American financier and notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's "Little Black Book" of contacts has gone up for sale and is expected to fetch upwards of $200,000. He kept the names, phone numbers and addresses of several high-profile people in the book. Some names include former US President Donald Trump, Robert F Kennedy Jr, and attorney Alan Dershowitz, as per a report in the New York Post.
The details of 221 individuals who are not included in the more well-known later version that was initially released by Gawker in 2015 are contained in the personal address book. Bill Panagopulos, owner of Alexander Historical Auctions, told the outlet that there has been a lot of interest in the book. "As far as I know, Mr. Epstein's estate is in no way involved in any manner. As for the proceeds of the sale, I can say with a great deal of confidence that they will be going to a party that does not, nor ever did have any connection with Mr. Epstein or anyone named in the book," he said.
The forensic document examiner dated the 64-page address book from 1997 and said that it contains a total of 349 names. Similar to Epstein's other book, a large number of people who are included have denied ever meeting or being associated with the financier.
On the company website, the item description states that the book is bound in black plastic and has dimensions of 4.5 x 5.25 inches. The entries are printed copies that have "likely reduced in size to accommodate this rather small binding." The bidding began on Wednesday and will go on for a month.
The auction house stated that the names have "black, hand-applied checkmarks, and five have been highlighted in yellow". The names are "well-recognized financial and industrial figures" including Mr Trump. However, it is unknown what the checked and highlighted names mean. Further, it also has "a good deal of information hinting at Epstein's sordid past."
The auction company claims that a Manhattan-based musician found the book for sale when it was lying on a Fifth Avenue sidewalk in the mid-1990s. The book was kept by the woman, who didn't realise it belonged to Epstein until 2020 when she was organising her storage unit. She contacted several media outlets, but none of them responded. Later, a PhD student eventually bought the book off of an eBay listing and had it ever since.
The auctioneer stated that each bidder's identity will be kept confidential. If the seller declines the highest price tendered, the book will be put up for public auction in July.
