Federal authorities investigating wealthy sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are looking into a now-defunct charity that was run by a woman accused of ‘recruiting’ his alleged sex slaves.
The FBI is investigating links between Epstein and The TerraMar Project, a nonprofit that was funded by Ghislaine Maxwell, the New York Post is reporting on Saturday.
Maxwell, 57, is the daughter of late British media mogul Robert Maxwell.
She is a British socialite who moved to the United States after her father died in 1991.
In the U.S., she became a close associate of Epstein, the convicted sex offender.
Epstein and Maxwell have been photographed alongside powerful figures including Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, Donald Trump, and others.
The FBI is investigating links between convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and The TerraMar Project, a nonprofit that was funded by Ghislaine Maxwell (seen left and right with Epstein)
In 2012, she founded The TerraMar Project, a charity that claimed to work on behalf of cleaning up the environment.
But the Post reported that the group was funded solely by Maxwell, who pumped money into it after taking out hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of loans.
Documents list Maxwell as the president of TerraMar, whose official office was located at the same address as her home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
Between 2012 and 2017, Maxwell put in $283,429, the Post reported. During that same period, it gave out just $874 in grants.
One name listed on the board of directors is that of a woman who was allegedly flown on Epstein’s private jet to one of his homes in either New York, Palm Beach, or the Virgin Islands.
Epstein is alleged to have ferried young girls to and from his homes where he raped them.
The woman also lives in a three-bedroom home in Teaneck, New Jersey. Public records list Maxwell’s name as being connected to the home, according to the Post.
It is not known what the woman was doing on Epstein’s plane.
Epstein and Maxwell have been photographed alongside powerful figures including Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, Donald Trump, and others. From left: Trump, then-girlfriend and future wife Melania Knauss, Epstein, and Maxwell at Mar-a-Lago in February 2000
Law enforcement officials would not say why they are investigating the charity.
The charity board of directors also includes Ariadne Calvo-Platero, Maxwell’s best friend from Oxford; Dead Poets Society producer Steven Haft; and business Amir Dossal.
The charity’s web site has been shut down. The message on its reads: ‘The TerraMar Project is sad to announce that it will cease all operations. The web site will be closed.
‘TerraMar’s mission has always been to connect ocean lovers to positive actions, highlight science, and bring conscious change to how to people from across the globe can live, work and enjoy the ocean.
‘TerraMar wants to thank all its supporters, partners and fellow ocean lovers.’
Epstein, the financier facing charges of sex trafficking involving dozens of underage girls, was found unconscious in a Manhattan jail cell with injuries to his neck, media reported late on Wednesday, citing unidentified sources.
Epstein was found by guards sprawled on the floor of cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on Wednesday, media reported. Some media reported that his face appeared blue.
The billionaire financier was taken to hospital, the Post reported, but it was unclear where he was taken or what his condition was.
It was not clear how he suffered his injuries.
Neither a representative for the correctional center nor Epstein’s attorney returned calls or email inquiries from Reuters.
Epstein was recently denied bail, a move his lawyers plan to appeal according to a court notice made public on Tuesday.
Epstein was expected to ask the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the judge’s July 18 rejection of his request to remain under house arrest in his $77million mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
Epstein has pleaded not guilty to the charges and the appeal for bail was expected.
The charity’s web site has been shut down. The message on its reads: ‘The TerraMar Project is sad to announce that it will cease all operations. The web site will be closed.’
His lawyer Reid Weingarten did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman in Manhattan declined to comment.
The charges, concerning alleged misconduct from at least 2002 to 2005, were announced more than a decade after Epstein pleaded guilty to state prostitution charges in Florida.
In denying him bail, U.S. District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan said the government had shown by clear and convincing evidence that Epstein would pose a danger to the community if released pending trial.
Maxwell has not been charged with a crime.