NEW YORK, July 3 — The follow are key dates in the case of disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein, who had pleaded not guilty to charges of trafficking minors for sex before committing suicide in August 2019.
His former girlfriend, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, was arrested yesterday and charged with trafficking minors for Epstein.
Epstein arrested
July 6, 2019: Epstein, a hedge fund manager with lots of celebrity friends, is arrested upon his return to the United States from France in a private jet.
July 8, 2019: Epstein is charged in New York with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. He faced a maximum sentence of up to 45 years in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors say Epstein — who had previously been convicted in Florida for paying young girls for massages — sexually exploited dozens of underage girls, some as young as 14, at his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida, between 2002 and 2005, paying them hundreds of dollars.
Suicide
August 10, 2019: Epstein, who had pleaded not guilty, hangs himself at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center. He was 66.
His death is ruled a suicide by hanging, and two prison guards are charged with allegedly failing to monitor him properly. But his death fuels conspiracy theories that he was murdered.
Both the FBI and the US Justice Department open probes.
French probe
August 2019: Days after Epstein’s death, French prosecutors open a separate inquiry into the suspected rape and sexual abuse of minors linked to the scandal.
Epstein’s sumptuous apartment near the Champs-Elysees in Paris is searched.
Prince Andrew implicated
November 2019: Britain’s Prince Andrew, a friend of Epstein, gives an interview to the BBC that is seen as disastrous, in which he defends his ties to the disgraced financier.
Andrew denies claims he had sex with Virginia Giuffre, who alleges she was trafficked as a teenager.
Three days after the interview, Queen Elizabeth II’s second son steps back from frontline royal duties.
June 8, 2020: Andrew denies claims by US prosecutors that he is failing to cooperate with their investigation.
Prosecutors fire back, claiming the prince is seeking to “falsely portray himself to the public as eager and willing to cooperate” and alleging that he has repeatedly declined a request for an interview.
Ghislaine Maxwell arrested
July 2, 2020: Epstein’s former girlfriend, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, is arrested in the United States and charged with sex trafficking minors for him.
She faces six counts for her role in the Epstein affair. Prosecutors say she helped Epstein groom young girls. — AFP
