A private Caribbean island owned by the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and allegedly visited by Prince Andrew was protected by a “complex web” of deceit to hide its status as a hideaway for human trafficking, a lawsuit claims.

The attorney-general of the US Virgin Islands wants to dissolve the late US financier’s $577 million estate and hold criminally responsible the corporate network — referred to collectively as the Epstein Enterprise — that he created around it, along with the individuals who were in charge.