Ghislaine Maxwell is under investigation in the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to a report. Her rumored boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein was accused of abusing and trafficking many young girls on his own private island Little Saint James, just off the coast of St. Thomas.
The U.S. territory’s Department of Justice revealed it’s investigating “Maxwell’s participation in Epstein’s criminal sex trafficking and sexual abuse conduct” in a filing Friday as part of her lawsuit against Epstein’s estate, according to a Bloomberg report on Monday.
On Friday, officials in the Caribbean territory gave notice of their investigation in a court filing, seeking to intervene in the lawsuit Maxwell had filed against Epstein's estate. She had filed the suit earlier this year in the hopes of getting some type of reimbursement for her legal fees, on the promise that Epstein would always take care of her financially.
“The government’s need to intervene is further fueled by Maxwell’s inappropriate use of the Virgin Islands courts to seek payment and reimbursement from the Epstein criminal enterprise, while she circumvents the service of process of government subpoenas related to her involvement in that criminal enterprise,” the filing states.
Epstein's 75-acre island Little Saint James, which he nicknamed "Little Saint Jeff's" and others called "pedophile island" was rumored to be the place that he and Ghislaine would sexually assault young girls, and then pawn them off to their powerful and wealthy visitors of the island to do the same. He allegedly bribed U.S. Virgin Islands government officials and donated dozens of computers to be given away at schools, to keep authorities at bay.
His trafficking operation was believed to have gone on from the early 2000s to 2018.
David Cattie, a lawyer representing Maxwell in the Virgin Islands, and Mark Cohen, a lawyer for Maxwell in her criminal case in New York, did not comment on new potential charges against their client.
Maxwell, 58, is currently in US custody in New York, after her arrest in New Hampshire earlier this month. She faces an array of charges, centering around her suspected involvement in procuring young girls for her, Epstein, and their associates to abuse.
Maxwell is due to enter her plea in New York on Tuesday. Her legal team has requested she be freed on $5 million bail due to COVID-19 risks, as she awaits trial, but prosecutors are highly against the move, calling her an "extreme flight risk."
On Monday new details emerged that Maxwell had tried evading her arrest by fleeing to another part of her luxury New Hampshire home and that investigators had found a cellphone wrapped in tin foil, a failed effort to avoid detection from the authorities.