Epstein sought to purchase Palace in Morocco before dying
2/24/2026 7:15:27 PM
Behind high walls outside Marrakesh, Bin Ennakhil unfolds like a private kingdom. The estate spans 4.6 hectares (11.4 acres) and has 60 marble fountains that spill into mosaic-tiled courtyards. Gold-draped salons open onto gardens threaded with olive trees and more than 2,000 palms. A hammam steam spa sits beneath carved ceilings while an outdoor pool glints in the Moroccan sun.
It is the kind of property that keeps its owner beyond the view of the outside world.
In the summer of 2019, a wire transfer request bearing convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s signature and dated July 4 was submitted to buy the Moroccan palace – in a country that has no extradition treaty with the United States. Two days later, Epstein was arrested at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.
Newly released US Department of Justice documents reviewed by Al Jazeera show that in the months before that arrest, Epstein had been negotiating to acquire the Moroccan estate through a layered offshore structure spanning the British Virgin Islands and Liechtenstein.
But as scrutiny intensified and details of Epstein’s life and crimes became public, the financial institutions that had long handled his money began to tighten their grip. The documents show banks rejecting wire transfers tied to his accounts and compliance teams escalating internal reviews. Tens of millions of dollars were sent abroad and then pulled back.
The records suggest that a man long adept at navigating complex financial systems was beginning to find those routes closing. A month after his arrest, he was discovered dead in US federal custody.
Epstein and Morocco
Bin Ennakhil palace was not the first time Morocco had appeared in Epstein’s orbit.
Emails examined by French broadcaster France Televisions showed that as early as July 2002, a Swedish national of Algerian origin, Daniel Siad, described by witnesses as a recruiter working for Epstein, sent him a photograph of a young woman in Marrakesh. “Cute French girl in Marrakech,” one message read.
A woman later questioned by French police said Siad “wanted me to meet girls for Epstein, to give him massages, prostitution”. She told investigators Siad showed her photographs of Moroccan girls and asked whether they would appeal to Epstein. “I told him no, that he wouldn’t be interested,” she said, adding that she did not want “another girl to suffer”.
The exchange suggests Morocco was part of Epstein’s international network long before the palace negotiations of 2019.
In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to soliciting a minor for prostitution and served 13 months in jail under a much criticised plea agreement that shielded him from federal prosecution. For years afterwards, he resumed a life of wealth and influence, moving between homes in Manhattan, Palm Beach, the US Virgin Islands and Paris and maintaining connections in finance, academia and politics.
He largely eluded scrutiny until late 2018 when the Miami Herald newspaper published a series of investigations revisiting the 2008 plea deal and giving voice to dozens of his accusers. The reporting triggered a renewed federal investigation. By early 2019, prosecutors in New York were quietly building a new case.
It is the kind of property that keeps its owner beyond the view of the outside world.
In the summer of 2019, a wire transfer request bearing convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s signature and dated July 4 was submitted to buy the Moroccan palace – in a country that has no extradition treaty with the United States. Two days later, Epstein was arrested at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.
Newly released US Department of Justice documents reviewed by Al Jazeera show that in the months before that arrest, Epstein had been negotiating to acquire the Moroccan estate through a layered offshore structure spanning the British Virgin Islands and Liechtenstein.
But as scrutiny intensified and details of Epstein’s life and crimes became public, the financial institutions that had long handled his money began to tighten their grip. The documents show banks rejecting wire transfers tied to his accounts and compliance teams escalating internal reviews. Tens of millions of dollars were sent abroad and then pulled back.
The records suggest that a man long adept at navigating complex financial systems was beginning to find those routes closing. A month after his arrest, he was discovered dead in US federal custody.
Epstein and Morocco
Bin Ennakhil palace was not the first time Morocco had appeared in Epstein’s orbit.
Emails examined by French broadcaster France Televisions showed that as early as July 2002, a Swedish national of Algerian origin, Daniel Siad, described by witnesses as a recruiter working for Epstein, sent him a photograph of a young woman in Marrakesh. “Cute French girl in Marrakech,” one message read.
A woman later questioned by French police said Siad “wanted me to meet girls for Epstein, to give him massages, prostitution”. She told investigators Siad showed her photographs of Moroccan girls and asked whether they would appeal to Epstein. “I told him no, that he wouldn’t be interested,” she said, adding that she did not want “another girl to suffer”.
The exchange suggests Morocco was part of Epstein’s international network long before the palace negotiations of 2019.
In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to soliciting a minor for prostitution and served 13 months in jail under a much criticised plea agreement that shielded him from federal prosecution. For years afterwards, he resumed a life of wealth and influence, moving between homes in Manhattan, Palm Beach, the US Virgin Islands and Paris and maintaining connections in finance, academia and politics.
He largely eluded scrutiny until late 2018 when the Miami Herald newspaper published a series of investigations revisiting the 2008 plea deal and giving voice to dozens of his accusers. The reporting triggered a renewed federal investigation. By early 2019, prosecutors in New York were quietly building a new case.