A “black book” linked to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, allegedly containing the names and addresses of 221 people associated with him, is set to hit the auction block.
Epstein’s controversial book, believed to be from 1997, is set to go up for private sale by Alexander Historical Auctions on May 15. Its authenticity will be confirmed by a forensic examiner’s report, as per a report in American news website Daily Beast.
Bidders have been promised anonymity as they fight to get a hold of the item, which could fetch over $200,000, according to Bill Panagopulos, owner of the auction house.
“There are no comparables for the sale of this kind of relic. But, based on my experience, if I’m pressed to offer a price I would think it would be $100,000 to $200,000, and up,” he told the Daily Beast.
According to the report, some of the famous names in the Epstein Islands scandal are former US President Donald Trump, billionaire and New York businessman John Catsimatidis, and Suzanne Ircha, co-owner of the New York Jets.
Other figures reportedly include billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn, Cristina Greeven (wife of former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo), former Playboy CEO Christie Hefner, and Marty Peretz, an ex-publisher of The New Republic and former political mentor to Al Gore.
A 2021 Business Insider article claimed that the older black book contains 221 new names not listed in the first book.
The origins of Epstein’s black book remain unclear to this day. It was discovered by a female musician in the 1990s.
Jeffrey Epstein, a financier with a powerful network in the US and abroad, was accused of raping young girls. However, his suicide in a New York prison in 2019 halted his prosecution.
Earlier in January, a New York judge unsealed the identities of people linked in court documents to Epstein.
Notably included in the documents, which include almost 1,000 pages of depositions and statements, were former US presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, who have not been accused of any wrongdoing in the case.
The list of around 150 people includes a host of Epstein associates previously identified as John or Jane Does in a lawsuit brought against Epstein’s former mistress, Ghislaine Maxwell.
The disclosure is part of a defamation proceeding between Maxwell, sentenced in 2022 to 20 years in prison, and a plaintiff against the duo, Virginia Giuffre.
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