Epstein Plane Owner: I Hate My Rape Jet
The guy who purchased one of Epstein's planes says it's been "damaged by stigma"
A charter plane executive who bought Jeffrey Epstein’s Gulfstream jet is having a bout of buyer’s remorse. Apparently, the pedophile’s former plane turns out to have been “damaged by stigma,” according to a lawsuit filed against the Epstein estate.
The federal lawsuit, filed in Georgia last week and first reported by The Daily Beast, alleges that Atlanta resident Thomas Huff bought the jet mere weeks before Epstein’s 2019 arrest. Huff claimed the billionaire’s associates hadn’t disclosed that he had been involved in “a massive criminal enterprise involving rape, sex trafficking, sexual abuse, physical assault, blackmail, intimidation, fraud, and deceit.”
Perhaps if Huff had googled his partner in planes, he would have found reports of Epstein’s 2007 indictment, 13-month incarceration, and year-long probation on charges of procuring a minor for prostitution; or any of the widespread coverage of his sexual abuse from 2018 and early 2019.
(Notably, this is a different jet than the Boeing aircraft dubbed the “Lolita Express;” Epstein owned four helicopters and three private planes. According to FAA registration records, the plane Huff bought was a 1988 Gulfstream Aerospace, with an engine made by Rolls-Royce.)
Huff had technically purchased a majority stake in JEGE LLC, the limited liability company which owned the aircraft and which Epstein had previously controlled. At the time, the complaint claims, JEGE LLC had been worth around $3.5 million. But after Epstein was arrested and accused of “criminal acts” involving “sexual exploitation against reportedly over 100 children,” that value took a hit. Huff estimates its assets depreciated by more than $1.5 million. To make matters worse, Huff couldn’t get it financed “not because of credit worthiness, but because of the stigma.”
This stigma seems to have carried over to Huff’s charter plane clients. “JEGE’s customers,” the complaint complains, “some of which are very well known to the public, are tracked, surveilled, and reported to the press for using, [sic] what they believed to be Jeffrey Epstein’s company.”
If any readers feel like reporting those very well known customers to the Gawker press, they should feel free to reach out at tips@gawker.com. No stigma over here.
