Jersey City’s Downtown Flwr dispensary co-owner, business tycoon Benny Shabtai, has been found in the Epstein Files.
Benny Shabtai, like the pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, is a very wealthy businessman who owns many different companies.
He has previously denied knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking of underage girls for pedophilia, according to the Daily Mail.
Heady NJ has not seen in the files Shabtai committing crimes with Epstein. However, it has become apparent that they were very close.
His name was also found in Epstein’s Black Book of contacts. The same page has a Saudi Arabian Prince and Maria Shriver of the Kennedy family.
The Epstein Files released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) show a thread of emails between Shabtai and Epstein.
While some of the Epstein have been released by the DOJ, they are still withholding key files, according to CNN.
So far, there are about five pages of “Data Set” PDFs on the DOJ’s site that show the closeness of Epstein and Shabtai. Most of the Data Sets are at least 10 pages long. Some are up to 20.
Epstein used a couple emails that included his initials “JE.”
It seemed Benny Shabtai and Jeffrey Epstein started associating in 2008.
Shabtai had a position in Israel, and Epstein was eager to do some business there and get to know him. They got so close that, in fact, Shabtai invited Epstein to his wedding in 2015.
The messages have the short, poor grammar of text messages one sends to close people.
Shabtai does business in New York City and sought to meet him there in the past.
Benny Shabtai’s Stepdaughter Sexual Harassment and Jeffrey Epstein
According to the New York Post, Shabtai’s former stepdaughter, Samantha Cooper, accused him of sexual harassment and threatening her life in a lawsuit in May 2023.
Shabtai and his wife, Stacey Cooper Shabtai, and stepdaughter, Samantha, were all involved in owning and running a restaurant called Serafina in Miami, Florida. But that fell apart amidst divorce, lawsuits, and a trial.
Samantha sued Benny in a lawsuit that says, “he traveled with his good friend Jeffrey Epstein to Israel, where they had secret meetings with the Israeli army in order for them to fund covert operations and therefore, could harm Samantha Cooper and get away with it if she didn’t do as he said.”
She also “claims in court papers that her stepfather demanded she “dress sexy” on the job and alleged in the suit he would “regularly touch her in inappropriate places in an untoward and unwanted manner.”
Staci also sued Benny for not sharing the restaurant’s profits.
In addition, according to the New York Post, “Giuliana Roncarati Gotera, who resigned from Serafina Miami in June, alleged in an affidavit filed in Miami-Dade County as part of Samantha’s countersuit that, Shabtai “touched” her and made her feel “uncomfortable.”
However, a judge dismissed the lawsuit, which contained their allegations, in July 2024.
Downtown Flwr Dispensary of Jersey City
Downtown Flwr dispensary opened in August 2023. It initially opened as a medical cannabis dispensary as one of the 2019/2021 medical cannabis license lottery winners.
It was first called Oceanfront Holdings when they won the award.
With his money and influence, they opened quickly downtown right by the Grove Street PATH station and the Newark Pedestrian Plaza, which has revitalized and popularized the area. That prized territory has been fought over by several cannabis entrepreneurs on multiple fronts for years.
Shabtai’s dispensary has been very good at defeating its opposition. They have used the downtown Special Improvement District (SID) well toward that end.
A woman named Amanda Handy from Monmouth County is the state-mandated local resident with a token 5 percent of ownership.
In November 2023, they entered the adult-use cannabis market.
The Jersey City Cannabis Control Board (CCB) approved them in July 2022.
