Who is Ghislaine Maxwell, the ex-girlfriend of billionaire Jeffrey Epstein convicted of child sex trafficking

From a woman of high society and a friend of British royalty, to facing dozens of years in prison for one of the biggest sex trafficking scandals of recent times.

Ghislaine Maxwell, youngest daughter of British press mogul Robert Maxwell and ex-girlfriend of the late billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, was found guilty this Wednesday in New York of having helped Epstein sexually abuse underage girls and of sex trafficking. The American press has referred to the Maxwell case as the “Trial of the decade”.

Epstein, who was associated with important figures in world society, including former US presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, committed suicide in a Manhattan cell in August 2019.

The verdict came 10 days after the trial concluded and the jury had heard the testimony of 24 witnesses.

What was Ghislaine Maxwell accused of?

Maxwell was arrested by the FBI last year for her alleged involvement in the scandal and has been in jail ever since.

He pleaded not guilty to all six charges against him, related to the recruitment of minors and sex trafficking. She was found guilty in five of the six.

Four of the charges date from 1994 to 1997, a time when, according to the indictment, she was one of Epstein’s closest associates and had an “intimate relationship” with him. Two other charges relate to alleged events. conspiracy of sex trafficking and sex trafficking of a minor between 2001 and 2004.

In December of last year, one of the women who declared herself a victim of Epstein pointed out to the BBC that Maxwell controlled women who were in the service of the billionaire.

“Ghislaine controlled the girls. It was like the madame“, He said Sarah Ransome on the BBC’s Panorama program.

“She was one of the basics of the sex trafficking operation and she always visited Jeffrey on the island to make sure the girls were doing what they were supposed to be doing,” he stated.

“She knew what Jeffrey liked. With intimidation, he helped uphold Jeffrey’s standards; I intimidated the girls, so it was a joint effort, “he said.

The allegations against Maxwell were first made public in court documents in 2009.

Prince Andrew of England, son of Queen Elizabeth II, has been linked to both Epstein and Maxwell by some of the alleged victims of the American businessman.

In August 2019, an American judge published documents and testimony about the case against Epstein just hours before he was found dead in his cell in a New York jail.

Virginia Giuffre, an alleged victim of the billionaire who worked as a wardrobe assistant at the Mar-a-Lago club in Donald Trump In Florida, where Epstein used to go, she accused Maxwell of “recruiting” her when she was 15 years old as a “masseur” for the financier.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Epstein allegedly paid minors in exchange for a massage at his residence, which in most cases ended in some kind of sexual exchange.

Maxwell then branded Giuffre a liar and the young woman filed a libel suit against him that the parties resolved before reaching trial in 2017.

Giuffre’s lawyers had accused Maxwell of “acting like madame“For Epstein and indicated that” multiple witnesses “had accused her of “Recruit, keep, host and traffic” minors for Epstein.

How did Ghislaine Maxwell start her relationship with Epstein?

Born on Christmas Day 1961 outside of Paris, Maxwell was educated at the University of Oxford in England and speaks several languages.

He has British, American and French nationality.

American media point out that from a young age she was a person with numerous upper-class contacts and that it was she who introduced Epstein to many of his wealthy and powerful friends, including the former president of the United States. Bill Clinton and the prince Andrew, Duke of York.

In fact, the third son of Queen Elizabeth II faces a civil lawsuit in the US for allegedly having sexually abused Virginia Giuffre when she was a minor, something that he categorically denies.

According to the newspaper The Washington Post, the couple’s friends point out that Maxwell’s relationship with Epstein lasted a few years, although she continued working for him later.

“She was a person of education and refined tastes and she knew how to handle a house or a boat and how to attend to guests,” an acquaintance of both told the British newspaper. The Daily Telegraph.

In a profile of Vanity Fair published in 2003, Epstein commented that he did not consider Maxwell an employee but her best friend”.

In court documents, former workers at Epstein’s Palm Beach, Florida mansion also describe her as the house manager, the one who supervised staff and handled finances.

Heir to high society

Maxwell is the ninth and last daughter of the British media mogul Robert Maxwell, with whom he had a very close relationship.

In fact, the billionaire put her in charge of his football club, Oxford United, and named his yacht in her honor: Lady Ghislaine.

It was from that boat that the businessman of Czech origin disappeared off the Canary Islands, Spain, in November 1991.

After finding the body, authorities attributed his death to “accidental drowning”.

Robert Maxwell had managed to build a world publishing empire. But after his death, it emerged that he had taken money from the pension funds of one of his companies to keep his companies afloat.

Shortly after her father’s death, Ghislaine Maxwell left the UK for the United States, where she worked in real estate.

From girlfriend to confidant

It was shortly after that she met Jeffrey Epstein and their relationship evolved over the years: from a sentimental partner, it is said that he became his assistant and confidant.

According to some media, Epstein bought him a house in Manhattan for US $ 5 million and frequently accompanied him on his private jet on trips around the world.

After her ex-boyfriend faced legal proceedings for the prostitution of minors in 2008, she began to distance herself from him.

Maxwell founded an NGO, the TerraMar project, dedicated to preserving the oceans and was invited to give a talk and speak at the United Nations on the subject.

But in recent years, before her arrest, little was known about her.

He is believed to have left the United States and sold his Manhattan townhouse in 2016.

She kept a low profile until in July 2020 she was arrested at her New Hampshire mansion and jailed in New York.

__________________________________

* This note was originally published on August 13, 2019 and updated on December 29, 2021 after the announcement of his conviction.

__________________________________