “Gary King.”2 FirstBank’s record shows it credited to Laurel’s account on October 27, 2014; the account number and the deposit slip’s account line are redacted.2

Payments from Epstein accounts

A Deutsche Bank exhibit prepared for the grand jury, listing payments to Epstein-affiliated individuals and entities not onboarded by the bank, gives two lines for Laurel Inc.: three payments totalling $455,000 and six totalling $995,000, in each case from an Epstein account to a Laurel account at First Bank of Puerto Rico (the exhibit is drawn from Deutsche Bank’s own records but its rows do not print the payer’s bank).11 The exhibit’s background note reads that “Laurel, Inc. appears to be an Epstein-controlled entity” which, like FT Real Estate, “shares a USVI address with Epstein and made contributions to New Mexico gubernatorial candidate, Gary King.”11

The Lieutenant Governor’s corporate file

The Office of the Lieutenant Governor of the Virgin Islands, Division of Corporations and Trademarks, holds a 33-page corporate file for Laurel, Inc. The release carries that file three times; every page pinned below is read from the copy at EFTA01252022.12 Its first sheet is the Lieutenant Governor’s certificate, Corp No. 581980, certifying that Laurel, Inc., a business corporation of the Virgin Islands, “filed in my office on November 22, 2011 as provided for by law, Articles of Incorporation, duly acknowledged”, witnessed under the seal of the Government at Charlotte Amalie on the 27th day of December, 2011.3 Article IV of the articles that follow authorises 10,000 shares of common stock at $.01 par value with no preferred stock, and gives the minimum capital with which the corporation would commence business as $1,000.13

Kellerhals Ferguson LLP, the firm at whose Havensight address the corporation was first registered, consented to act as agent for service of process on November 21, 2011.4 On June 1, 2012 Epstein as president and Darren Indyke as secretary executed a Certificate of Change of Resident Agent beginning “The undersigned, being the President and Secretary of Laurel, Inc.”, which resolves that Kellerhals Ferguson LLP resigns as agent and appoints Business Basics VI, LLC in its place; the acknowledgment beneath it is printed under a Virgin Islands venue and the notary’s stamp records a commission in the State of New York.5 Business Basics VI, LLC signed its own consent on the office’s resident agent form on September 13, 2012, and the office’s received stamp on the preceding sheet carries the same day.6

The fourteen declarations

The file holds an annual report and a franchise tax report for each of the seven fiscal years ended December 31, 2011 through December 31, 2017: fourteen instruments. Twelve carry a declaration under penalty of perjury above rules for the treasurer and the president. The two older-form sheets do not: one is captioned “Certified Correct”, and the other carries a dated verification over rules reading president or vice president and treasurer or assistant treasurer. Read at the image at 400 dpi, a signature stands on each of the two officer rules on all fourteen, over the printed names Richard Kahn and Jeffrey Epstein.14 The DATE rules beside them are not filled in the same way throughout: on the ten sheets for the tax years 2013 to 2017 both DATE rules carry a manuscript date; on the annual report and the franchise tax report for the tax year 2012 both DATE rules carry no mark; and the two sheets for the tax year 2011 are on an older form that has no date rule beside the signatures, the annual report instead carrying a typed date of June 30, 2012.14 The same annual report for the tax year 2012 stands unsigned in the separate filing run for the seven companies, and that difference between the two copies is set out there.

Each of the six franchise tax reports for the tax years 2012 through 2017 gives the nature of business as “Holding Property for Personal Use” and paid-in capital stock of $1,000 at Section 3. The tax stated due is $150.00 on the reports for the tax years 2012 through 2016 and $300.00 on the report for the tax year 2017, the last in the file, on which the highest total paid-in capital stock is still given as $1,000.7

The balance sheets, 2011 to 2017

A balance sheet and a statement of income and retained earnings accompany each annual report, one for every year from 2011 to 2017. Each of the seven carries the corporations office’s inked received stamp, dated in the June or July following the year it reports.15

