Washington: Newly released United States Department of Justice files have uncovered a striking detail from 2015 and 2016. Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex offender whose network once stretched across finance and politics, was offered the opportunity to invest in property linked directly to America’s national security.
Emails reviewed by UK broadcaster ITV News show that the financier was presented with an investment proposal involving a vast building complex in Arlington, Virginia. The site is located roughly one mile from the Pentagon and spans over 84,000 square metres. Marketing material described it as a mission-critical facility and the only property in Arlington other than the Pentagon itself capable of meeting the Department of Defense’s space and infrastructure requirements.
The proposed price was approximately $116 million. The structure of the transaction would have positioned Epstein as a co-owner. In practical terms, he would have become a landlord to the United States government. There is no evidence that the deal was ever completed. The proposal has triggered debates about the circles in which Epstein moved and the scale of access he was granted.
The proposal linked to the Pentagon appears in three documents in the newly released files (an email, a presentation for investors and a summary explaining how the deal would work). The material formed part of millions of emails made public last month as investigators continue to examine Epstein’s financial relationships and associations.
The same trove of documents includes a memo written by an FBI informant who alleged that Epstein had connections to Israel’s intelligence services and had operated as a Mossad asset. The memo stated that he had been close to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and had received training of intelligence activity. The files do not provide corroborating evidence for those claims.
Epstein maintained a relationship for nearly a decade with Barak, who served as Israel’s prime minister from 1999 to 2001 and previously held senior military intelligence roles. Visitor logs and flight records published in earlier investigations show that the former Israeli prime minister visited Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse more than 30 times between 2013 and 2017. He previously said that he regretted the association and had not been aware of the full scope of Epstein’s crimes.
The latest disclosures also highlight Epstein’s financial support for Israeli organisations, including Friends of the Israel Defense Forces and the Jewish National Fund. The documents trace donations and correspondence that illustrate his interest in maintaining ties across political and philanthropic networks in Israel and the United States.
The Pentagon-area proposal was forwarded to Epstein by businessman David Stern, who described himself in correspondence as Epstein’s “soldier”. He later became director of the St George’s House Trust at Windsor Castle and attended a formal event at St James’s Palace where he was seated near Queen Elizabeth II. British authorities have since arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, a senior royal aide linked to the trust, on suspicion of misconduct in public office following revelations connected to the Epstein files.
In a separate email from 2015, Stern presented Epstein with another opportunity – a potential investment in two FBI field offices located in Richmond, Virginia, and Baltimore, Maryland, along with associated courthouses. The documents described these federal properties as attractive assets and outlined a structure requiring an initial $25 million contribution followed by an additional $80 million. Ownership would have been routed through an offshore entity registered in the Cayman Islands.
Both real estate proposals originated with investor Jonathan D. Fascitelli, a noted person in commercial property development. The documents show that Epstein was not merely as a passive investor but as a partner in transactions involving some of the most sensitive government facilities in the United States.
Epstein’s career in finance was built on cultivating relationships with billionaires, academics and political leaders. The newly surfaced records raise questions about how a man who pleaded guilty in 2008 for procuring a minor for prostitution continued to receive investment proposals tied to critical national security infrastructure years later.
There is no evidence that Epstein ultimately acquired any stake in the Pentagon-linked building or the FBI properties. The mere existence of such offers, preserved in official correspondence, has intensified scrutiny over how he was perceived within elite financial circles even after his criminal conviction.
The Justice Department files continue to reveal the extent of Epstein’s reach. Each new disclosure adds another layer to the portrait of a financier who operated at the intersection of wealth, politics and state institutions.
