Jeffrey Epstein wired $30.7M to alleged madam Ghislaine Maxwell over a period of eight years, jury in sex trafficking trial hears
- JPMorgan Chase Executive Director Patrick McHugh took the stand Monday to break down the transactions between the late financier and his alleged madam
- The jury heard how Epstein transferred $30.7million to Ghislaine Maxwell over a period of eight years, between 1999 and 2007
- A bank statement from August 1999 showed Epstein selling $18.3million of shares which were transferred the same day into Maxwell’s bank account
- The reason for the transfer was unclear, but in October 2000 Maxwell paid $4.9million for a townhouse on the Upper East Side of Manhattan
- The last transfer was in June 2007 and showed a bank account Epstein owned transferring $7.6million to Maxwell
- The same day she transferred it to a company called Air Ghislaine, which the documents showed she controlled
Jeffrey Epstein transferred $30.7million to Ghislaine Maxwell over a period of eight years, the jury heard today.
Prosecutors brought into evidence bank statements from JP Morgan which showed transfers worth $30.7million from Epstein or companies he controlled to Maxwell between 1999 and 2007.
Taking the stand Monday on the sixth day of Maxwell’s trial, JPMorgan Chase Executive Director Patrick McHugh broke down the transactions between the late financier and his alleged madam.
A bank statement from August 1999 showed the Financial Trust Company, a company Epstein controlled, selling $18.3million of shares which were transferred the same day into a bank account owned by Maxwell.
The reason for the transfer was unclear, but in October 2000 Maxwell paid $4.9million for a townhouse on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
The jury heard how Epstein transferred $30.7million to Ghislaine Maxwell over a period of eight years, between 1999 and 2007
JPMorgan Chase Executive Director Patrick McHugh took the stand Monday to break down the transactions between the late financier and his alleged madam
A bank statement from August 1999 showed Epstein selling $18.3million of shares which were transferred the same day into Maxwell’s bank account
A statement from September 2002 for an account Epstein owned with JP Morgan showed a sale of $5million of shares which were transferred to a Maxwell bank account at a bank in Palm Beach.
The last transfer was in June 2007 and showed a bank account Epstein owned transferring $7.6million to Maxwell.
The same day she transferred it to a company called Air Ghislaine, which the documents showed she controlled.
The same day Maxwell wired the money to aircraft maker Sikorsky and the reference on the transfer said it was for the purchase of a S76C green helicopter and ‘down payment on executive finish.’
During cross examination, Maxwell’s lawyer Christian Everdell suggested such transfers were typical for a billionaire like Epstein.
‘Isn’t it true that high-net-worth individuals like this have lots of assets?’ Everdell asked.
‘They could,’ said McHugh, who asserted that the transfers alone don’t indicate any foul play.
The last transfer was in June 2007 and showed a bank account Epstein owned transferring $7.6million to Maxwell. The same day she transferred it to a company called Air Ghislaine, which the documents showed she controlled. A photo of Epstein’s helicopter was submitted into evidence
A witness using the pseudonym ‘Kate’ took the stand Monday in Day Six of Ghislaine Maxwell’s high-profile sex trafficking trial
McHugh’s testimony came after a witness under the pseudonym ‘Kate’ took the stand and told the court Maxwell introduced her to Epstein in London when she was 17 years old.
Under questioning from the prosecution, Kate’s voice at times faltered but she spoke in a clear voice with a British accent as she described having sex with Epstein and giving him sexual massages.
Kate, wearing a black cardigan, a dark blue blouse with white polka dots and a black skirt, is not one of the main accusers in Maxwell’s case, but has been brought in as a prosecution witness.
She claimed Maxwell invited her to her London townhouse in the affluent area of Belgravia where Jeffrey Epstein was wearing a robe. Maxwell told her Epstein’s massage therapist had canceled and asked if she could fill in.
Kate claimed Epstein took off his robe to reveal his naked body and Maxwell handed her massage oil and closed the door. Kate said that Epstein initiated sexual contact with her.
After the massage, Kate claimed Maxwell asked, ‘How did it go? Did you have fun? You’re such a good girl.’
‘She sounded really pleased, and I was pleased that she was pleased,’ Kate said.
‘Later Maxwell told me to find someone to give Epstein a b***job,’ Kate claimed, and said Maxwell told her he needed to have sex ‘three times a day.’
As she sat in the witness box her blonde hair was swept back in a bun.
She appeared nervous and before the hearing was sitting outside court with her eyes closed as she steadied herself.
Maxwell appeared impassive and mostly remained sitting back in her chair.
Ghislaine Maxwell hugs her lawyer Bobbi Sternheim during her trial Monday
‘Later Maxwell told me to find someone to give Epstein a b***job,’ Kate claimed, and said Maxwell told her he needed to have sex ‘three times a day’
Before Kate began to give evidence Judge Alison Nathan told the jury that because she was over the age of consent at the time she is ‘not a victim’ of the alleged crimes.
Judge Nathan said that the jury cannot convict Maxwell based on Kate’s evidence and cannot use it for assessing Maxwell’s ‘character’.
