Tevfik Arif (born 1953) is a Turkish-Kazakhstani real estate developer and the founder of Bayrock Group, a New York–based development firm that partnered with the Trump Organization on the Trump SoHo project in the mid-2000s. After establishing Bayrock’s offices in Trump Tower, Arif entered a three-way development arrangement with the Trump Organization and the Sapir Organization, culminating in the opening of Trump SoHo in 2008–2009. During this period he hired Felix Sater—later revealed to have longstanding exposure to Russian organized-crime networks—as a senior Bayrock executive.

Arif attracted international attention in September 2009 when Turkish authorities arrested him and nine others aboard the Savarona yacht and charged him with financing a sex party involving prostitution. Arif denied the allegations, went on trial in December 2010, and was acquitted of all charges in April 2011.

Arif’s relevance in Epstein-related research stems not from any direct documented connection—none has been found—but from Bayrock’s placement within overlapping ecosystems of post-Soviet capital, offshore financial structures, and real estate partnerships that also intersected with figures in Epstein’s broader orbit. Bayrock’s use of opaque financing vehicles and its employment of Sater placed the company within networks tied to Russian money laundering and transnational criminal groups, though no evidence shows Arif ever engaged with Epstein personally or professionally.

Sources Wikipedia; The Daily Beast, “The Kleptocrats’ Money-Laundering Middleman Who Did Deals With Trump” (Sept. 2020).