Case File
efta-01762220DOJ Data Set 10OtherEFTA01762220
Date
Unknown
Source
DOJ Data Set 10
Reference
efta-01762220
Pages
2
Persons
0
Integrity
Extracted Text (OCR)
EFTA DisclosureText extracted via OCR from the original document. May contain errors from the scanning process.
From:
Gmax
Sent:
Saturday, December 8, 2012 11:06 AM
To:
Jeffrey Epstein
Subject:
Re: were you aware of this?
You low how I fee about him..
FACEBOOK <https://www.facebook.com/TerraMarProject> - TWITTER <http://twitter.com/terramarproject> - G+
<https://plus.google.com/104195649525707945586/posts>
PINTEREST <http:// <http:/>
pinterest.com/terramarproject/ <http://pinterest.com/terramarproject/» - INSTAGRAM <http:// <http:/>
instagram.com/p/PhLoOKAVEq/ <http://instagram.com/p/PhloCIKAVEq/» - CITIZENSHIP
<http://theterramarproject.org/#citizenship> - THE DAILY CATCH <http:// <http:/>
theterramarproject.org/thedailycatch/ <http://theterramarproject.org/thedailycatch/»
On Dec 8, 2012, at 10:07, "Jeffrey Epstein" <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]» wrote:
no, but he tried to sell the portrait to me for 1 million, he is a bad guy
On Sat, Dec 8, 2012 at 12:41 AM
> wrote:
http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/03/10/34803.htm
LOS ANGELES (CN) - An investment fund claims it was conned by a self-described "master illusionist" who
persuaded it to invest in rare books and art - including a portrait of Sir Isaac Newton - and then absconded with more
than $543,000 and a bunch of the loot.
Ensign Consulting Ltd., of the Virgin Islands, claims lead defendant Al Seckel spent years crafting a persona
with the appearance of respectability before he approached one of its consultants about an investment in rare antique
globes.
Four months later, Seckel claimed to have sold the globes for a 30 percent profit, splitting the proceeds 50-50
with Ensign, according to the complaint.
Soon Seckel approached Ensign again, telling its consultant (nonparty) Adam Gold that he was "at a chateau,
where believe it or not, the owner has an enormous collection of antiquarian science books inherited from her dad,"
according to the Superior Court complaint.
"It is a stunning collection. I am trying to negotiate it out now, but will only do so at a price that makes a lot of
sense," the complaint states, citing Seckel.
Less than two weeks later, Ensign says, Seckel tried to persuade it to invest in a portrait of Isaac Newton,
allegedly commissioned by the scientist himself.
Ensign says Seckel claimed he already had a buyer for the painting: Nathan P. Myhrvold, the former chief
technology officer for Microsoft. (Myhrvold is not a party to the complaint.)
Ensign says it gave Seckel $168,000 to buy the painting, by Sir Godfrey Kneller, anticipating that Seckel would
flip it immediately for $300,000.
EFTA_R1_00067463
EFTA01762220
But that sale never happened, Ensign says.
Ensign says Seckel offered the Newton portrait to another defendant, Michael Sharpe Rare & Antiquarian
Books, as collateral for a debt that Seckel owed Sharpe for a 15th century manuscript.
"Since Ensign paid for and owned the Newton portrait and Seckel otherwise had no ownership interest in the
Newton portrait, Seckel had no right to use the Newton portrait as collateral for his personal debt owned to Michael
Sharpe," the complaint states.
Sharpe foreclosed upon the security interest in the Newton portrait, and with the court enforcing the
judgment, promptly sold it to a third party, defendant Lou Weinstein, according to the complaint.
Ensign claims that everyone involved knew that it owned the portrait, and conspired to hide that the Newton
portrait had been used as collateral, had been the subject of a creditor lawsuit, and was sold.
Sharpe made more than $284,900 on the transaction, and Seckel netted more than $15,000, the complaint
states.
Meanwhile, Ensign claims, Seckel induced it to invest in eight sets of rare books that he described as either
"'pre-sold,' or as good as 'pre-sold."'
But once again, Ensign says, the sales never took place.
Ensign says it entered into a contract with Seckel that required him to repay the price of the investments
should any "material adverse change" occur.
But a contract couldn't protect it from Seckel's double-dealing, Ensign says.
With weeks, Seckel said that three of the books, worth more than $103,000, had been stolen by a bookseller,
though actually he had sold the books, using the bogus theft as a way to cover up his fraud, according to the complaint.
Finally, after Seckel defaulted, Ensign says it tried to take possession of the books and portrait, and hired an
auction company to handle the sales.
At first Seckel failed to cooperate, then "he finally admitted that he had pawned some of the books,
presumably almost a year after having done so," Ensign says.
Ensign says that in an email, Seckel claimed that he had pawned the books to comply with Ensign's demands
for repayment.
Named as defendants are Al Seckel, Isabel Maxwell, Illusionworks LLC, Lou Weinstein, Heritage Book Shop,
Krown & Spellman Booksellers, Michael Sharpe Rare & Antiquarian Books, W.P. Watson Antiquarian Books, and 19th
Century Rare Book and Photograph Shop.
Ensign demands $543,259, and punitive damages for breach of contract, fraud, conversion, tortious
interference with a contract, fraudulent transfer, negligent misrepresentation, and fraudulent accounting.
It is represented by Olivier Taillieu with Zuber & Taillieu.
The information contained in this communication is confidential, may be attorney-client privileged, may constitute
inside information, and is intended only for the use of the addressee. It is the property of Jeffrey Epstein Unauthorized
use, disclosure or copying of this communication or any part thereof is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you
have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by return e-mail or by e-mail to
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> , and destroy this communication and all copies thereof,
including all attachments. copyright -all rights reserved
2
EFTA_R1_00067464
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