British socialite and alleged madam Ghislaine Maxwell is suing Jeffrey Epstein’s $600-million estate for attorneys’ fees and security costs, claiming in a new complaint that the perverted financier promised to support her financially.
“Maxwell receives regular threats to her life and safety, which have required her to hire personal security services and find safe accommodation,” states the complaint, which was filed March 12 in the Superior Court in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Maxwell’s attorney is Kyle R. Waldner of the firm Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer, which has an office in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He could not be reached for comment.
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As The Daily Beast previously reported, Epstein filed his last will and testament in the Virgin Islands, where he owned a private island, and where victims are fighting for a settlement as part of his estate’s probate case.
Maxwell, 58, has long been accused of recruiting underage victims for Epstein, and of taking part in the sexual abuse herself. Since Epstein’s arrest in July 2019, Maxwell has kept a low profile. Indeed, the press has been unable to locate her.
According to Maxwell’s complaint, she worked for Epstein and his businesses from 1999 through at least 2006. Around this time, she announced she’d leave to start a business of her own, the document states. “In approximately 2004, Maxwell received a typewritten letter from Epstein with a handwritten note asking Maxwell to remain in Epstein’s employ and promising that no matter what Maxwell chose to do, Epstein would always support Maxwell financially,” the complaint says.
Maxwell claims that since Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution in Florida in 2008, she has “incurred legal fees and expenses in connection with various suits, proceedings, and investigations” related to Epstein.
The complaint says Epstein advanced legal fees and settlement costs for Maxwell in connection with other lawsuits filed by victims, including one by Sarah Ransome in 2017. Epstein also allegedly footed Maxwell’s legal bills in connection with Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s civil suit against Epstein in 2009. (Giuffre sued Maxwell for defamation in 2015, but it’s unclear if Epstein helped pay her attorneys’ fees for that case.)
In August 2019, another victim of Epstein’s, Jennifer Araoz, sued Epstein’s estate and Maxwell, claiming that Maxwell provided “organizational support to Epstein’s sex trafficking ring,” scheduling his “massage” appointments with minors and enlisting recruiters to find underage girls for Epstein to abuse.
Three months later, Annie Farmer’s civil case against Epstein’s estate listed Maxwell as a defendant, too. The complaint alleges Maxwell and Epstein abused Farmer when she was 16 years old at Epstein’s New Mexico ranch.
Maxwell is also facing a lawsuit from Jane Doe, who alleges she was abused both by Epstein and Maxwell starting at age 13 in 1994. According to the complaint, filed in January against Epstein’s estate, Maxwell groomed the victim and “helped supply [Epstein] with a steady stream of young and vulnerable girls.”
According to Maxwell’s new complaint against Epstein’s estate, the heiress says her legal and security costs are expected to rise.
“Maxwell has incurred and will continue to incur significant legal fees, personal security costs, and other costs in connection with legal suits, proceedings and investigations relating to Epstein, his affiliated businesses, and his alleged victims,” the document alleges.
In November 2019, Maxwell’s suit claims, she submitted a claim to Epstein’s estate requesting it honor the dead sex-offender’s alleged promises. But the estate has not formally responded, according to the complaint.
A quarterly accounting filed in the U.S. Virgin Islands in late January revealed Epstein's total assets are worth $634.79 million.