Sheet as ofAsset lineTotal assetsAdvancesStockholder’s equityStatement of income
Dec 31, 2011PROPERTY $1,000$1,000—$1,000”NO ACTIVITY”16
Dec 31, 2012PROPERTY $1,000$1,000—$1,000”NO ACTIVITY for the Year Ended December 31, 2012”16
Dec 31, 2013CASH $6,454$6,454$6,299$155expenses $845; net loss $(845)15
Dec 31, 2014CASH $6,949$6,949$6,954$(5)expenses $160; net loss $(160)15
Dec 31, 2015CASH $784$784$949$(165)expenses $160; net loss $(160)15
Dec 31, 2016CASH $4,220$4,220$4,535$(315)expenses $150; net loss $(150)15
Dec 31, 2017CASH $37,129$37,129$37,594$(465)expenses $150; net loss $(150)15

The only asset line captioned PROPERTY on any of the seven sheets stands at $1,000, on the sheets as of December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2012; from the sheet as of December 31, 2013 the single asset line is CASH.15 The statements of income for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 each report total revenues of nil.15 None of the seven sheets names the Palm Beach property that the Government of the Virgin Islands pleads the company owned across those years.151

Virgin Islands enforcement action

Laurel, Inc. is a named defendant in the civil enforcement action brought in 2020 by the Attorney General of the Virgin Islands under the territory’s Criminally Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The second amended complaint groups Laurel with Maple, Inc. and Cypress, Inc. and alleges that each submitted annual financial statements to the Office of the Lieutenant Governor for 2011 to 2018 that misrepresented the assets it held and the expenses it incurred, in Laurel’s case by omitting the value of the Palm Beach property and the property taxes paid on it, and that Epstein and Kahn signed each company’s annual reports for those years.1 These are the Government’s pleaded allegations in a civil action and were not adjudicated.1 The Virgin Islands Department of Justice announced on December 1, 2022 a settlement with Epstein’s estate, the co-executors and ten Epstein-created entities, under which the defendants would pay the Government $105 million in cash plus half the proceeds of the sale of Little St. James.17 An FBI record of an October 2023 interview with the former Attorney General states: “The estate settled for 105 million dollars in civil court. The estate denied all wrong doing.”18 The denial recorded is the estate’s; no statement from Indyke or Kahn addressing the annual-report allegations specifically is recorded here.

Gary King; Darren Indyke; Richard Kahn; JEGE LLC; HBRK Associates; The seven no-activity filings; Nautilus, Inc.; Cypress, Inc..

Footnotes

  1. Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein et al., Superior Court of the Virgin Islands, Case No. ST-20-CV-14, Second Amended Complaint, filed Nov 30, 2022, exhibited in the territory’s federal case against JPMorgan Chase. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00161836 — Laurel’s formation, officers and property at ¶40 (p.44); the Office of the Lieutenant Governor at ¶183 (p.72); the financial-statement allegations at ¶¶190–192 (p.73) and ¶¶414–415 (p.106). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  2. FirstBank Virgin Islands record of a $5,000 credit to the account of Laurel, Inc. on Oct 27, 2014, with images of the deposit slip and of Gary King 2014 check #1631. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01271585 pp.189–190. Account and item numbers are redacted. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  3. Certificate of the Lieutenant Governor of the Virgin Islands for Laurel, Inc., Corp No. 581980, dated December 27, 2011, under an impression of the territorial seal. Read at the image at 300 dpi. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01252022 p.1. ↩ ↩2

  4. Consent of Agent for Service of Process, Kellerhals Ferguson LLP, dated November 21, 2011. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01252022 p.9. ↩ ↩2

  5. Certificate of Change of Resident Agent for Laurel, Inc., adopted by written consent in lieu of a meeting, executed as of June 1, 2012. Read at the image at 300 dpi: a signature stands over each of the two printed name-and-office lines, the upper naming Epstein as President and the lower naming Indyke as Secretary; the day and month in the attestation clause are entered by hand; the acknowledgment is printed under a Virgin Islands venue and the notary’s inked stamp beneath it records a commission in the State of New York. The signatures and the stamp are described and not reproduced. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01252022 pp.10-11. ↩ ↩2

  6. Resident Agent Form, consent of agent for service of process, Business Basics VI, LLC, signed the 13th day of September 2012, with the Lieutenant Governor’s office received stamp of the same day at the foot of the preceding sheet. Read at the image at 300 dpi. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01252022 pp.11-12. The contact lines printed on the form are not reproduced here. ↩ ↩2

