Years after the death of financier Jeffrey Epstein, newly released federal investigative records reveal that his longtime girlfriend, Dr. Karyna Shuliak, stands to inherit up to $100 million from his remaining estate, including a 33-carat diamond ring. Shuliak, who was the last person outside jail to speak with Epstein before his 2019 death, was named a major beneficiary in a private trust.
Karyna Shuliak and Jeffrey Epstein’s Relationship Timeline
Public attention has fixed squarely on Karyna Shuliak following a massive release of documents by federal authorities. The files paint a vivid picture of an nearly eight-year relationship that began in late March 2011, when Shuliak had lived in New York for only nine months after arriving from Belarus on a temporary student visa to study English at a school in Manhattan. She was making about $15 an hour as a dental assistant and applying for waitressing jobs when she was introduced to Epstein, according to investigative records released by federal authorities. A young woman from Siberia who said in an interview with The New York Times that she had periodically been expected to recruit other young women introduced her to Epstein, the files show. After some back and forth, it was decided that the woman, Dr. Shuliak and her roommate from Belarus would meet Mr. Epstein at his Manhattan mansion.
Columbia University and U.S. Citizenship Arrangements
Over the years, Epstein funneled payments of nearly $1 million to Shuliak, provided her with free use of a credit card to buy whatever she wanted, and sent tens of thousands of dollars to her parents in Belarus. The records also detail how Epstein helped her get into Columbia University’s dental school and how he helped her obtain U.S. citizenship by asking one of his female victims to marry her. In one email he suggested that the fastest way to a green card was through a same-sex marriage. This year, congressional Democrats accused Mr. Epstein of exploiting the immigration system and called out Dr. Shuliak’s marriage to an American woman, which ended in divorce, as a potentially illusory one, though U.S. immigration authorities have not challenged the process through which Dr. Shuliak obtained her citizenship.
The 1953 Trust and the Final Phone Calls
Just two days before his 2019 death, Epstein signed a last-minute will creating a private trust known as the 1953 Trust. Newly disclosed court records show that Shuliak was named as a major beneficiary of a trust that referenced his fortune, including millions in personal property and cash assets.
Justice Department files confirm that she was the last person outside the jail who spoke to Epstein before his death. During his detention, he placed some of his final phone calls directly to her.
A Shrinking Estate and Frozen Payouts
When Epstein died, his total estate was valued at nearly $600 million. In the years since, the estate paid over $170 million to more than 200 victims, alongside massive government settlements. Following a recent tax refund, the total assets now sit between $120 million and $150 million.
Richard Kahn and Ongoing Estate Claims
Despite the substantial remaining fortune, final payouts to trust beneficiaries remain frozen while legal battles drag on. Even estate executor Richard Kahn admitted in a deposition that the agreement was a poorly drafted document and that it was unclear how Epstein wanted the remainder of his estate distributed. Until all ongoing claims are settled, Shuliak’s inheritance remains trapped in court.
Life After the Files Release
The release of three million pages of investigative files and emails by the Justice Department thrust Shuliak back into public view. Before the disclosure, she had been working as a part-time dentist in an unremarkable office in Downtown Brooklyn and living as of this spring in the Upper East Side condo building in which Mr. Epstein’s brother, Mark, has a financial stake.
Federal authorities have not considered her a co-conspirator in Mr. Epstein’s sex trafficking, she has not identified herself as a victim, and there is no indication that the Federal Bureau of Investigation ever interviewed her or that lawyers for hundreds of his victims ever deposed her. Through her lawyer, she declined to comment. In a brief interview, Mark Epstein stated that he only wished that woman the best.
