Jeffrey Epstein surrounded himself with sultans, former heads of state, British royalty and tech visionaries to cultivate the image of a high-flying financier.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But in real estate, Epstein often leaned on a down-on-his-luck New York City developer with a trail of lawsuits and an array of business ventures that ranged from a deli to a houseware retailer to boutique luxury condos: David Mitchell.<\/p>\n
Epstein\u2019s previously undisclosed real estate investments with Mitchell show deeper insight into Epstein\u2019s business strategy. He invested in real estate not just for paper returns but to enhance his connections and stature, specifically turning to Mitchell to build out his ever-expanding Rolodex.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One source who knows Mitchell said that Epstein saw Mitchell \u2014 whose father was a famed NYC restaurateur \u2014 as someone who could open doors and make social connections for the outer borough-born Epstein in New York\u2019s upper-crust society. The relationship evolved as Mitchell\u2019s investments went south and he relied on Epstein for short-term loans and financial advice. Epstein provided at least $7 million in loans and investments in Mitchell\u2019s projects, according to a TRD estimate based on transactions specified in the documents.<\/p>\n
The thousands of emails exchanged between Epstein, Mitchell and Epstein\u2019s assistants were released as part of 3.5 million pages of documents by the Department of Justice into the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein. The emails suggest the relationship was mostly transactional, although they did occasionally exchange birthday and holiday messages. Epstein once asked Mitchell about an erectile dysfunction drug and Mitchell invited Epstein to a birthday party in Tel Aviv, telling him it should be \u201cquite demonic and fun.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Epstein provided Mitchell funding for many of his projects, including a $1.5 million loan in 2017 to cover shortfalls at the Life Hotel, Mitchell\u2019s ambitious rebrand of the Herald Square Hotel. Epstein also invested in at least four of Mitchell\u2019s ventures, including a six-unit condo development on the Upper East Side, according to emails released by the Department of Justice.<\/p>\n
Mitchell, despite his blue blood bona fides, often found himself needing cash infusions from Epstein, emails show. Epstein, whose liquid assets were in the hundreds of millions for most of their relationship, seemed happy to help, providing over $2 million in loans to Mitchell.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t sweat it, life is long . No stress from me,\u201d Epstein said in response to Mitchell trying to negotiate a repayment plan for one of the loans he had received.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Epstein did not appear to financially benefit from his relationship with Mitchell. But after the Department of Justice charged Epstein with sex trafficking dozens of underage girls in July 2019, Epstein\u2019s attorneys sought to put assets from two individuals up for a bond package: Epstein\u2019s brother and Mitchell, who was described by Epstein\u2019s attorneys as a \u201cfriend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Between 2009 and 2019, Epstein also regularly sought connections from Mitchell. Epstein turned to the dealmaker to find a friend of Woody Allen\u2019s son a restaurant job. Epstein asked Mitchell for a rabbi who would do a conversion for \u201cshiksas,\u201d or non-Jewish women. And he requested Mitchell\u2019s help with a Soho House membership.<\/p>\n
Epstein also offered Mitchell career advice, warning him he was in too many deals.<\/p>\n
\u201cTry to be disciplined about deals. breaking the addiction is not easy,\u201d said Epstein in an email to Mitchell in 2016. \u201cAs your friend i think too many\u2026 slow down, I need you around.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mitchell did not respond to multiple requests for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two connectors<\/p>\n
Mitchell hailed from the world Epstein always aspired to be a part of. Mitchell\u2019s father, Jan Mitchell, revived famed New York restaurants L\u00fcchow\u2019s and Longchamps. He bought an estate in Southampton modeled after the Villa Medici in Rome and amassed a collection of pre-Columbian gold, donating some to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jan\u2019s son dabbled in real estate, focusing on retailers and small high-end condos in Manhattan and Brooklyn Heights. Among his more notable ventures was Gracious Homes, an upscale housewares chain, which filed for bankruptcy in 2016.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Epstein and Mitchell had a longstanding relationship. When Epstein\u2019s cushy 13-month jail sentence in Palm Beach County for charges of soliciting prostitution and soliciting a minor for prostitution ended in July 2009, Mitchell called Epstein\u2019s office to offer \u201ccongratulations\u2026 or welcome back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just so happy for you. Give me a call when you can,\u201d Mitchell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mitchell acted as deal guy for Epstein. Over the course of their relationship, Mitchell brought a number of investment opportunities and business ideas to Epstein.<\/p>\n
Mitchell\u2019s pitches were often for new and off-the-beaten-path deals, getting into loansharking, buying properties in Alberta, Canada, and a self-storage property in Tampa. But Mitchell rarely seemed to have the funds to close on these investments.<\/p>\n
\u00a0After Epstein\u2019s Palm Beach prison sentence ended, he viewed Mitchell as a trusted confidante. Epstein asked Mitchell to arrange meetings with some of his most valued contacts. In 2010, Epstein requested that Mitchell go to Dubai with an Epstein associate to meet Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, the CEO of logistics giant DP World. A year later, Mitchell was asking Epstein, then a convicted sex offender, for \u201ccredibility help\u201d in the U.K., while he attempted to make a bid on the Silverstone racing track with Guggenheim Partners. Epstein hosted a meeting at his NYC townhouse with Peter Mandelson, a member of the U.K\u2019s House of Lords, and Mitchell. The deal fizzled out and Mitchell said he was looking for new partners and asked Epstein if he could pitch the deal to the \u201cSultan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Back in 2011, Epstein appeared to have nearly blind trust in Mitchell.<\/p>\n
