EFTA00154692.pdf

Case Initiation Summary On 12/06/2018, FBI NY initiated a case after Southern District of New York (SDNY) contacted FBI NY regarding several victims that had been sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein in the mid 2000's. Beginning in at least 2002, Epstein enticed and recruited dozens of minor girls to engage in sex acts with him, for which he paid the victims hundreds of dollars in cash. He undertook this activity in at least two different locations, including his mansion in Manhattan, New York and his estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Victims were initially recruited to provide "massages" to Epstein, which would be performed nude or partially nude, would become increasingly sexual in nature, and would typically include one or more sex acts, including groping and direct or indirect contact with victims' genitals. Epstein paid his victims hundreds of dollars in cash for each separate encounter. Moreover, Epstein actively encouraged certain of his victims to recruit additional girls to be similarly sexually abused. He incentivized his victims to become recruiters by paying these victim-recruiters hundreds of dollars for each additional girl they brought to him. In this fashion, Epstein created a vast network of underage victims — as young as 14 — in locations including New York and Palm Beach. In creating and maintaining a network of minor victims whom he abused, Epstein worked with others, including employees and associates who facilitated his exploitation of minors by, among other things, contacting victims and scheduling their sexual encounters with Epstein, both in New York and in Florida. By way of background, in 2005, the West Palm Beach Police Department, and then FBI Miami, initiated an investigation of Epstein after parents of a victim reported to law enforcement that Epstein had sexually abused their daughter from 2002-2005. Those investigations spanned approximately two years and included, among other things, interviews with approximately 35 victims, a search warrant executed on Epstein's Florida (FL) residence, and detailed analysis of various phone and flight records. Pre-indictment of Epstein • In January 2019, FBI NY and SDNY AUSAs traveled to West Palm Beach to meet with the FBI case agents from the investigation into Epstein in 2006. • From January 2019 through June 2019 multiple victim witness interviews were conducted in New York and Florida • Agents and SDNY AUSAs have traveled to FL on multiple occasions to interview victims. The identified victims' ages ranged from approximately 14 to 17, with the majority having been approximately 15 or 16 when they were recruited to perform sex acts for and with Epstein. In addition to the sex acts, victims would have to perform massages on Epstein nude or partially nude. Victims were paid approximately $200 to $300 each time they went to Epstein's residence. • Victims in NY and FL usually were contacted via telephone by individuals who worked for Epstein to arrange his "massages." In NY, one of those EFTA00154692 individuals was ; in FL, the primary contact for the girls was . Additionally, and in order to maintain a steady stream of underage girls to perform sexual acts, Epstein and his co-conspirators also coerced others, including some of his victims, to recruit other minor girls to engage in "massages" and sexual conduct with Epstein. The recruiters were paid by Epstein and co-conspirators for bringing additional minor girls to Epstein's properties for those purposes. • On July 2, 2019, a federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York returned a sealed indictment Jeffrey Epstein with one count of sex trafficking of minors, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1591, and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. • On 07/05/2019, FBI NY was notified by CBP that Epstein is scheduled to arrive at Teterboro Airport in Bergen County, New Jersey, on 07/06/2019. • On 07/06/2019, Epstein was arrested in NJ at Teterboro Airport and transported to NY without incident. • On 07/06/2019, a search warrant was executed at Epstein's residence in Manhattan, NY upon which several items were seized. Post-indictment of Epstein • In July 2019, multiple individuals associated to Epstein were served GJ subpoenas. Among those served included Ghislaine Maxwell, Lex Wexner, MM, Jean Luc Brunel, =IM, William Hammond (pilot), David Rodgers (pilot), Richard Barnett (JE/GM chief engineer) • On 07/08/2019, Epstein pled not guilty during his initial appearance in federal court. • On 07/11/2019, an additional search warrant for digital items was executed at Epstein's residence in Manhattan. • On 07/12/2019, in West Palm Beach Florida. was interviewed pursuant to a proffer agreement • On 07/13/2019, a certified appraisal was completed for the NY residence with the value determined to be $86,250,000. o A Notice of Pendency was filed for the NY residence. o Multiple subpoenas were served on EPSTEIN's LLC companies, which are based in the VI. • On 07/15/2019, Epstein was denied bail during his detention hearing. EFTA00154693 • On 07/18/2019, FBI and SDNY met with and her attorneys for a reverse proffer. =was an assistant to Epstein in New York and is one of the employees identified in the indictment. The meeting was generally positive, and another meeting with her counsel will be scheduled to discuss the next steps. • On 07/22/2019, FBI and SDNY met with counsel for to discuss her cooperation with the investigation. recruited minor victims for Epstein in Florida for several years, starting when she was approximately 16. • On 07/22/2019, FBI and SDNY interviewed Dr. Gregory Bledsoe by telephone. Bledsoe is a doctor who was hired by the Secret Service to provide backup medical services for Bill Clinton during a trip to Africa in 2002 on Epstein's plane. Bledsoe said that there were no minors on the flight, and he did not observe any sexual misconduct. • On 07/22/2019, FBI and SDNY spoke to counsel for Deutsche Bank to follow up on continuing rolling productions in connection with subpoenas for "any and all Epstein materials", and requested to meet with personnel who could explain the Epstein relationship. • On 07/23/2019, SDNY advised Epstein was found unconscious in his cell with red marks on his neck. When staff was able to revive Epstein, he couldn't recall what happened. Epstein's cellmate, Nick Tartaglione (not public knowledge), denied knowing anything and said he was just sitting on his bunk with earphones on. Tartaglione, is a former police officer and subject of NY HVRA quadruple homicide who has been approved for the death penalty. Epstein was removed from his cell and has been medically evaluated. MDC has initiated an investigation per their SOPs. Per SDNY, the Washington Post has made an inquiry of the incident. • On 07/24/2019, FBI and SDNY spoke with a representative of the New Mexico Attorney