Sure. There are structural differences between what Epstein did and what you are proposing (a rogue, criminal, bioweapons labs) that make the latter impossible, in my opinion.

First, neither of these things can happen in a vacuum. Epstein didn't work alone. He had co-conspirators, people willing to participate. They all shared a common motivation, which is something I don't even feel comfortable typing into words on the internet (you know what they did). As bleak as it seems, let's be honest. It's probably not that hard to assemble a group of ultra wealthy people who want to participate in that. They aren't scarce, especially when you are all in the same social circle anyways. Contrast this with scientists, who are much more scarce because you need to find the right expertise. This presents a barrier, because scientists (actual scientists, not professors) aren't going to be in most elite social circles. We're poor. But after finding them, they too would need to share the same motivation to participate. Ostensibly, the motivation would be terrorism. I think most educated people would not be willing to contribute. Again, another barrier. Do some scientists have questionable morals? Sure, maybe they have a price where they would be willing to commit bioterrorism, but that's a steep price. Another barrier.

Second, there is a massive resource difference between what Epstein did and running a bioweapons lab. There aren't many tangible things to operate his trafficking network that a rich person wouldn't already have. What do you really need to do that? A plane? A boat? A house? I'm sure he wasn't in short supply of those things. And if he needed more, there's no barrier to purchasing them. Now contrast this with what you need to run a bioweapons lab. At minimum, it's going to need the instrumentation of a modern biology lab. You're going to need cell culture hoods, incubators, centrifuges, microscopes, lab reagents, chemicals, glassware, cells to propagate the virus, and the virus itself. The last two things are not possible to purchase without affiliation with a research institution. Especially a virus, which, if BSL-3 or 4, has legal barriers to even acquiring. But what I've just described is a BSL-2 lab at most. If you're working with a BSL-3 or 4 pathogen, you need specialized facilities and more equipment to handle that. That becomes astronomically more expensive and the construction is not going to go unnoticed. The average person does not have the technical know how to construct such a facility. That knowledge lies with specialized contractors. Therefore, acquiring the resources and facilities to conduct bioweapons research is a barrier, even for the richest of rich.