Prince Andrew is named in "sex slave" ring

[David Guyatt]

Better reporting and actual detail from the Daily Bellylaugh - amazing, I know.

Prince Andrew's friend Jeffrey Epstein 'used aggressive witness tampering to prevent truth coming out'

Epstein, a convicted sex offender, "threatened and harassed" witnesses, court papers allege, and paid the legal bills of others who refused to answer questions

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By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter, and Rob Crilly in Palm Beach, Florida

8:21PM GMT 05 Jan 2015



The Duke of York's former friend Jeffrey Epstein used "aggressive witness tampering" on employees who later refused to answer questions about whether the Duke slept with underage girls, according to US investigators.

Epstein is also said to have bankrolled the legal fees of witnesses who invoked their right to silence to avoid answering whether young girls were "provided for sex" to the Duke.

Lawyers representing women who were sexually abused by Epstein have complained bitterly that it became "impossible" to gather evidence from vital witnesses because so many of them had legal representation paid for by Epstein, a billionaire investment banker.

The Duke of York has "categorically denied" claims made in US court documents that he "sexually abused" a 17-year-old girl called Virginia Roberts, or engaged in any "impropriety with under-age minors".

The Duke, 54, spent today in discussions with lawyers and aides at Royal Lodge, his home near Windsor Castle, where he and his staff refused to answer any more questions about the allegations.

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His ex-wife, the Duchess of York, described him as "the best man in the world" in her first comments since the allegations surfaced last week.
Court documents filed in Florida reveal the extent to which the FBI and victims' lawyers were frustrated in their attempts to investigate the extent of Epstein's sex offending, and the claims against the Duke.
One court statement lists ten employees and associates of Epstein who, it said, were being represented by lawyers paid for by the convicted sex offender. They include Nadia Marcinkova, described as "Epstein's live-in sex slave", who invoked her right not to incriminate herself, protected by the US constitution's Fifth Amendment, when she was asked about the Duke of York.
Asked by a victim's lawyer: "Have you ever been made to perform sexually on Prince Andrew?" she replied: "Fifth." As well as having a lawyer provided by Epstein, she was "harassed and pressured" by him not to cooperate, court papers allege.

Sarah Kellen, Epstein's executive assistant, whose legal fees were also said to have been paid by Epstein, was asked: "Would you agree with me that Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein used to share under-age girls for sexual relations?" She replied: "On the instruction of my lawyer, I must invoke my Fifth Amendment privilege." Miss Kellen was "threatened" by Epstein to prevent her co-operating, it is alleged.
Epstein himself, questioned under oath, refused to answer the questions: "Did you provide any under-aged girls for sex to Prince Andrew?" and: "Did you fly with Prince Andrew on your plane, or planes, with any under-aged girls, girls under the age of 18?"
A third woman, Adriana Ross, a former model who worked as Epstein's diary organiser, refused to answer the question: "Has Prince Andrew ever been involved with under-age minor females to your knowledge?"
When two FBI Specials Agents went to the home of Leslie Groff, a personal assistant to Epstein, in 2007 to serve her with a federal grand jury subpoena, she told them she had to go upstairs to check her sleeping child, but instead phoned Epstein, who told her not to speak to the agents.
The "aggressive witness tampering" was "so severe" that examples were written into proposed plea agreements for Epstein, court documents state.
Court papers also allege that Epstein used his fleet of private aircraft to traffic young girls around the world for sex.
Flight logs show that in May 2000 the Duke flew with Epstein in his Gulfstream jet as a guest, accompanied by a royal protection officer. There is no suggestion any young girls were being trafficked or abused on the flight from New York to Florida.
The claims that the Duke "sexually abused" Miss Roberts were made in the latest round of an attempt by victims of Epstein to have his 2008 plea bargain overturned. They say his deal with Florida prosecutors which gave him immunity from federal prosecution and allowed him to serve just 13 months in jail was unlawful because the victims were not consulted.
Epstein was allowed the plea bargain despite an FBI investigation concluding that 40 women should be "characterised as victims", some of whom went to Epstein's homes 100 times or more.
Papers seen by The Daily Telegraph show that the Duke's friendship with Epstein and his resulting resignation as UK trade envoy in 2011 are described as creating a strong public interest case for disclosing the secret terms of the plea bargain.
The victims, who claim the Duke lobbied the US government for a lenient deal for his friend, said in one court document: "In light of all this interest, it appears that Epstein's motivation in keeping entire documents sealed is to block the public from learning about what happened during the investigation of his crimes, rather than any legitimate purpose."
The Duke's aides have denied he would ever interfere in an ongoing legal case, and court papers show that the US Justice Department told the victims it held no documents in relation to any alleged lobbying by the Duke.