Dr. Karyna Shuliak, a 37-year-old dentist originally from Belarus, has emerged as one of the people who could inherit a large share of Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, according to investigative records released by the US Justice Department. She could inherit up to $100 million, including a 33-carat diamond ring, from Epstein’s estate.
Event Context
The estate’s final value is uncertain because money has already been paid to many of Epstein’s victims. It is now estimated to be worth between $120 million and $200 million. Jeffrey Epstein was a convicted sex offender who died by suicide in a New York jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. Dr. Shuliak was reportedly the last person Epstein called before his death in jail in 2019.
Dr. Shuliak also travelled around the world with Epstein and gradually became one of the people he trusted the most. She later helped manage Epstein’s homes, staff and personal affairs, including helping with a planned purchase of a Moroccan palace shortly before his 2019 arrest.
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Epstein eventually donated about $210,000 to Columbia. The files also show he paid Dr. Shuliak’s tuition and arranged for her mother to visit the United States from Belarus.
In July 2019, after Epstein’s arrest, Dr. Shuliak remained overseas. Shortly before his death, Epstein amended his will, adding a handwritten note stating that the diamond ring was given “in contemplation of marriage”, as stated by The New York Times.
Following the release of the files, Columbia demoted one official and removed another from alumni leadership roles over their involvement in her admission, but said Dr. Shuliak met the qualifications for admission.
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Dr. Shuliak moved to New York from Belarus in 2010 on a student visa. She met Epstein in March 2011 after another woman introduced them. Initially, Dr. Shuliak declined Epstein’s offers of help after reading about allegations against him. However, she later accepted his support, visited several of his properties and, after overstaying her student visa, Epstein arranged a same-sex marriage with one of his assistants that helped her remain in the US.
The files say Epstein arranged for one of his female assistants to marry Dr. Shuliak in New York in 2013. After the marriage, immigration papers were filed naming Dr. Shuliak as the woman’s wife and beneficiary, and deportation proceedings against her were dropped. She later received a US green card and officially became a US citizen in May 2018. The couple divorced in 2019.
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At the time the files became public, Dr. Shuliak was quietly working as a part-time dentist in Downtown Brooklyn, and many patients did not know about her past connection to Epstein. Her identity became widely known after the US Justice Department released around three million pages of investigative files and emails related to Epstein, according to The New York Times. The released records included thousands of emails exchanged between Epstein and Dr. Shuliak, along with dozens of photographs showing them together.
The emails showed details of their nearly eight-year relationship, including personal conversations about their relationship, health issues and intimate matters. The records show Epstein often referred to Dr. Shuliak as his “favorite” and frequently told her he loved her. The emails also show Epstein gave her access to a credit card, paid nearly $1 million to her over the years and also sent tens of thousands of dollars to her parents in Belarus.
The files show Epstein helped Dr. Shuliak get admission into Columbia University’s College of Dental Medicine after she was initially rejected, according to Justice Department files reviewed by The New York Times. The records say Epstein contacted influential people connected to Columbia and suggested he could make a large donation to the university.
In one email, Dr. Shuliak thanked Epstein, writing, “You are the purest man out of all men”, according to the emails via The New York Times. The files show the couple sometimes argued because Epstein continued having relationships with other women. In one email, Dr. Shuliak wrote, “I understand you need it, however these are the things that don’t feel natural to me, it feels somewhat dirty to me.”
In another message, she wrote, “If that is not a lot to ask, please enjoy it but keep me away from it. I will stay with you no matter what, as long as you are happy. I love you.” The New York Times reported that nowhere in the reviewed Justice Department files did Dr. Shuliak express wider ethical concerns about Epstein’s treatment of other women.
A report released this year by Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said Dr. Shuliak’s former wife claimed she had been forced into the marriage. The report said the marriage may have provided Dr. Shuliak with the “legal basis to continue residing in the United States”, according to The New York Times.
However, US immigration authorities have not challenged how Dr. Shuliak obtained her citizenship. By early 2019, Dr. Shuliak was reportedly living mainly in Epstein’s New York mansion and travelling with him. She became a licensed dentist in the US Virgin Islands, Florida and New Mexico after graduating from dental school in 2015. The files suggest she spent more time managing Epstein’s properties and employees than building a dental practice.