The jury can only use it for things that are ‘relevant to the issues before you’, the judge said.
As a result of the ruling Kate was not asked the particulars of her encounters with Epstein.
Kate said that in 1994 when she was 17 she was living in Belgravia in London with her mother who was ill and ‘under a lot of stress’.
The infamous photo of Virginia Roberts, Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell was taken at Maxwell’s home in Belgravia
Kate said she first met Maxwell in Paris on a trip with a man she was dating: at the time he was 38 and made the introduction as he knew Maxwell.
Kate said of Maxwell: ‘We spoke about the evening and where we were headed, we spoke about where I lived. We spoke about the man I was dating. She was asking me about myself’.
Kate said that Maxwell was ‘very sophisticated, very elegant and had quite short dark brown hair. She was very impressive’.
Kate estimated that Maxwell was in her early 30s at the time. Kate gave Maxwell her phone number and a few weeks later she called her.
Kate said: ‘I was quite excited to be friends with her and she was friends with the guy I was dating. She seemed very excited and she seemed to be everything I wanted to be’.
The meeting took place at Maxwell’s house in Belgravia and Kate recalled lots of pictures of Maxwell and Epstein on the walls.
Kate told Maxwell she lived alone with her mother and that her mum had migraines and she had to give her massages.
Kate said that she had a place to study law at Oxford University, which Maxwell told her she had attended. Kate said she was a musician as well and said she might pursue that and talked about how she was into athletics.
Kate said she had a ‘really lovely time’ during her meeting with Maxwell. She sighed as she said: ‘I felt really special. I felt I had found a connection that could be really meaningful to me…she seemed as excited as I was to have a new friend. I left feeling exhilarated. Like somebody wanted me. Somebody wanted to be my friend’.
Maxwell told Kate about Epstein and said that he was a ‘philanthropist who liked to help young people and that it would be really wonderful for me to meet him’.
Kate said that at the time in her life she was feeling ‘lonely’ and having just moved to the UK from France she ‘hadn’t found a group of friends’
A few weeks later Maxwell invited Kate back again to her home to meet Epstein. Kate said there was an ‘urgency’ in Maxwell’s voice and she sounded ‘activated’ as she said Epstein was in town.
Kate said: ‘She said she would love it if I could over and meet him.’
Kate claimed Epstein took off his robe to reveal his naked body and Maxwell handed her massage oil and closed the door. On Friday, Epstein’s massage table was brought into court
Ghislaine’s siblings Isabel and Kevin Maxwell arrived to the federal courthouse Monday to support their sister
Kate arrived and Epstein was sitting in sweat pants and a hoodie and was on the phone. When he ended his call Maxwell said, according to Kate: ‘This is the girl I told you about’ and explained Kate was planning to go to Oxford and was a ‘really talented singer.’
Maxwell said Kate was ‘athletic and strong for my size’ – at the time she was 98lbs, she told the jury.
Kate said: ‘She said why don’t you give his feet a little squeeze to show him how strong you are?’
‘I massaged them. He (Epstein) seemed very approving and said you can go ahead and do my shoulders. He said I was very strong and that I seemed to know what I wanted’.
Kate’s next meeting came a couple of weeks later when Maxwell called her.
Kate said Maxwell told her that Epstein was due to get a massage but his massage therapist had ‘canceled and could I please do her a favor and help her by coming over as I had such strong hands?’
Asked by prosecutor Lara Pomerantz if Kate was a massage therapist then or now, and she said: ‘No.’
When Kate arrived at the house, she claims Maxwell told her Epstein ‘needed massages all the time and it was very difficult to keep up. She led me up the stairs and opened the door to a room that had a massage table in it. It was dimly lit. It was a small room, there was a massage table’.
Kate said that Epstein was in the room wearing a robe then he took it off and was naked.
The six charges against Maxwell:
THE CHARGES
Conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts (5 years max sentence)
Enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts (20 years)
Conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity (20 years)
Transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity (10 years minimum, life maximum)
Sex Trafficking Conspiracy
Sex Trafficking of a Minor
Ghislaine Maxwell also faces two charges of perjury but those counts are due to be tried after her sex crimes trial.
The charges relate to testimony she gave in 2016 in a defamation case filed against her by Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre.
THE ‘FACTS’
Prosecutors say Maxwell groomed three girls between 1994 and 1997 for Epstein.
They are not named in the indictment, but she allegedly targeted them in London, Florida, New York and New Mexico.
Maxwell, it is alleged, would befriend the girls by asking them about their life and their schooling. She would put them at ease by taking them to the movies and taking them shopping, winning their trust to later deliver them to Epstein, it’s alleged.
To ‘normalize’ the abuse that would come later, prosecutors say she undressed in front of the girls herself and asked them sexual questions.
She then not only facilitated Epstein abusing them, prosecutors say, but took part in some of it herself.
The alleged sex abuse includes ‘sexualized group massages’.
The indictment also says Maxwell made the girl feel ‘indebted’ to Epstein by encouraging them to take money from him and let him pay for their education and travel.
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