Over the course of five years, deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged “Madam,” Ghislaine Maxwell, exchanged $20 million in financial attractions.
CNN reported that the funds were discovered as federal prosecutors closed in on arresting Maxwell for her role in allegedly procuring underage girls for Epstein. The mysterious financial transactions “add a new layer to the mysterious financial complexities underpinning the larger Epstein saga,” the outlet reported. More from CNN:
The financial relationship between Epstein, the late multimillionaire whose sources of wealth remain largely murky, and Maxwell, the British socialite whose newspaper tycoon father died just before being implicated in a massive pension fraud scandal, has long been difficult to decipher.
The two ran in the rarefied world of billionaire bankers and society figures, but it was unclear how either came to have the means to support such a lifestyle.
While announcing the charges against Maxwell, federal prosecutors explained that for five years starting in 2007, more than $20 million was exchanged between the socialite and Epstein’s bank accounts, with sums going in both directions.
Prosecutors wrote in their filings against Maxwell that the socialite’s “financial resources appear to be substantial, and her numerous accounts and substantial money movements render her total financial picture opaque and indeterminate, even upon a review of bank records available to the Government,” rendering her a flight risk.
The FBI arrested Maxwell on Thursday at the New Hampshire home where she was hiding out, The Daily Wire previously reported. Maxwell is alleged to have procured girls as young as 14 for Epstein to sexually abuse and to have groomed the young girls for Epstein. She was charged with two counts of Conspiracy to Entice Minors to Travel to Engage in Illegal Sex Acts, two counts of Conspiracy to Transport Minors with Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity, and two counts of Perjury.
“In particular, from at least in or about 1994, up to and including at least in or about 1997, MAXWELL assisted, facilitated, and contributed to Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of minor girls by, among other things, helping Epstein to recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse victims known to MAXWELL and Epstein to be under the age of 18,” prosecutors alleged in the indictment against Maxwell. “As a part and in furtherance of their scheme to abuse minor victims, GHISLAINE MAXWELL, the defendant, and Jeffrey Epstein enticed and caused minor victims to travel to Epstein’s residences in different states, which MAXWELL knew and intended would result in their grooming for and subjection to sexual abuse.”
The allegations of perjury pertain to a deposition Maxwell gave in 2016 as part of a civil case. She is accused of lying in multiple questions, including:
Question: Did Jeffrey Epstein have a scheme to recruit underage girls for sexual massages? If you know.
Maxwell: I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Question: List all the people under the age of 18 that you interacted with at any of Jeffrey’s properties?
Maxwell: I’m not aware of anybody that I interacted with, other than obviously [the plaintiff] who was 17 at this point.
Maxwell is also alleged to have lied during the following questions:
Question: Were you aware of the presence of sex toys or devices used in sexual activities in Mr. Epstein’s Palm Beach house?
Maxwell: No, not that I recall. …
Question: Do you know whether Mr. Epstein possessed sex toys or devices used in sexual activities?
Maxwell: No.
Question: Other than yourself and the blond and brunette that you have identified as having been involved in three-way sexual activities, with whom did Mr. Epstein have sexual activities?
Maxwell: I wasn’t aware that he was having sexual activities with anyone when I was with him other than myself.
Question: I want to be sure that I’m clear. Is it your testimony that in the 1990s and 2000s, you were not aware that Mr. Epstein was having sexual activities with anyone other than yourself and the blond and brunette on those few occasions when they were involved with you?
Maxwell: That is my testimony, that is correct.
…
Question: Is it your testimony that you’ve never given anybody a massage?
Maxwell: I have not given anyone a massage.
Question: You never gave Mr. Epstein a massage, is that your testimony?
Maxwell: That is my testimony.
Question: You never gave [Minor Victim-2] a massage is your testimony?
Maxwell: I never gave [Minor Victim-2] a massage.
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