Ex Bear Stearns money manager's massages, and the Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Enhanced Leverage Fund collapse

In discussing the frequent appearances before the New York Bankruptcy Court , by legal representatives of Bear Stearns ( and the recent sabbath day departure of the CEO ) especially in relation to Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Enhanced Leverage Fund (BSHGSCSEF) recently we were unware of this remarkable bit of digging ..Business Week " Bear Stearns Collateral Damage"

A January filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission describes Epstein's firm as having "the power to vote or dispose of" 10% or more of the equity of the hedge fund, which raised $642 million from investors last summer. But the
hedge fund's purchasing power was much bigger, given its ability to borrow billions of dollars from banks such as Barclays (BCS), Goldman Sachs (GS), Deutsche Bank (DB), Citigroup (C), and Bank of America (BAC).

Epstein ? Who he ?

Well Jeffrey Epstein operates the Financial Trust Company, based on his private estate on his private island (Little St. James Island) in the sunny Virgin Islands -which is the money-management firm listed in the SEC filing as a “beneficial owner” of the BSHGSCSEF.

Epstein described as new York's most eligible bachelor once over,(whose first job in finance (1976) was with Bear Stearns) is also a friend of LeslieWexner billionaire founder (1963) and CEO of the highly succcessul Limited Brands retail chain (which includes Victoria's Secret), Donald Trump, and once ferried Bill Clinton about in his personal Boeing 737.

"He's a lot of fun to be with," Donald Trump told New York magazine in 2002. "It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it, Jeffrey enjoys his social life."

Jeffrey is also a member of the Trilateral Commission, and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Jeffrey is, as we speak this weekend , also fighting for a plea bargain using the skills and talents of lawyers like former Monica Lewinsky prosecutor Ken Starr, Harvard Prof Alan Dershowitz, New York legal eagle Gerald Lefcourt and Miami's Roy Black (and his army of private investigators) as he is facing charges of soliciting sex from prostitutes at his Palm Beach (Fla.) mansion.

Jeffrey is already facing a prostitution charge in a county criminal court, in Florida but the FBI got involved last year.

Pic shows two of his guests, taken at theTribeca Ball in 2004 : (from left) beautiful lesbian Nadia Marcinkova, a friend and Sarah Kellen the lass who organised his Palm Beach menage - laid out the towels, got the lube, hired the cars, sent the flowers etc., .(see more of Police deposition and here)

Jeff either pleads guilty to deep-tissue hand jobs, takes a rap, say for 9 months prison and 9 months with an electronic ankle tag or goes to court before a jury with the chance of 10 years in the slammer - where there isn't a call out service for under age whores but probably some novel sexual activities that might present themselves to a 53 year old bachelor. (although has has been a friend for many years with the great crook Robert Maxwell's favourite daughter Ghislaine)

More sordid history and details of the case here and lengthy NYT piece Sept. 3rd 2006