Disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein apparently explored in 2013 the purchase of a U.S. Virgin Islands newspaper owned by Times-Shamrock Communications, files released by the federal government show.
Consultant James P. McGee of Newgrange Consulting Group briefed Epstein in 2013 on Times-Shamrock’s intent to sell the Virgin Islands Daily News and other publications the Scranton-based company was looking to divest of, including the Towanda Daily & Sunday Review, The Shamokin News-Item and The Progress-Index of Petersburg, Virginia. Times-Shamrock also owned The Citizens’ Voice, The Republican Herald, The Times-Tribune and The Standard-Speaker at the time.
The Lynett-Haggerty family that owns Times-Shamrock said in a statement Monday that it “never had any contact, communication, or business dealings with Jeffrey Epstein or anyone representing him.”
Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while imprisoned pending trial on federal sex trafficking charges, never purchased the Virgin Islands paper that Times-Shamrock acquired in 2008 and ultimately sold in 2014 to businessman Archie Nahigian. But the local media company and its plans to sell the St. Thomas-based publication are referenced in several emails and documents included among the millions of so-called Epstein files released by the Department of Justice.
“As requested, I have put together a follow up memorandum to summarize our discussions around the current opportunity to create a full scale media business entity in US Virgin Islands including the developmental steps that need to be taken during the coming 2014 year in order to make it happen,” McGee wrote in a confidential memo to Epstein dated Dec. 28, 2013. “There is currently a very rare and unique opportunity to develop a true media enterprise in the Virgin Islands at a very reasonable cost which would have the ability to become a very successful and profitable multimedia business operation in the Virgin Islands territory and eventually throughout the entire Caribbean region.”
“I am sure it is no surprise that I am looking for your involvement in this venture to provide the initial financing component necessary, but I am also looking for you to have an active participatory role in the overall development of this business entity,” McGee’s memo continued.
Part of the proposed strategy involved the potential acquisition of the Virgin Islands Daily News, with McGee noting in his memo such a purchase would also “require adjustments be made to the existing operations model in order to make it profitable.”
McGee had sent Epstein emails earlier in 2013 about the potential acquisition, including an Oct. 9, 2013 email where he said “the question at this point is whether or not to pursue other back channels to the parent company,” Times-Shamrock, “to find out any other information around the sale of the VI Daily News and whether or not, it is worth your pursuing at this time.”
He sent Epstein another email about the Virgin Islands paper on Nov. 16, 2023.
“Here is the feedback I have on the Daily News at this point,” McGee wrote at that time. “The Time Shamrock Communications (sic) family bought the Daily News for $5.25 Million which included the real estate. Times-Shamrock is now looking for between $6 to $7 Million at this point in time but I’m told that this is going to be negotiable.”
McGee noted that Times-Shamrock was looking to sell the Virgin Islands paper along with its newspapers in Towanda, Shamokin and Petersburg, Virginia.
“They do, in fact, want to sell them as a bloc but I also believe from the inquiries that we’ve made though that we can approach them to sell just the VI Daily News,” he wrote, noting circulation figures for that paper were “wild and all over the place.”
“At its highest the circulation was estimated (and I say estimated) at 15,000+ but I’m hearing much lower numbers at this point in time in the range of (5,000 to 7,000),” McGee wrote. “This needs to be researched and confirmed.”
“It is also official that there are others looking at making offers now including some stateside groups,” the email continued. “If interested, we will need to discuss how to comprise a team and how to approach the owners officially. Let me know how you want to proceed and if you want to take next steps.”
What “next steps” Epstein and his associates might have taken thereafter are unclear, but the Epstein files do not appear to include any references to Times-Shamrock after 2013. Times-Shamrock completed its sale of the Virgin Islands Daily News to Nahigian in late September 2014.
Reached by phone Monday, Nahigian noted the aforementioned emails all predate his ownership of the newspaper.
The Lynett-Haggerty family’s statement notes they were “surprised to learn that our company’s name appeared” in the recently released Epstein materials.
“The reference appears to relate solely to an unsolicited inquiry between third parties, of which we had no knowledge at the time,” the family said. “The Virgin Islands Daily News was ultimately sold through a standard process to an unrelated purchaser.”
“We remain proud of our long history of serving our communities with integrity and responsible journalism, and we have nothing further to add regarding matters in which we had no involvement,” they said.
Times-Shamrock sold in 2023 its four daily newspapers — The Times-Tribune in Scranton, The Citizens’ Voice in Wilkes-Barre, the Republican Herald in Pottsville and The Standard-Speaker in Hazleton — to Colorado-based MediaNews Group.
The 2023 sale also included Times-Shamrock’s weekly and periodic newspapers and certain other assets.
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