The British socialite who once dated the disgraced financier has been taken into custody by the FBI as she's been fighting allegations of sexual exploitation of underage girls.
- July 3, 2020
AceShowbiz - British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, an associate of the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, has been arrested by the FBI, in the U.S. state of New Hampshire.
Maxwell, who is a former girlfriend of Epstein, was taken into custody on Thursday (03Jun20) morning, and she is due to appear in a federal court later, NBC News reports, citing two unnamed sources.
Her attorneys have fought allegations she was involved in Epstein's abuse of dozens of young girls for years by denying them in civil lawsuits.
The charges she is facing are yet to be announced, but according to The New York Times, they are "criminal charges linked to his alleged sex-trafficking operation."
Maxwell went to ground following Epstein's arrest last July on charges that he abused and trafficked in women - with her whereabouts remaining unknown after the billionaire, who pleaded not guilty, killed himself in his Manhattan jail cell the following month.
The search for the daughter of deceased British media baron Robert Maxwell has been the subject of huge media interest, with sightings of her claimed all over the world.
After the death of her father in a mysterious yachting accident in 1991, and subsequent collapse of the family media empire, the socialite moved to the U.S. and became Epstein's lover and associate, mixing with the great and good from politics, the arts and science.
Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's alleged victims, has said in a civil lawsuit that Maxwell recruited her into the shamed mogul's circle, and claims he forced her to have sex with him and friends including British royal Prince Andrew - who has strongly denied the allegations.
Maxwell has denied Giuffre's accusations, prompting the alleged victim to file a defamation suit against the socialite in 2015.