General's Office, who agreed to refer any individuals who could be included in the Epstein SDNY investigation; SDNY advised if there was any New Mexico-based conduct SDNY could not investigate those matters would be referred to them. • On 07/25/2019, FBI and SDNY met with attorneys from Debevoise who represent Leslie Wexner and his wife, Abigail. During an attorney proffer they advised the Wexners were not close with Epstein and had no knowledge of his sexual misconduct. They further advised that they severed ties with Epstein in 2007 after discovering that Epstein had stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars from them while managing their finances. • On 07/29/2019, FBI and SDNY met with Epstein's attorneys, who, in very general terms, discussed the possibility of a resolution of the case, and the possibility of the defendant's cooperation. Defense counsel did not make a specific proposal, and they did not indicate what the nature of Epstein's cooperation might be, if any. SDNY advised defense counsel that they were free to contact us if they came to a point where Epstein was EFTA00154694 prepared to accept responsibility for his conduct, and if they had a specific proposal for a resolution of this case. • On 07/31/2019, FBI And SDNY met with counsel for who was Epstein's personal assistant during the period of the charged conduct. lawyers provided an attorney proffer, which largely touched on background, as well as the relationship between Epstein and M, which they described as sexually abusive. The attorneys also provided an overview of her role in scheduling massages in Florida, as well as actions took to destroy evidence, at Epstein's direction. was interviewed pursuant to a proffer agreement on multiple occasions to include 11/26/2019 and 12/04/2019. Post Epstein's suicide • On 08/10/2019, at approximately 7:30am, FBI NY was notified that Epstein committed suicide in his jail cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Manhattan, NY. NY VCT squad C-19 launched an investigation into the possible assault of a federal inmate. C-19 began coordinating with BOP, as well as the NY State Office of the Medical Examiner (OCME). • On 08/10/2019, a Search Warrant for Epstein's Virgin Island Property was sworn out in St. Thomas. Agents and TFOs from C-20, along with support from other squads on Branch C, traveled to St. Thomas on Sunday (8/11) to participate in the execution of the warrant. The search will be led by NY ERT, with the participation of approximately 60 individuals from the NYO and San Juan, St. Thomas RA. The warrant was executed on Monday (8/12) morning at approximately 9am. • Since Epstein's death, FBI and SNDY continued the investigation that remained ongoing following the return of the Indictment against Epstein into potential coconspirators. In particular, that investigation focused on Ghislaine Maxwell, and • In September 2019, FBI and SDNY met with victim FBI and SDNY were able to verify that Maxwell recruited her, and that she was being sexually abused by Epstein and Maxwell, and that she recruited other minors. FBI and SDNY were not able to corroborate or verify her reports of being lent out to other men. Her statements regarding being directed to have sex with other men was inconsistent with statements made by other victims/witnesses, in particular her statements regarding being lent out to men with another victim — the other victim denied this occurring. o No other victim described being directed by either Epstein or Maxwell to engage in sexual activity with any other men. EFTA00154695 o The closest account was when one victim (==) described Epstein asking her to massage Harvey Weinstein and during the massage Weinstein asked her to remove her shirt. She refused and left, and Epstein apologized and did not ask her to massage any other men. • In August and September 2019, Jean Luc Brunel's attorneys advised that he would not be meeting with the FBI and SDNY and would invoke his 5th amendment rights. • In October 2019, an adult victim was interviewed and provided information related to Epstein directing her to massage two other individuals, Leon Black and Jes Staley. The victim attempted to provide Black with a normal massage, but Black began initiating sexual contact, and the victim ran out of the room. When the victim complained to Epstein, he laughed it off. When the victim attempted to provide a normal massage to Staley in Epstein's NY residence, Staley forced her to touch his genitals and raped her. When the victim complained to Epstein, he said he left it to her and Staley to decide whether to engage in sex. The victim was not paid for either instance. o The Manhattan District Attorney's office began looking into allegations against Leon Black. • In October 2019, attorneys for Ghislaine Maxwell provided an attorney proffer. Maxwell was not present for this meeting. • was interviewed pursuant to a proffer agreement approximately three times. • On June 29, 2020, a federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York returned a sealed indictment Ghislaine Maxwell with one count of enticement of a minor in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422, one count of conspiracy to entice minors in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, one count of transportation of a minor in violation of 18 U.S.0 § 2423, one count of conspiracy to transport a minor in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, and two counts of perjury in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1623. • A GPS warrant was sworn out for two of Maxwell's phones. Pings resulted in her being located in New Hampshire. Agents from FBI NY traveled to New Hampshire to coordinate the arrest of Maxwell. In coordination with CAST and WITT to confirm her location resulted in an additional search warrant being sworn out for her person. Maxwell was arrested on 7/2/2024, without incident, at her home in New Hampshire. • On March 29, 2021, a federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York returned a sealed superseding indictment Ghislaine Maxwell with one count of sex trafficking of minors, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1591, one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. • On November 29, 2021, the trial United States v. Ghislaine Maxwell began. On December 30, 2021, Maxwell was convicted on 5 counts. EFTA00154696 • On June 28, 2022, Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years. Evidence Review • Through a review of evidence, the FBI identified some victims who appear in photographs maintained in Epstein's residences. Of particular note, the FBI identified photographs of and at Epstein's residences. It bears noting that, contrary to some news reports, these searches did not reveal any cameras in any of the bedrooms or massage rooms. • There was a small number of CSAM images found on one of Epstein's devices. EFTA00154697