Maxwell is ‘playing the victim’, says Duke accuser

As battles over the distribution of Epstein’s estate and assets continue, the scandal increases

VIRGINIA ROBERTS-GIUFFRE has called Ghislaine Maxwell “sadistic” and accused her of “playing the victim” after it emerged she was suing dead financier’s Jeffrey Epstein’s estate.

Miss Maxwell filed a suit last Friday in the US Virgin Islands, which is overseeing the division of Epstein’s $636million (£550million) estate. In it, she is seeking payment for legal fees incurred through her work with Epstein – reimbursement she claims Epstein promised her.

The complaint said Miss Maxwell “had no involvement in or knowledge of Epstein’s alleged misconduct”, and she has always denied all accusations of wrongdoing.

“Memo to GM – How dare you play the victim card when you victimised me and countless others,” Mrs Roberts-giuffre tweeted.

“You are a vile, evil, sadistic creature not even worthy of calling a human being. I hope the judge ruling over this laughs you out of court and into jail. #ENOUGH.”

Mrs Roberts-giuffre, now 35, claims she was trafficked by Epstein and Miss Maxwell around the world, and was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew, a former friend of Epstein’s, when she was 17. He has always denied the claim, and all allegations against the Duke were struck from the court record in 2015 after being described as “immaterial and impertinent” by a judge.

Mrs Roberts-giuffre filed a defamation suit against Miss Maxwell in September 2015, after Miss Maxwell denied her claims and called her a liar. The case was settled in May 2017. On July 2 the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ordered that the documents in the case be unsealed, owing to the overwhelming public interest. The first tranche of 2,000 pages was published on August 9, the day before Epstein killed himself in jail.

Miss Maxwell’s current whereabouts are unknown.

In January, lawyers for one of Epstein’s accusers, Annie Farmer, gave notice to a New York court that they had tried unsuccessfully for several months to locate Miss Maxwell in order to serve her with notice of the lawsuit.

‘Memo to GM … You are a vile, evil, sadistic creature not even worthy of calling a human being’

Miss Maxwell now faces a court-imposed deadline to file a response by March 27.

She is also a named defendant in three civil lawsuits pending in New York filed by Epstein’s alleged victims. Epstein’s estate is currently the subject of much legal wrangling.

His executors, Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, asked in November for the setting up of a voluntary resolution programme for his accusers, which would be run independently by Kenneth R. Feinberg. Epstein’s victims, however, are wary of the scheme.

In January, Denise George, attorney general of the US Virgin Islands, accused Epstein of bringing girls as young as 11 and 12 to his secluded estate on the island of Little Saint James.

The suit was filed against Epstein’s estate, and seeks the forfeiture of Little Saint James plus the second island he owned, Great Saint James. They also ask for the dissolution of numerous shell companies, which officials have said acted as fronts for his sex trafficking enterprise.

As part of its policies, the government of the Virgin Islands could take any assets recovered from Epstein’s estate and consider disbursing them to the women and girls he allegedly abused.

A month later Ms George sought to add Epstein’s main island company, Southern Trust Co., as a co-defendant in the enforcement action.

She also told Epstein’s lawyers that she intends to fight his estate’s involvement in creating a victims’ compensation fund.