Washington, United States. Newly released emails in the latest batch of the Epstein Files show Jeffrey Epstein criticizing the use of Cyprus for tax avoidance and, in a separate exchange, referring to Bank of Cyprus and a claimed connection involving Josef Ackermann and US President Donald Trump.
Epstein Files release and Cyprus email exchange
The communications were released by the United States’ Department of Justice as part of the Epstein Files, described as a dossier of emails and other communications conducted by Epstein.
In an email exchange dated July 2017, Epstein responded to a message from German entrepreneur Nicole Junkermann about the planned location for a European subsidiary of Israeli technology company Reporty Homeland Security, which has since changed its name to Carbyne Ltd. Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak was also a recipient of Junkermann’s email.
Junkermann referred to a man named “Amir” who was “considering” setting up the company’s European subsidiary in Cyprus. She wrote that Cyprus “is raising eyebrows” and said she “would propose Luxembourg” as an alternative.
Epstein replied that “the Israeli trick of using Cyprus to avoid taxes is silly, antiquated, and dangerous.”
Barak later agreed, saying he had “ordered” Amir to “stop all steps” related to Cyprus and “be ready to change for a real European jurisdiction”.
Separate email chain mentions Bank of Cyprus, Ackermann and Trump
In a separate email chain dated February 1, 2019 with American writer Michael Wolff, Epstein referred to deals involving former Bank of Cyprus chairman Josef Ackermann and US President Donald Trump.
Epstein wrote: “That Russian oligarch who spent that money on that property and never moved into it and ultimately tore it down, he’s also a large shareholder in a bank called the Bank of Cyprus, which has been implicated in Russian money laundering,” and added that Ackermann, then chairman of the Bank of Cyprus, “is the former CEO of Deutsche Bank, to which Donald Trump owed all that money at the time he conveniently got this very large influx of cash from a Russian guy”.
The exchange said Epstein may have been referring to Russian Israeli billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, who reportedly offered financial gifts to Trump during his first term in office and discussed relations between the US and Russia with Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen, who reportedly also received financial gifts from Vekselberg.
What do you think the release of these email exchanges adds to public understanding of the discussions described?