SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - The Latest on deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein’s secluded ranch property in New Mexico (all times local):
11 a.m.
The state land commissioner is canceling grazing land leases at deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein’s secluded ranch in central New Mexico that she says were used to cast a veil of secrecy.
Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard on Wednesday notified holding company Cypress Inc. that leases have been canceled on two state trust land parcels at Epstein’s Zorro Ranch near the town of Stanley.
Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell Aug. 10 while awaiting his sex trafficking trial and inquiries continue into whether his alleged crimes were abetted.
Garcia Richard says access to inspect a state holding within the private ranch was refused repeatedly in August. She also cites misrepresentations in the lease application process that include appraisements signed by former Epstein girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.
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1 a.m.
New Mexico’s commissioner of public lands is announcing plans to terminate livestock grazing leases to a holding company controlled by financier Jeffrey Epstein before his death last month.
First-year Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard scheduled a morning news conference on Wednesday to announce the cancellation of two leases to Cypress Inc.
. He owned an isolated hilltop mansion and ranch in central New Mexico.
A small portion of the ranch extended across state trust land under a 1990s-era contract with the State Land Office that was renewed as recently as 2016.
New Mexico’s attorney general says the state trust land was leased to provide privacy and barely if ever was used for grazing livestock.
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