Eddie Dane
Philosopher
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2007
- Messages
- 6,681
Do the words "ponzi scheme" mean anything to you?
he seems to have gone from math teacher to options trader to partner in a bank to hedgefund manager to probably spy and then some.
Epstein was obviously much more than a scammer and blackmailer.
He must have been very, very intelligent. Note he also provided services like recovering huge amounts of money from fraudulent investments and helped rich people park their money in tax havens.
This guy taught math at an elite prep school, contacted the very prominent parents their and impressed them (well, Greenspan) so much they gave him a job as an options trader.
If anything, he must have had incredible people skills and the ability to learn to trade with very complex financial products, law and particularly tax law.
as for blackmail:
The island thing seems perfect for that. The ideal setting to get people to act in ways they would never do in their own surroundings. a combination of feeling isolated from normal society on 'orgy island', away from the law and eyes of colleagues, family, press and community. The perfect spot to let go.
Then later, you're not so sure about how private that all was. And reviewing the facts, you really would not like these things to become public. Too much alcohol, you had not done any coke since college. That girl might have been a bit too young now that you've sobered up and what if that Epstein dude has cameras on that island?
And then your secretary calls. Mister Epstein is on the line and he wants to know if you're interested in investing in his hedge fund.