Attorneys for the estate of Jeffrey Epstein are attempting to hide his assets and cover up his crimes, according to the attorney general of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In an exclusive interview with Vanity Fair, Attorney General Denise George accuses the estate of using nondisclosure agreements with Epstein’s victims and former employees to “conceal the criminal activity of Epstein and his associates who are still there.” Last month, George, who was Miss Virgin Islands in 1977, attended the Howard University School of Law, and returned to spend decades as a successful prosecutor, also placed liens on the estate in order to make sure his victims receive their due.

“If he owns anything else that’s not connected to here, then we will have no jurisdiction,” says George in her office in St. Thomas’s Government Employees’ Retirement System building. “As the investigation continues, we will find that out. But as of now, as far as what is in the estate, it appears that a well-substantial amount is connected to his entities right here in the Virgin Islands.”

The people who worked on Epstein’s island, tended to his various companies such as Southern Trust, drove his boats, piloted his planes, etc., probably know more about Epstein’s activities than anyone else—and all are likely bound by nondisclosure agreements. “An employee told me that he saw Prince Andrew on a balcony out at Little St. James groping girls right out in the open,” George says. “He said he remembered walking up to him and saying, ‘Good morning, your Highness.’”

Buckingham Palace declined to comment. Prince Andrew has denied any knowledge of Epstein’s systematic and long-running abuse of underage girls.

But accusations against friends and associates of Epstein’s are impossible to investigate, George says, unless the estate agrees to release former employees from the NDAs they were required to sign when they went to work for the convicted sex offender on his private island. “The estate is going to have to cooperate with law enforcement and release these employees so they can feel comfortable to come forward,” she says. “They have to be allowed to speak up.”

In addition, George says, Epstein’s estate has proposed creating a fund that would compensate his victims only if they agree not to sue anyone associated with his crimes. “It is common practice that if you settle a claim with the other party, then you do not file any claims against that party, which would be the estate,” George says. “But to expand it to include Jeffrey Epstein’s friends? There are victims who have been raped by other people. That alone—that they would put those words in there—tells you where they’re coming from. They’re trying to protect their friends, and it’s not fair to the victims.”

Attorneys for the estate have argued that they are trying to ensure that Epstein’s victims are compensated quickly and fairly. But, per George, under the proposed terms of the fund, the estate itself would select the administrators who would oversee compensation to victims—and pay them huge fees to do so. “I was outraged,” George says. “The perpetrator doesn’t get to pick who oversees the fund for victims.… They’re proposing this trust and picking the people who they want. They’re paying them tons of money, to the point where they are depleting the very estate that they are supposed to be honestly using to be accountable for the crimes that were committed.”

On February 4, 2020, at a hearing in a windowless courtroom on St. Thomas, attorneys for the estate said the proposed fund would be administered by Jordana Harris Feldman, the former deputy special master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, and Kenneth Feinberg, an “alternative-arbitration expert” based in Washington, D.C., who has administered the 9/11 fund. Each testified that they would make close to $2 million for their role in establishing and administering the fund. In addition, they would receive another $400,000 to set up a website and call center, plus an estimated $120,000 to $160,000 a month for office costs.