Who is Ghislaine Maxwell? A peek into the extravagant life of Jeffrey Epstein’s madam
Fifteen international flights in three years, more than a dozen bank accounts totaling $20 million and a 156-acre property in New England paid for in all cash.
This is — or was — the extravagant life of British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s madam who was arrested charged with four counts of sex trafficking a minor and two counts of perjury Thursday morning, the Miami Herald previously reported.
The 58-year-old has been accused by many women of helping procure underage sex partners for Epstein, who died in a jail cell in August 2019 after being arrested a month earlier on sex trafficking charges himself.
Loaded with money and moving frequently to avoid detection, a court filing paints a portrait of the life Maxwell was leading in the aftermath of Epstein’s arrest last year.
Previously, Maxwell had made frequent public appearances, according to the filing. But since his arrest, she’s moved locations at least twice, changed her primary phone number and email address and ordered delivery packages under other people’s names.
She’s become an international woman of mystery of sorts and her whereabouts have been the subject of much interest.
At times, she’s appeared to be playing a game with the public. In one instance, a photograph published in the New York Post last August shows her sitting at an In-N-Out Burger table in the Los Angeles area, holding a spy book, according to previous Miami Herald reporting.
Most recently, Maxwell was hiding in the massive property acquired through a limited liability company called Granite Realty, LLC for more than $1 million in December 2019. The hideout is located in a sleepy New Hampshire town called Bradford and was where she was arrested.
Maxwell’s name didn’t appear on any of the documents connected to the transaction, according to someone with knowledge of the sale.
“Obviously whoever bought this property wanted privacy, and they got it,” the person said.
The woman who runs the local Bradford inn said no one in the roughly 1,600-person rural community 30 miles east of the state capitol knew she was there.
“For this sort of town, it’s like ‘oh my gosh,’” Sally Caravan told the Miami Herald. “It is a close-knit community and usually people are aware if something’s up. So obviously, she must’ve done a good job.”
On Thursday, the property was barred by a locked gate about a quarter of a mile up the long driveway. Reporters staked out the entrance Thursday afternoon, after some were escorted from the property by a man open-carrying a pistol.
Vic Morris, who lives across the road, saw small, unmarked planes circling the property Thursday morning before he left for work.
“I thought they were doing a NASCAR up there,” Morris said.
Morris discovered later that day that Maxwell has been living at the property. But he said he had never actually met her.
“I could have seen her at the Market Basket and I wouldn’t have known,” Morris said.
Several months ago he met a man who lived at the property. Though he didn’t catch the man’s name Morris said the man spoke with a British accent. Morris and his English neighbor first met one winter morning when the man was plowing snow from the long driveway, across the road, and up onto Morris’s property.
“I could tell he was new at this,” Morris said.
Maxwell — born in France and raised in England — doesn’t appear to have any connections to the area. She’s the daughter of former British media mogul Robert Maxwell, who died under mysterious circumstances in the early 1990s.
She became a U.S. citizen in 2002 and has passports for all three countries, the court filing says. Records from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection show she traveled frequently over the last few years, including to the United Kingdom, Japan and Qatar.
The court filing also says Maxwell “appears to have significant financial resources that would enable her flight from prosecution.”
The government identified 15 different bank accounts held by or associated with her from 2016 to the present. During that same time period, Maxwell transferred massive amounts of money between the accounts.
In March 2019, she transferred $500,000 from one account to the other. Four months later, Maxwell made another transfer — this time $300,000, the filing says. She also reportedly owns at least one foreign bank account containing upwards of $1 million.
In 2016, Maxwell “appears to have reaped substantial income” when she allegedly sold a New York City residence through a limited liability company for $15 million, the court filing says.
Around the day of the sale, $14 million was deposited into an account for which the socialite is listed as the owner, according to the filing. Days later, more than $14 million was transferred from that account into another one opened in Maxwell’s name.
“In short, the defendant’s financial resources appear to be substantial, and her numerous accounts and substantial money movements render her total financial picture opaque and indeterminate, even upon a review of bank records available to the Government,” the court filing says.
Maxwell has no children, doesn’t live with any immediate family members and doesn’t appear to have a job that would require her to stay in the U.S., according to the court filing. Furthermore, she doesn’t appear to have any permanent ties to the U.S.
Maxwell appeared by video chat before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrea Johnstone in New Hampshire on Thursday and is being taken to New York where she’ll face a hearing on the government’s request to deny her bail.
Maxwell’s lawyer, Larry Vogelman, declined to comment on the charges or the government’s request to deny her bail.
This story was originally published July 14, 2020 at 12:36 PM with the headline "Who is Ghislaine Maxwell? A peek into the extravagant life of Jeffrey Epstein’s madam."
