Maxwell’s 2nd bid for bail is denied
Ghislaine Maxwell must remain behind bars while awaiting trial for grooming victims of Jeffrey Epstein, a judge ruled Monday, denying Maxwell’s second attempt at bail.
Judge Alison Nathan rejected Maxwell’s proposal she be released into home confinement on a $28.5 million bail package secured by her friends, family and husband. “The Court concludes that the Government has met its burden of persuasion that the Defendant poses a flight risk and that pretrial detention continues to be warranted,” Nathan wrote.
The reasons for the Manhattan federal court ruling were largely the same as one Nathan issued in July when denying Maxwell’s first bid for bail. “The defendant’s proposed bail conditions would not reasonably assure her appearance at future proceedings,” Nathan wrote.
The judge’s full decision was filed under seal because it contained private information about Maxwell. The ruling will be made public by Wednesday, after Maxwell’s defense team and prosecutors agree on redactions.
Maxwell’s legal team had vowed she is eager to prove her innocence in court and that she would never flee the country, leaving those closest to her holding the bill for her jumping bail. But prosecutors argued Maxwell wasn’t being forthcoming with the court and could not be trusted. The British socialite repeatedly lied about her marriage and funneled millions to her hubby while hiding from law enforcement, the feds wrote.
Maxwell insisted that her marriage was genuine and that she’d only considered divorce to protect her husband from her awful reputation.The name of Maxwell’s spouse is redacted from public documents, but he’s widely reported to be maritime expert and investor Scott Borgerson.
Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to finding and grooming victims of Epstein’s sex trafficking scheme in the mid-1990s.