Fake ID, real perv
Feds: Eps has bogus passport, ton of cash
Accused pedophile Jeffrey Epstein kept an expired passport issued by a foreign country in the name of another person in a safe, along with a piles of cash and dozens of diamonds, a prosecutor revealed Monday during a hearing on whether the sex offender should be granted bail.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Rossmiller said the feds had learned of the contents of the safe in Epstein’s Upper East Side mansion hours before the hearing in Manhattan Federal Court. Rossmiller cited the passport issued in the 1980s, which listed a residence in Saudi Arabia and featured Epstein’s photo along with a different name, as another example of why he should remain locked up while awaiting trial for alleged sex trafficking of underage girls.
“Just this morning, the government became aware of a safe that contained a pile of cash, diamonds, a passport from a foreign country with a picture of the defendant under another name,” Rossmiller said.
“The passport was issued in the name of a foreign country. It was issued in the 1980s. It is expired, it shows a picture of Jeffrey Epstein and another name.”
He added that the passport listed Epstein’s residence as Saudi Arabia. Defense attorney Martin Weinberg said he would provide further explanation in a letter to the court, but noted that the passport expired 30 years ago.
Judge Richard Berman will rule Thursday whether to grant Epstein bail. The judge noted during the twohour hearing that studies have shown sex offenders are particularly prone to re-offend.
Two Epstein accusers asked the judge to keep the financier in jail during a dramatic moment in which they stood mere feet from their alleged abuser.
“He is a scary person to have walking the street,” said Courtney Wild, who alleges that Epstein abused her in Palm Beach when she was 14 years old.
Epstein was charged last week with conspiracy and sex trafficking, which carry a maximum of 45 years in prison. The 66-year-old financier has pleaded not guilty.
Epstein’s attorneys have called the new case “a redo” of old allegations that resulted in a controversial nonprosecution agreement with federal prosecutors in Florida. As part of that deal, Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to two state prostitution charges, registered as a sex offender and settled claims brought by dozens of accusers.
Weinberg noted that the agreement was approved by Sigal Mandelker and Mark Filip, who at the time were senior officials in the Department of Justice. Mandelker is now an under secretary at the Treasury Department. Filip is now a partner at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis.
Epstein’s compliance with his sex offender status across multiple states indicated he would show up to court if granted bail, Weinberg argued.
“That speaks to his ability to be disciplined. To regulate his conduct,” Weinberg said.
But another Epstein accuser, Annie Farmer, scoffed at the notion that he had any self-control. She pointed out that prosecutors claim they seized a stash of photos of apparently underage girls from a safe in Epstein’s mansion.
“I’d say that’s the opposite of discipline,” Farmer told the judge. She said Epstein “acted inappropriately” with her when she was 16.
Epstein’s attorney said he will post any bond the judge orders. The hedge funder has proposed he be locked up in his $71 million, seven-story mansion.