Emails released in the United States Department of Justice files show that the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein was offered the chance to buy into a sprawling building tied to the Department of Defense in 2016, according to United Kingdom broadcaster ITV News.

The 84,710-square-metre (101,312-suqare-yard) complex, located roughly 1.6km (1 mile) from the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, was described in an investor deck as a “mission-critical” site and “the only property in Arlington, Virginia other than the Pentagon itself with the ability to meet the space and infrastructure needs of the DOD”..

The proposed purchase price was about $116m. The structure of the deal would have made Epstein a co-owner and, effectively, a landlord to the US government.

There is no evidence that the transaction went ahead. But the prospect of a convicted sex offender acquiring a stake in property serving the Pentagon raises serious security questions.

Among millions of emails published last month, an FBI informant wrote in a memo that Epstein was a “Mossad Agent” working for Israel.

“Epstein was close to the former Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Barak, and trained as a spy under him,” the memo adds.

Epstein maintained a decade-long relationship with Ehud Barak, a former Israeli prime minister and one-time senior military intelligence figure. Barak visited Epstein’s New York townhouse more than 30 times between 2013 and 2017.

The ties between Epstein and Israel have come into sharp focus following the release of the documents. Beyond his interactions with members of the global elite, including Barak, the files document Epstein’s financial support for Israeli groups, including Friends of the Israeli army and the settler organisation the Jewish National Fund, as well as his connections to the Mossad, Israel’s overseas intelligence agency.

The Pentagon-linked proposal formed part of three documents – an email, an investor presentation and a deal summary – contained within the newly released files..

David Stern, a businessman who referred to himself as Epstein’s “soldier”, forwarded the offer. Stern also served as a close aide to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who was arrested on Thursday on “suspicion of misconduct in public office” following revelations in the Epstein files.

In the same year Stern relayed the Pentagon-area proposal, he became director of the St George’s House Trust at Windsor Castle and attended an event at St James’s Palace, where he sat beside the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Stern also sent Epstein a separate proposal in 2015 to invest in two FBI field offices in Richmond and Baltimore, and courthouses, which were called “sexy assets”. That deal required an initial $25m, followed by a further $80m, with ownership routed through a Cayman Islands offshore entity.

Real estate investor Jonathan D Fascitelli originated both property proposals. (Al Jazeera)

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