\u201c[I\u2019m] closing today on your deal\u201e with no due diligence. I am merely relying on your representations . thanks and good luck,\u201d said Epstein in one email.<\/p>\n
Epstein also offered to help Mitchell out when he was short on capital. In 2011, Mitchell asked for Epstein to show \u201cproof of funds\u201d for a purchase to the tune of \u00a37 million British pounds. Mitchell said he just needed a \u201cflash.\u201d In 2012, Mitchell once again asked Epstein to provide a \u201cproof of funds\u201d letter for $21 million to satisfy an \u201cedgy\u201d seller in another deal.<\/p>\n
A partnership in the red<\/p>\n
Epstein invested millions with Mitchell, in addition to loaning him money directly, according to financial documents made public by the DOJ. Many of those investments did not reap returns.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mitchell and Epstein were partners on multiple condo developments, including an Upper East Side condo conversion project of a Beaux-Arts mansion at 320 East 82nd Street that Mitchell had purchased for $16 million in 2015. They also co-invested in a four-unit condo project in Flatiron that attracted A-listers like Chelsea Clinton, Jeff Gordon and Jennifer Lopez after launching sales in 2013.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the Upper East Side development hardly saw any buyers, let alone celebrities, come through the door after Mitchell\u2019s then-wife, Douglas Elliman agent Jamie Mitchell, launched sales in 2017. After pestering Mitchell for months about a project update, Epstein\u2019s accountant Richard Kahn was dismayed at the numbers Mitchell sent over in May 2018. \u201cThis summary sheet is useless and [Mitchell] is clearly lost,\u201d he wrote to Epstein. \u201cIt appears from sales scenario\u2026we get back $0 on our $3,480,000 investment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mitchell\u2019s other projects were quickly unraveling, as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He bought the Herald Square Hotel for $40 million in 2015 and sunk $30 million into renovations and rebranding it as the boutique 98-room Life Hotel, with ground-floor dining from restaurateur Steven Hanson, who also invested in the project.<\/p>\n
Nearly immediately, the hotel appeared to be a losing proposition. Emails from October 2017 show Mitchell asking his partner Hanson for $2,600 to cover overdraft fees, and by 2018 he was looking to sell the property but couldn\u2019t find a bidder to make him and his investors whole, according to a lawsuit filed against Mitchell in state court.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Epstein played the role of strategic advisor and, when necessary, bridge lender. He told Mitchell he wanted \u201cno tie to [the] hotel.\u201d In 2017, Epstein\u2019s company, Financial Trust Real Estate, agreed to extend a $1.5 million loan to Mitchell for the Life Hotel. In 2023, Mitchell lost the hotel after the lender foreclosed on the underlying loan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As Mitchell became more indebted to Epstein, Epstein provided Mitchell other ways to make some cash, like helping broker Epstein\u2019s purchase of his neighbor, Bill Cosby\u2019s townhome on East 71st Street. He also enlisted Mitchell to auction off a Hercules statue and another Roman statue with a projected value of $1.5 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, Mitchell continued to ask Epstein for multiple short-term loans.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In October 2018, Epstein wired Mitchell $70,000. In January 2019, Mitchell asked Epstein for $100,000 wire. Epstein\u2019s accountant emailed Epstein, \u201che\u2019s desperate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Epstein\u2019s accountant was especially dubious of Mitchell\u2019s ability to repay his debts and the whereabouts of the statues.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSeems like he is stumbling out of control all answers noncommittal..and info he gives us is never accurate,\u201d said Kahn.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kahn emailed Mitchell, \u201cquite disturbing that your story keeps changing\u2026 you should be more careful as jeffrey trusts you yet you give me bad info every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Records of ledgers from Epstein\u2019s accounts show that Mitchell and his wife made payments in increments as small as $2,200 to Epstein over the course, totaling over $600,000, ending in April 2019.<\/p>\n
Mitchell\u2019s money problems<\/p>\n
After Epstein\u2019s death in a federal detention center while awaiting charges of sex trafficking minors, Mitchell continued to face financial and legal challenges.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A New York judge found he owed over $6 million to a broker he allegedly stiffed on a land deal in Las Vegas over a decade prior. Two different law firms sued him for unpaid legal fees, he was evicted from his Midtown East co-op for failing to pay 18 months of maintenance fees and his wife filed for divorce.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2020, a roughly $42,000 check bounced for his children\u2019s tuition at elite private school Columbia Grammar & Preparatory. When the school administrator was informed over email, she responded: \u201cYou did not tell me\u2026but it does not surprise me at all.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
By 2021, he listed just $1,200 in his Chase bank account, according to a court filing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just last month, Mitchell was sued by an art gallery owner who collects Pre-Columbian art for an unpaid loan of $34,200.<\/p>\n
In an email, the gallery owner offered Mitchell one last chance to pay up before commencing litigation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis situation has been prolonged by repeated misrepresentations and delays,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jeffrey Epstein surrounded himself with sultans, former heads of state, British royalty and tech visionaries to cultivate the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140261,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[59257,9,24,55,54,56],"class_list":{"0":"post-140260","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-jeffrey-epstein-david-mitchell","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","12":"tag-new-york-city-news","13":"tag-ny"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}