Hand over everything you’ve got on Andrew
Lawyers for Epstein victims seek emails, photographs, even surveillance footage from paedophile’s estate as they demand:
LAWYERS for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims are seeking a huge tranche of evidence from the paedophile’s executors that they believe may incriminate Prince Andrew, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
In court papers lodged last week, they have demanded that Epstein’s estate hand over any photographs of the Duke, who was friends with the shamed multi-millionaire financier for more than a decade.
The 21-page ‘request for production’ document filed at the federal court in New York asks for ‘all written or electronic correspondences’ between Epstein and Andrew, details of the Duke’s visits to the paedophile’s homes and any evidence that he engaged in sexual activity or massages while at them.
It also asks: ‘Did the surveillance in place at Jeffrey Epstein’s home [in New York] have recording capabilities? If so, please state whether the recordings could be viewed live, where the live feed could be viewed from, where the recordings were stored historically, where the recordings are currently stored, which person or entity has possession or control of the recordings.’
Epstein is known to have installed cameras in his homes with speculation that he stored any compromising footage. While it is not known if any such evidence exists, the document illustrates the zeal with which Epstein’s victims are pursuing the Queen’s second son, who has strongly rejected any allegations of wrongdoing.
The document was filed by Brad Edwards, the lawyer for Virginia Roberts who claims that she was coerced by Epstein into having sex with the Duke on three occasions, the first in London when she was 17. Prince Andrew denies her claims.
Mr Edwards has pursued Epstein for 12 years, extracting thousands of pages of damning evidence against him. The latest move suggests he is pursuing the same strategy against Prince Andrew.
The submission was made in the case of an anonymous woman, ‘Priscilla Doe’, who is pursuing the millionaire’s executors. She claims she was 20 when Epstein offered to help with her dancing career, but instead coerced her into performing sex acts for his friends.
As well as the Duke, the request extends to several of Epstein’s other associates including US President Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Les Wexner, the former owner of the Victoria’s Secret lingerie brand. None of them has ever been charged with any offence and each denies any wrongdoing.
The document lists the dates when Andrew was allegedly at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion, private island in the Caribbean and ranch in New Mexico. It asks ‘whether or not [Andrew] received a massage at any property owned or controlled by Jeffrey Epstein’ and ‘whether or not [Andrew] engaged in any sexual act while at any of Jeffrey Epstein’s properties’.
It also requests any photographs of Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite who is accused of being Epstein’s ‘madam’, and any of her employment and payment records. Ms Maxwell, the daughter of late newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell, denies any wrongdoing.
Epstein hanged himself in his prison cell last August while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Lawyers for the victims are currently negotiating a compensation scheme with his estate, valued at more than £500 million.
Lisa Bloom, a lawyer representing five of Epstein’s victims, said she wants the option to sue the Duke as part of any deal and is ‘certainly not willing to release Prince Andrew’ from any liability.
David Boies, who represents five other women, including Miss Roberts, previously said he will not let ‘certain individuals’ escape liability, naming Andrew in court papers as one example.
The Duke was forced to withdraw from public life after a disastrous Newsnight interview about his friendship with Epstein.
In it, he said he would help the authorities with their inquiries into the paedophile but has since been accused of providing ‘zero’ co-operation, which he disputes.
Last night, a spokesman for the Duke declined to comment.
‘Request any evidence he engaged in sexual activity’