epstein-used-austrian-passport-with-fake-name-in-the-1980s

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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news ... rosecutors
Epstein used Austrian passport with fake name in the 1980s: Prosecutors
by Jerry Dunleavy, Justice Department Reporter


Prosecutors revealed Thursday that accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein had an Austrian passport with a fake name that he’d used “to enter France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia in the 1980s.”

That raised concerns about whether Epstein has foreign citizenship and slapped down claims from Epstein's attorneys that the passport, which has a false name, had never been used. Epstein was denied bail by a federal judge Thursday. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy.

Prosecutors had contended Epstein should be kept behind bars while awaiting trial rather than on house arrest in his Manhattan mansion. Investigators argued Tuesday that Epstein’s vast wealth — more than $500 million — combined with his access to international travel, his alleged history of intimidating possible witnesses and paying off possible co-conspirators, and his foreign passport made him a “significant flight risk.”

Epstein’s attorneys responded by trying to dismiss Epstein’s foreign passport as being much ado about nothing.

“As for the Austrian passport the government trumpets, it expired 32 years ago,” the defense contended. “And the government offers nothing to suggest — and certainly no evidence — that Epstein ever used it.”

Epstein’s attorneys said he had “acquired the passport in the 1980s” but claimed he’d done so as “an affluent member of the Jewish faith … when hijackings were prevalent, in connection to Middle East travel.”

They asserted that “the passport was for personal protection in the event of travel to dangerous areas, only to be presented to potential kidnappers, hijackers, or terrorists should violent episodes occur” but said it was never used.

But the government shot this down on Wednesday, saying the passport “contains numerous ingress and egress stamps” indicating it was used to enter countries in Europe and the Middle East.

“The government further notes that the defendant’s submission does not address how the defendant obtained the foreign passport and, more concerning, the defendant has still not disclosed to the court whether he is a citizen or legal permanent resident of a country other than the United States,” prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said the passport isn’t the only thing they found during a raid of Epstein’s New York City home. The locked safe also contained “$70,000 in cash” and “48 loose diamond stones … as well as a large diamond ring.” Investigators said they didn’t know whether Epstein keeps “similar stashes of cash and/or jewels at his multiple properties” or “in other locations” but said such things “are consistent with the capability to leave the jurisdiction at a moment’s notice.”

The source of Epstein’s wealth has long been a mystery, but perhaps the oddest claim about where some of Epstein’s fortune came from actually originated with Epstein himself, who reportedly bragged to friends back in the 1980s that he was acting as a global “bounty hunter” for unspecified governments.

The allegedly falsified foreign passport that prosecutors recovered a week ago matches this timeframe.

Prosecutors said they examined bank records which suggest Epstein “already earns at least $10,000,000 per year … while living in the U.S. Virgin Islands, traveling extensively abroad, and residing in part in Paris, France." They suggested that “there would be little to stop the defendant from fleeing, transferring his unknown assets abroad, and then continuing to do whatever it is he does to earn his vast wealth from a computer terminal beyond the reach of extradition.”

The 14-page indictment unsealed against Epstein alleges he “sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls at his homes in Manhattan, New York and Palm Beach, Florida, among other locations” between 2002 and 2005 and perhaps beyond. Some of the victims were as young as 14 at the time the alleged crimes occurred.

Alex Acosta, the outgoing Labor Secretary and former U.S. attorney for Southern Florida, reached an agreement in 2008 with Epstein’s attorneys where Epstein was allowed to plead guilty to two state-level prostitution solicitation charges related to a 17-year-old girl. Epstein served just 13 months in a Palm Beach County jail with work release, paid some restitution, and registered as a sex offender. The secret agreement was reportedly struck before investigators finished interviewing all the alleged victims, and it included protections for some of Epstein’s alleged co-conspirators.