This place will need a good cleaning.
The mystery buyer who bought Jeffrey Epstein’s posh Upper East Side mansion for a bargain of $ 51 million is a former Goldman Sachs executive who moves to New York from London and plans to live in the house with his wife.
Michael D. Daffey bought the seven-story, 40-room property at 9 East 71st Street at a price well below its initial asking price of $ 88 million, and he’s determined to make sure no trace remains of its twisted previous owner. .
“They are planning a complete makeover, physically and spiritually,” said a source.
The Australian native recently retired from the top financial firm after spending last year as president of global markets at Goldman in charge of reshaping trade in Europe after Brexit, and also after making a slaughter in Bitcoin.
“Mr. Daffey has never been to the house or met its owner, but he strongly believes in the future of New York and will stand on the other side of all the people who say the best days in the city may be in the past.” . said Stu Loeser, a Daffey spokesman.
Top brokers tell The Post the price is a steal, considering that any similar property in Manhattan that didn’t have a connection to one of America’s most gnarly sex criminals could easily have fetched $ 100 million.
“I think it’s half,” said lead broker Dolly Lenz, who had been among those trying to sell the property. “It has 28,000 square feet. That’s less than $ 4000 per foot for the most magnificent mansion on the best block, off Fifth Avenue. It’s the best in New York. “
Even such a deal was difficult to tempt many who could afford that price range.
“We offered it to a lot of people who said, ‘We don’t want to go anywhere near that place,'” Lenz said. “Elegant international people who are always ready for a deal said ‘No way.’
Sources say none of Epstein’s old possessions are in the house.
“The house was totally empty,” said a source. “There was nothing strange and creepy about him.”
Another source said Daffey bought it with cash and a bridge loan.
Adam Modlin of the Modlin Group represented both Daffey and the Epstein Estate as a broker.
Lenz thought Daffey made a good decision to buy a property.
“I think he made a smart move, however it will be a long time before people forget that it was a place where children were abused,” he said. “But he is betting on that in the long term. That’s what some people do. ”
The money goes directly into a Jeffrey Epstein Victim Restitution Fund, which is controlled by the Epstein Estate.
In 2019, Epstein was found dead in his prison cell awaiting trial for sex crimes abusing 14-year-old girls. Epstein has pleaded not guilty. During an FBI raid, federal agents found images of child sexual abuse at the mansion. The 40-room house is one of the largest in the city.
Epstein and his alleged partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, infamously entertained the rich, royal and powerful in the house, which was scheduled to secretly film their guests.
Some of those who stayed overnight included Prince Andrew. The mansion was previously owned by Epstein’s client, Victoria’s Secret owner Les Wexner.
The sale was stopped by an asset freeze request made in the US Virgin Islands by more than two dozen alleged victims and Denise George, the US Virgin Islands Attorney General last month, after the Epstein Victim Compensation Program said it would stop compensation offers. for funding concerns.
A judge annulled the request. So far, the fund has received more than 150 applications from alleged victims since its launch last June, paying $ 55 million so far to an undisclosed number of victims, according to reports.