Daily Express

Andrew’s pal Ghislaine ‘is hidden in Israel from FBI’

- From Christophe­r Bucktin US Editor in New York

PRINCE Andrew’s friend Ghislaine Maxwell is allegedly being hidden from the FBI in a safe house in Israel.

The socialite, under fire over her close relationsh­ip with the Prince’s paedophile friend Jeffery Epstein, has disappeare­d from pubic view since his jail “suicide” aged 66 last August.

But reports now say Ghislaine is being protected as a foreign intelligen­ce “asset”.

The daughter of British fraudster Robert Maxwell has previously been rumoured to have shared informatio­n on the world’s rich and famous with intelligen­ce agencies.

The claims come as the Duke of York’s sex accuser, Virginia Giuffre has vowed to “take down the one per cent” who think they are above the law when her case returns to court later this month.

She has pledged to make 2020 “a year to be remembered” as the investigat­ion into convicted sex offender Epstein continues despite his death.

Underage

Ghislaine has been accused in several lawsuits of procuring underage girls for the American billionair­e so he could sex traffick them among his wealthy and powerful friends.

She was a close member of his inner circle, meeting acquaintan­ces of his like Donald Trump and his wife Melania.

A source close to her told US journalist­s: “Ghislaine is protected. She and Jeffrey were assets of sorts for multiple foreign government­s.

“They would trade informatio­n about the powerful people caught in his net – caught at Epstein’s house.

“She is not in the US, she moves around. She is sometimes in the UK, but most often in other countries, such as Israel, where her powerful contacts have provided her with safe houses and protection.” The Daily Express has previously revealed how Epstein maintained meticulous diaries on some of the world’s most powerful men who enjoyed his hospitalit­y.

He also secretly filmed many guests as they stayed in his properties where he abused dozens of girls.

Ghislaine, 58, faces possible further accusation­s after a New York judge considers on January 16 whether or not to unseal a tranche of 3,000 pages of documents containing explosive new allegation­s against Epstein.

The hearing will also “address notificati­on of third parties named in the documents” – one of whom is believed to be Prince Andrew.

The documents include deposition­s from 29 people, including new witnesses and Epstein himself.

Andrew, 59, has been accused by Ms Giuffre of having sex with her three times when she was a 17-yearold “sex slave” in 2001. He has vehemently denied her claims. In November he was effectivel­y sacked from his role as a working royal after a car crash interview on the BBC’s Newsnight.

The Prince was previously pictured walking with Epstein in Central Park, New York, in 2010, just months after the paedophile was released from prison for procuring a minor for prostituti­on.

Ghislaine has also denied the claims she helped Epstein’s sex activities.

Surveillan­ce

Her father Robert was suspected by the British Foreign Office of being a secret agent of a foreign government, possibly a double agent or a triple agent, and “a thoroughly bad character and almost certainly financed by Russia”.

He had known links to MI6, to the KGB, and to the Israeli intelligen­ce service Mossad.

Maxwell, a media tycoon, died after falling from his luxury yacht, which he named the Lady Ghislaine, off the Canary Islands in 1991 aged 68.

It subsequent­ly emerged he had misused hundreds of millions of pounds from his company’s pension funds. Epstein was found dead in his cell in a New York jail while awaiting trial. Officially he took his own life but doubters have pointed to the very high level of surveillan­ce he was under and have suggested he may have been murdered.

 ?? Picture: GETTY ?? Donald Trump, Melania, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
Picture: GETTY Donald Trump, Melania, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell

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