Recently released details about Jeffrey Epstein, his girlfriend, and a dental practice at his secluded New Mexico ranch are raising disturbing questions about what exactly was going on at the compound.
Records indicate that Karyna Shuliak, Jeffrey Epstein’s girlfriend, was licensed to practice dentistry in New Mexico from 2015 to 2021. Shuliak listed Epstein’s 26,000-sq-ft ranch, Zorro Ranch, as the location of the proposed practice. The practice's proposed name was Zorro Smiles, according to a Santa Fe New Mexican article dated June 28.
In addition to her New Mexico dental license, which was not known until recently, Shuliak was licensed to practice dentistry in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Florida, the article states. Little St. James was Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which, according to federal prosecutors, was central to Epstein’s trafficking operation. Some images that have been released by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) show a room with a dental chair with the masks of men affixed to the walls.
‘Medical, dental, and ambulance services’ at Zorro Ranch
According to the article, the DOJ has released multiple emails referencing dental equipment at Zorro Ranch. In one email in 2015, Epstein directed the ranch’s manager to unplug a “dental chair pump.”
The New Mexico DOJ has an active investigation into matters relating to Epstein’s New Mexico ties, and more recently on June 26, a legislative panel published a subpoena seeking records relating to “medical, dental, and ambulance services” at Zorro Ranch. Epstein, the article relays, paid nearly $51,000 for an ambulance in 2016, and he purchased an ambulance for Little St. James too.
Zorro Ranch is located 30 miles south of Sante Fe in Stanley, NM.
Officials seek answers about Zorro Ranch
Aerial view of Zorro Ranch, Jeffrey Epstein's former New Mexico ranch.U.S. Department of Justice/Wikipedia.
The Santa Fe New Mexican article referenced one email released by the DOJ in 2016 in which Epstein asks Shuliak, “Please get oxygen for dental office. new york and new mexico.” Epstein also instructed Shuliak to travel with anesthetic, though it’s not known what type of anesthetic he asked her to include.
The legislative panel’s chair, Andrea Romero, told the Sante Fe New Mexican, “We heard about allegations of different medical procedures being done there ... People waking up around medical equipment has been alleged quite a bit, and so any information that we can have — and it sounds like you have some more information than we do — would be really interesting to try to pull together what was really going on there,” Romero said.
Shuliak has not been charged with any crimes, nor is she under investigation.
Following Epstein’s arrest and death in 2019 while in federal custody awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, Zorro Ranch was never searched, unlike Epstein’s other properties, the article states.
Shuliak, as reported by the New York Times, was the last person Epstein spoke with before his death. Epstein also paid for Shuliak’s dental school tuition and left her $100 million in his will.
Questions about Shuliak’s N.M dental license
The news report raises questions about the review and approval process of Shuliak’s dental license. According to the article, Shuliak’s dental license was approved by then board chair Dr. Burrell Tucker on August 12, 2015, in a one-line email which states, “Grant K Sulika a General Dentistry license for the state of NM.” The New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department has said it does not have any complaints on file about Shuliak.
Why, though, was a dental license approved for a proposed location based in a private residence? Andrea Brown, of the state’s regulation and licensing department, told the Santa Fe New Mexican, “The statute does not include a provision to regulate the establishment of a practice location.”
Still, other county regulations would have necessitated the review and approval of other issues relating to the practice, Santa Fe County spokesperson Shawna Graves is quoted as saying. For instance, Epstein would have needed to submit materials for approval, and he would have had to obtain a home occupation license if there was an area of the compound being used for a dental practice. Furthermore, the article states that, “There is no record ‘Zorro Smiles’ was ever registered as a company with the Secretary of State’s Office, a spokesperson confirmed.”
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
