The woman who dominates the files

Johanna Sjoberg has long been known as one of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged victims, and her claims Prince Andrew fondled her breast sent shockwaves through Buckingham Palace when they emerged in a newspaper interview.

But it was her evidence in unsealed documents that offered a fresh glimpse into the late financier’s network of rich and powerful friends. From Donald Trump to Bill Clinton, Sjoberg, pictured, revealed how Epstein would name-drop prominent figures in his orbit as he took her on trips from Florida to New York.

Not all of those named are accused of wrongdoing.

Sjoberg has said she was approached by Maxwell early in 2001 when she was a student at Palm Beach Atlantic College in Florida, about a job as a home help. In fact, she gave evidence she was recruited for sex acts with Epstein.

Sjoberg’s evidence was given in 2015 for a defamation case brought by Virginia Giuffre against Maxwell. It appeared to support Giuffre’s accounts after she made claims against Maxwell, Epstein and the Duke of York. The lawsuit was settled in 2016.

After the full scale of Epstein’s abuse of young girls came to light, Sjoberg said she realised how much she had been preyed on. Sjoberg said she was a “hardup and foolish” young student, studying psychology with hopes of becoming a family therapist, when she fell into Epstein’s orbit.

It was Epstein who paid her tuition fees, helped her get on the property ladder and paid for her to train as a hairdresser. A “pact with the devil”, in her words.

She has remained in the well-heeled town of Palm Beach, where she owns an “upscale” hair salon, according to her social media presence.