Lawyers for Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-girlfriend are urging a judge to release her to await trial under a $ 28.5 million bail package that would include armed guards to make sure she stays safe and doesn’t run away of a New York City residence.
The bail arguments on behalf of Ghislaine Maxwell, first filed under seal last Tuesday, were made public Monday afternoon with writings in Manhattan federal court that were approved by Judge Alison J. Nathan.
They received the support of numerous letters from family and friends who insisted that Maxwell sought isolation in a New Hampshire home in December 2019 after receiving death threats and worrying that the public and the media would find her in a house where she lived with her husband.
A security specialist who offered to commit $ 1 million to the bail package and provide armed security to Maxwell if released on bail said Maxwell retired to the back room of his residence when the The FBI approached on July 2 because reporters were thought to have found her.
Maxwell, 58, is scheduled to face trial in July on charges of recruiting three teenagers for Epstein abuse in the mid-1990s.
His first bail attempt shortly after his July arrest was rejected.
Lawyers said Maxwell and his spouse, with whom he has lived for most of the past four years, are offering a bail package that partially consists of a $ 22.5 million personal recognition bail secured by $ 8 million. in property and $ 500,000 in cash. She was said to represent all the assets of Maxwell and her husband, including three houses.
The husband was not identified in court documents, but a financial report between the exposures indicated that the couple married in 2016 and that Maxwell had put most of the $ 20.2 million in assets he had in 2015 into a trust. controlled by his partner. He said the assets, $ 16 million in cash or equity, were worth $ 22.5 million on Oct. 31.
The financial report also noted that prosecutors in their initial bail deposit cited transfers in excess of $ 20 million between 2007 and 2011, describing them as transfers from Epstein’s accounts to Epstein’s accounts. Maxwell and vice versa.
The financial report noted that Maxwell acted during these years as an officer in several corporate entities related to aircraft and air travel associated with Epstein and there were substantial transfers involving these corporate entities.
Nor was the identity of seven other close friends and relatives revealed that lawyers said they were willing to pledge about $ 5 million of their own assets for the bail package. Lawyers said the bail would include an electronic check.
“Mrs. Maxwell vehemently maintains her innocence and pledges to defend herself,” the lawyers wrote. “She wants nothing more than to stay in this country to fight the allegations against her, which are based on the unsubstantiated testimony of a handful of witnesses about events that occurred more than 25 years ago.”
To support the bail application, attorneys included a letter from Maxwell’s spouse. They said the letter explains how Mrs Maxwell was forced to leave her family and leave it in public view, not because she was dodging law enforcement, but because of “the intense media frenzy and subsequent threats to the arrest and death of Jeffrey Epstein “.
In a letter attached to the bail application as an exposition, one person wrote, “Her love for … her husband was the main reason she stayed as close as possible while fighting for his innocence “.
“I can attest that when he moved, it was always and only for fear of being discovered by the press or by the‘ vigilantes ’: the fear was palpable,” the unidentified individual wrote. “The only reason she was forced to find quiet places to be there all this time is because the howling ‘shots’ screamed for her ‘scalp’ on Twitter and other social media.”
The individual added: “She has never hidden from the authorities and is frustrated that she has never had the opportunity to speak to her in person to counter all the lies that come out in the media.”
Epstein committed suicide in a federal closure of Manhattan in August 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges. He was 66 years old.
A spokesman for the prosecutors declined to comment.