A dozen victims of Jeffrey Epstein filed a lawsuit in New York this Wednesday against the FBI (the Federal Investigation Agency) for covering up their failure to investigate the late financier, allowing their sex trafficking to continue. 20 years old. Epstein was found dead in his federal prison cell in Manhattan in August 2019, where he was awaiting trial.
The victims, who present themselves under the pseudonym Jane Doe – the pseudonym used in the American justice system for women seeking anonymity or for victims who cannot be identified – claim that as early as 1996 the FBI found evidence of “credible “Evidence” had. Portal reports that Epstein trafficked young women and girls but did not interview the victims or tell federal and local law enforcement what he knew. Some victims and witnesses also appeared, including Jane Doe, who testified in the 2022 trial of Epstein's right-hand man Ghislaine Maxwell, in which she was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex trafficking of minors.
The complainants state that the FBI eventually began investigating Esptein in 2006, but ended the investigation two years after he pleaded guilty to a prostitution charge in Florida in 2008, in which he virtually succeeded – he spent only 13 Months in prison – and what was a completely false conclusion to the investigation. The women claim the agency then continued to ignore the tips until his arrest in July 2019.
“As a direct cause of the FBI’s negligence, Plaintiffs would not have remained victims of sex trafficking, abuse, rape, torture, and threats,” the lawsuit states. “Twelve Jane files this lawsuit to once and for all get to the bottom of the FBI’s role in Epstein’s criminal sex trafficking network,” the text continues.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, seeks damages from the U.S. government, the sole defendant. It cites a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on December 5, 2023, in which FBI Director Christopher Wray was asked why the FBI had not done more. Wray then promised to “see if we can provide further information” after consulting with his team.
This would not be the first time that the judiciary has intervened to denigrate the misconduct of the security forces throughout the trial. Last June, a Justice Department investigation concluded that a series of negligence and lapses in custody contributed to Epstein's hanging in his cell, which was the cause of death determined by the autopsy.
The number of Epstein victims is estimated to be well over a hundred. Some of them previously achieved compensation totaling around $500 million (€771 million) through agreements to be paid by Epstein's estate and two of the banks where he was a client, JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, who were also pilloried because they had not broken off relations with the sex offender when his abuses became known. Both companies settled the lawsuits against them out of court through separate financial agreements. It is unknown whether any or all of the 12 new plaintiffs received compensation under these agreements.
The controversy surrounding the financier, who worked with the most important world leaders, from Bill Clinton to Donald Trump or Bill Gates, including Prince Andrew of England, and was removed from the front line of the British royal family for his alleged involvement in the conspiracy , this does not expire. The publication in January of a full list of documents containing the names of people named in the case – defendants and witnesses – has sparked interest in it.
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