The moneyman behind a county Kerry hotel visited Jeffrey Epstein’s island in 2013 “with girls” while the resort’s multi-millionaire owner – who also owns two islands off the southwest county – tried to sell his Israeli villa to the convicted paedophile after they dined together in 2012.
Dean Kamen made plans with Epstein to visit his Little Saint James Island just two months after Kamen was revealed as the financial backer behind Jacqui Safra’s 2012 acquisition of the luxury Parknasilla Resort in Kenmare Bay.
Kamen was placed on leave earlier this month by a youth organisation he founded while it investigates his links to Epstein who was convicted in 2008 of soliciting a child for sex.
Safra – who tried to sell Epstein a mansion just a kilometre from the Israeli prime minister’s state residence – and Kamen socialised regularly with Epstein and the likes of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Refused to answer questions about Little Saint James trip
Segway inventor Dean Kamen refused to answer questions from the Boston Globe last week about an email exchange discussing “girls” being transported to Epstein’s island for his April 2013 visit.
It was suggested in other Epstein files emails that “Jean Luc” might fly with Kamen, a reference to Jean-Luc Brunel, an Epstein associate accused of trafficking and raping children before he was found dead in his prison cell in 2022.
The Ditch can now reveal that Kamen’s Parknasilla Resort business partner, Jacqui Safra, tried to sell his Jerusalem mansion – just one kilometre from Benjamin Netanyahu’s state home – to Epstein through American literary agent John Brockman.
'A small group of elites, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos'
Brockman first offered Esptein the house in 2011, along with other properties Safra owned, claiming that the Swiss investor had tried to sell it to a “Russian oligarch for $100,000,000” but would accept a lower offer.
Edge online magazine founder Brockman tried to sell the property again in 2013 after he, Safra and Epstein dined together in 2012 with a small group of elites, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
“JE, Jacqui Safra is here with me. Wants to sell you his Jerusalem house…known as ‘The Sherover House’ across st from Jerusalem Theatre and a few doors down from (Israeli) President's house,” said Brockman in his email to Epstein dated 26 February 2013.
He claimed in the same correspondence that Safra had unsuccessfully tried to sell the Sherover estate to Estée Lauder heir Ronald Lauder, a personal friend of Donald Trump who first suggested the USA should acquire Greenland and has been linked to Epstein.
There is some confusion over the former ownership of the Jerusalem property.
Israeli media reported that Safra only acquired Sherover House in 2014 through DEKA, a company founded by Dean Kamen.
The one-and-a-half-acre Sherover estate has since been developed into Jerusalem’s most exclusive new residential project.
As well as the Parknasilla Resort, Safra owns two county Kerry islands, Garnish Island and Rossdohan Island, the latter of which he bought in 2012 for €11 million.