  7. Franchise Tax Report - Domestic Corporation, Laurel, Inc.: the report for tax closing date 12/31/2017, dated 6/30/2018, stating $300.00 at Sections 4A, 4B and 6 against highest total paid-in capital stock of $1,000, at https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01252022 p.13, read at the image at 400 dpi; the reports for tax closing dates 12/31/2016, 12/31/2015, 12/31/2014, 12/31/2013 and 12/31/2012, each stating $150.00 at the same three lines, at pp.15, 17, 19, 22 and 23, read at the same resolution. The nature of business line was read at the image on all six and gives “Holding Property for Personal Use” on each; Section 3F, highest total paid-in capital stock during the reporting period, gives $1,000 on each. The older-form report at p.25 captions the same field differently and is not counted in the six. ↩ ↩2

  8. Gary King 2014, First General report, submitted Sept 8, 2014. https://www.scribd.com/doc/239102945/Gary-King-9-18-14-Campaign-Finance-Report ↩ ↩2

  9. Gary King 2014, Second General report, submitted Oct 14, 2014. https://www.scribd.com/doc/243013285/Gary-King-10-14-14-Campaign-Finance-Report ↩ ↩2

  10. Steve Terrell, “King donors’ address linked to sex offender,” Santa Fe New Mexican, Sept 9, 2014, reproduced in full in Deutsche Bank’s due-diligence file at https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01296377 pp.2–3. ↩

  11. “Exhibit O: Payments to Epstein-Affiliated Individuals & Entities (Not Onboarded by Deutsche Bank),” in a grand-jury exhibit set drawn from Deutsche Bank records, marked confidential under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e). https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01681865 p.34. Account numbers are redacted on the exhibit. ↩ ↩2

  12. The Lieutenant Governor’s corporate file for Laurel, Inc., 33 pages. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01252022 . The release holds the same 33-page file, in the same order, at https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00073389 and https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00168426 ; every pin on this page reads the first of the three. ↩

  13. Articles of Incorporation of Laurel, Inc., subscribed November 21, 2011. Article IV read at the image at 300 dpi. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01252022 pp.2-8. Residential addresses on these pages are not reproduced here. ↩

  14. The fourteen declarations in the corporate file, each read at the image at 400 dpi. Franchise tax reports at pp.13 (tax closing 12/31/2017), 15 (12/31/2016), 17 (12/31/2015), 19 (12/31/2014), 22 (12/31/2013) and 23 (12/31/2012); annual reports at pp.14, 16, 18, 20, 21 and 24 for the same six years respectively; and the two older-form sheets at pp.25 and 26. The sheet at p.25 states on its own face that it is for the period ended June 30, 2012, and is not described here by a fiscal year. On each of the fourteen a signature stands on both officer rules; the signatures are described and not reproduced. Both DATE rules carry a manuscript date on pp.13-22 and no mark at all on pp.23 and 24; pp.25 and 26 are on a form with no date rule beside the signatures, p.26 carrying a typed date of June 30, 2012 above the verification block. Residential addresses on these pages are not reproduced here. ↩ ↩2

  15. The seven balance sheets and statements of income and retained earnings in the corporate file, as of December 31 of 2011 to 2017 at https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01252022 pp.27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33 in that order. All seven read at the image at 400 dpi, and the 2014 sheet again at 600 dpi because the run’s extraction gives a different leading digit on three of its figures; the figures in the table are the image’s. Each sheet carries an inked received stamp of the Lieutenant Governor’s corporations office, dated July 2012 on the 2011 sheet and June of 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 on the six that follow; the stamps are described and not quoted. Searching the extraction of all 33 pages of this run for “Brillo”, “Palm Beach” and “Florida” returned no page. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  16. Balance sheets of Laurel, Inc. as of December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2012, each closing with a statement of income and retained earnings reporting no activity. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01252022 pp.27-28. ↩ ↩2

  17. U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice press release, “U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Settles Sex Trafficking Case Against Estate Of Jeffrey Epstein And Co-Defendants For Over $105 Million,” Dec 1, 2022, filed as an exhibit. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02806313 pp.2–3. ↩

  18. FBI FD-302 continuation, interview of the former Attorney General of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Oct 2, 2023. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00129035 p.2. Nothing else on that page is cited here. ↩

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