Mar 30, 2024
Almost 200 mobile devices were utilized by individuals who frequented Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious “pedophile island” in the years preceding to his passing. The cellular signals they emitted created an untraceable data trail that extended back to the visitors’ residences and workplaces.
Maps of these visits were created by a controversial multinational data broker with military sector links. Those trails show the repeated excursions of affluent and prominent persons who seemed unconcerned with Epstein’s position as a convicted sex offender.
Near Intelligence, a location data broker embroiled in allegations of mismanagement and fraud, has gathered data that reveals with high precision the residences of many guests of Little Saint James, a property in the United States Virgin Islands where Epstein is accused of grooming, assaulting, and trafficking numerous women and girls.
Prosecutors said some of the girls were as young as fourteen. The former Attorney General of the United States Virgin Islands said that children as young as 12 were smuggled to Epstein by members of his high social circle.
Near Intelligence recorded devices visiting Little St. James from 80 cities spanning 26 US states and territories, with Florida, Massachusetts, Texas, Michigan, and New York leading the way, according to the report. The locations corresponded to estates in gated communities in Michigan and Florida, properties on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket in Massachusetts, a nightclub in Miami, and a walkway across from Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York City.
According to The Wall Street Journal, many ad exchanges have canceled agreements with Near, arguing that the company’s usage of their data breached the terms of service.
Officially, this data is meant for use by businesses looking to establish where prospective consumers work and live. However, in October 2023, the Journal found that Near had already delivered data to the US military via a complex network of hidden marketing organizations, middlemen, and conduits to defense contractors. According to bankruptcy filings acquired by Wired, Near Intelligence signed a year-long deal with nContext, a subsidiary of military contractor Sierra Nevada, in April 2023.
While many of the coordinates captured by Near point to multimillion-dollar homes in multiple US states, others point to lower-income areas where Epstein victims are known to have lived and attended school, such as West Palm Beach, Florida, where police and a private investigator say they have located approximately 40 of Epstein’s victims.
“Most
of the clients who come to me, their number one concern is privacy and
safety,” says attorney Lisa Bloom, who represented 11 of Epstein’s
alleged victims. “It’s deeply concerning to think that any sexual abuse
victims’ location will be tracked and then stored and then sold to
someone, who can presumably do whatever they want with it.”
I found it intriguing that the coordinates in Massachusetts came from gated communities on Martha's Vineyard, where we know Barack and Michelle Obama live.
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