Epstein’s Last-Minute Bid for a Moroccan Palace Before His 2019 Arrest

Newly released documents show that Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced US financier and convicted sex offender, tried to secure a multimillion-dollar Moroccan property just days before he was arrested in 2019. The files from the US Department of Justice reveal that Epstein’s attempt to buy the luxury estate was one of his final major financial moves before his arrest on sex trafficking charges.

According to the records, Epstein had been pursuing Bin Ennakhil, an opulent palace in the Palmeraie district of Marrakech, for many years. The property — known for its ornate design and luxurious gardens — had been a long-standing ambition of his, with negotiations stretching back to around 2011.

On 5 July 2019, just one day before he was taken into custody in New York, Epstein signed a $14.95 million wire transfer connected to a deal to buy the offshore company that owned the palace, valuing the transaction at about €18 million. That same transaction later became the focus of scrutiny because of its timing so close to his arrest on 6 July 2019.

However, the purchase never went through. Three days after his arrest, Epstein’s accountant cancelled the transfer, and the sale was ultimately abandoned.

The US-Morocco relationship added an intriguing angle to the episode. Morocco does not have an extradition treaty with the United States, prompting speculation in some quarters that Epstein may have seen the country as a potential place to live if legal pressure on him mounted. But the documents contain no direct evidence that he was planning to use the property as a refuge or to avoid prosecution. A former associate cited by the BBC said that the timing suggested Epstein “had no clue” his arrest was imminent and that purchasing property might simply have been part of his long-running property interests.

Epstein’s link to Morocco went back many years. Files note that he frequently visited the country and its luxury districts, and his connections included notable figures and old acquaintances well before 2019. But the palace deal marked his last major attempted investment abroad before his high-profile arrest and subsequent death later that year.