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j . . 2° \tmer friend claimed Epstein @-~<d out of a promise to reim- 2 . Surse him hundreds of thousands of | dollars after their failed investment in Texas oil wells. A judge decided Epstein owed him nothing. “Its a bad memory. I would rather not have ever met J effrey Epstein,” said Michael Stroll, the retired former president of Williams Electronics and Sega Corp. “Suffice it to say I have nothing good to say about him.” Among the characteristics most attributed to Epstein is a penchant for women. He has been linked to Maxwell, a fixture on the high-society party circuits in both New York and Lon- don. Previous girlfriends are said to include a former Ms. Sweden and a Rape model. “He’s a lot of fun to be with,” Donald Trump told New York maga- zine in 2002. “It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it, Jeffrey enjoys his social life.” Investigation leads to Epstein Although he was not a fre quenter of the Palm Beach social scene, he made his presence felt. Among his charitable donations, he ee en to the faim Beach olice Department and $100,000 t Ballet Florida, ° In Palm Beach, he lived in luxu- ry. Three black Mercedes sat in his garage, alongside a green Harley- Davidson. His jet waited at a hangar at Palm Beach International Airport. At home, a private chef and a small staff stood at the ready. From a window in his mansion, he could look out on the Intracoastal Water- way and the West Palm Beach sky- line. He seemed to be a man who - had everything. , « But extraordinary wealth can ' —weenentene aH Tenn et Eee \ - fuel extraordinary desires. In March 2005, a worried mother | peeeeceemoen e| ntacted Palm Beach police. She said another parent had overheard a conversation between their chil- dren. __ Now the mother was afraid her 14-year-old daughter had been ‘ molested by a man on the island. The phone call triggered an extensive investigation, one that ‘ would lead detectives to Epstein but leave them frustrated. Palm Beach police and the state attorney's office have declined to discuss the case. But a Palm Beach police report detailing the criminal probe offers a window into what detectives faced as they sought to close in on Epstein. Detectives interviewed the girl, who told them a friend had invited her to a rich man’s house to perform a massage. She said the friend told her to say she was 18 if asked. At the house, she said she was paid $300 after stripping to her panties and massaging the man while he mas- turbated. ; Police interview 5 alleged victims The investigation began in full after the girl identified Epstein in a photo as the man who had paid her. Police arranged for garbage trucks to set aside Epstein’s trash so police - could sift through it. They set up a video camera to record the comings and goings at his home. They mon- itored an airport hangar for signs of his private jet’s arrivals and depar- tures. They quickly learned that the woman who took the 14-year-old girl to Epstein’s house was Haley Rob- son, a Palm Beach Community Col- lege student from Loxahatchee. Ina sworn statement at police head- quarters, Robson, then 18, admitted she had taken atleast six girls to visit Epstein, all between the ages of 14 and 16. Epstein paid her for each visit, she said. During the drive back to her house, Robson told detectives, “I’m like a Heidi Fleiss.” Police interviewed five alleged victims and 17 witnesses. Their report shows some of the girls said they had been instructed to have sex with another woman. in front of Epstein, and one said she had direct intercourse with him. In October, police searched the , Palm Beach mansion. They discov- ered photos of naked, young-looking females, just as several of the girls had described in interviews. Hidden cameras were found in the garage | area and inside a clock on Epstein’s desk, alongside a girl’s high school , transcript. Two of Epstein’s former employees told investigators that young-looking girls showed up to perform massages two or three times a day when Epstein was in | town. They said the girls were permit- ted many indulgences. A chef cooked for them. Workers gave them rides and handed out hun- dreds of dollars at a time. One employee told detectives he was told to send a dozen.roses to one teenage girl after a high school i drama performance. Others were given rental cars. One, according to | police, received a $200 Christmas bonus. The cops moved to cement their case. But as they tried to tighten the noose, they encountered other forces at work. In Orlando they interviewed a possible victim who told them noth- ing inappropriate had happened between her and Epstein. They asked her whether she had spoken - to anyone else. She said yes, a pri- vate investigator had asked her the same questions. When they subpoenaed one of Epstein’s former employees, he told them the same thing. He and a pri- | vate eye had met ata restaurant days — earlier to go over what the man would tell investigators. Detectives received complaints that private eyes were posing as police officers. When they told Epstein’s local attorney, Guy Frons- tin, he said the investigators worked _ for Roy Black, the high-powered | Miami lawyer who has defended the | likes of Rush Limbaugh and William Kennedy Smith. While the private eyes were conducting a parallel investigation, Dershowitz, the Harvard law pro- | fessor, traveled to West Palm Beach with information about the girls. From their own profiles on the pop- . ular Web site MySpace.com, he obtained copies of their discussions about their use of alcohol and mari- juana. He took his research to a meet- ing with prosecutors.in early 2006, where he sought to cast doubt on the teens’ reliability. ~~ The private eyes had dug up HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_018933