Jeffrey Epstein’s close confidant and one-time girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell could soon be facing charges, as the net closes on the late sex predator’s alleged co-conspirators.
Maxwell, 57, has been accused in lawsuits of procuring underage girls for Epstein and managing the complex logistics of his perverse crimes – allegations which she denies.
Following Epstein’s death behind bars earlier this month in what was ruled a suicide, Attorney General Bill Barr vowed to continue the sex-trafficking case against ‘any co-conspirators.’
Now, federal authorities are weighing charges against Epstein’s inner circle, including charges of sex trafficking and sex trafficking conspiracy, two sources with knowledge of the matter told the New York Times.
Epstein and Maxwell are seen at Batman Forever in New York in 1995. Maxwell was close to Epstein for years and could be the first to face charges in connection with his sex crimes
Ghislaine (left) is seen in 1987 with her mother and father, the pension-raiding one-time owner of Britain’s Daily Mirror and New York’s Daily News
Maxwell, the daughter of fraudulent British newspaper publisher and alleged Mossad agent Robert Maxwell, first met Epstein at a party in New York City in the 1990s.
The two had a romantic relationship for several years, but the exact nature of their relationship over the following decades remains unclear.
It was Maxwell, though, who first introduced Epstein to Prince Andrew – a relationship that is coming under increasing scrutiny, despite Andrew’s firm denials that he ever engaged in sexual misconduct.
Epstein’s household staff have described her as ‘Lady of the House’ and sworn in depositions that she was at the center of managing his household affairs.
‘They were like partners in business,’ Janusz Banasiak, Epstein’s house manager, said in a deposition.
Epstein’s butler, Alfredo Rodriguez, described Ms. Maxwell in a deposition as ‘the boss.’
Maxwell is seen posing in 1999 for a photo shoot to promote Sotheby’s vintage fashion collection that left assistants taken aback by her ‘intensely sexual vibe’
Donald Trump is seen with then-girlfriend Melania Knauss,Jeffrey Epstein, and Ghislaine Maxwell pose together at the Mar-a-Lago club, Palm Beach, Florida, February 12, 2000
Virginia Roberts photographed with Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell in early 2001. Maxwell reportedly was the one who first introduced Epstein and Andrew
Epstein’s accusers have said that Maxwell’s authority extended to managing the complex logistics of his perverse activities with girls as young as 14.
‘She orchestrated the whole thing for Jeffrey,’ said Sarah Ransome, one of some two dozen women who spoke out before a federal judge in New York on Tuesday.
Some of the most serious allegations have come from Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who accused Maxwell in a lawsuit of luring her to become an international sex slave for Epstein and his pals.
Guiffre says that she was 16 or 17 in the summer of 2000 and working as a towel girl at Mar-a-Lago when Maxwell approached her, eventually leading to her being flown around the world on Epstein’s ‘Lolita Express.’
Guiffre’s recently unsealed lawsuit claims that Maxwell ‘actively took part in recruiting underage girls and young women for sex with Epstein, as well as scheduling the girls to come over, and maintaining a list of the girls and their phone number.’
Epstein and Maxwell attend a Rod Stewart performance at Cipriani Wall Street in 2005
Maxwell is seen with Rupert Murdoch in 2010. After Epstein took a plea in 2008, she was no longer seen in public with him, but remained on the New York social circuit
Maxwell has strenuously denied in the past that she was involved in criminal sex trafficking or any other sex crimes.
After Epstein took a sweetheart plea deal in 2008 to state charges of procuring for prostitution and served a one-year jail sentence, Maxwell and Epstein were no longer spotted together at public events.
She remained active on the New York social scene for several years, however, until mounting lawsuits and allegations began to draw harsher scrutiny.
In April of 2016, the New York townhouse where she had lived was sold for $15 million, and around the fall of 2016, she was not longer seen or photographed publicly.
Maxwell is seen in one of the last known public photos of her, attending VIP Evening of Conversation for Women’s Brain Health Initiative, Moderated by Tina Brown in October 2016
In 2017, her lawyers claimed to a U.S. judge that they did not know where she was, saying she might be in London but that they did not have an address.
Since then, the only public sighting has been a set of phony photographs that purported to show Maxwell at an In-N-Out in Los Angeles.
DailyMail.com revealed that those photos were staged, possibly to throw investigators off of her trail.
Instead, it is possible that Maxwell is holed up in the Massachusetts mansion of tech CEO Scott Borgerson, whom sources told DailyMail.com left his wife for Maxwell several years ago.
It is also possible that, fearing federal charges, she has already fled the U.S.
Four other women close to Epstein were considered so instrumental to his operation that they were granted immunity from federal charges in his 2008 plea deal.
They are Sarah Kellen, Lesley Groff, Adriana Ross and Nadia Marcinkova.
The Southern District of New York, which brought the new federal case before Epstein’s death, has said it is not bound by that immunity agreement, and all could still face charges there.