‘I was terrified’: Jeffrey Epstein accused of building a network of victims
- The indictment of the hedge fund billionaire alleges he had a team of young recruiters who would smoothly approach ‘underage’ teenage girls and present the former maths teacher as a kind of benefactor
The indictment of Jeffrey Epstein has shone a light on what prosecutors say is a sprawling network of high school and college students forced to satisfy the US hedge fund billionaire’s insatiable sexual appetite, strengthened by money and young recruiters.
“He likes beautiful women … and many of them are on the younger side,” Donald Trump said in 2002, describing his friend Epstein’s taste in women.
In reality, the women were not just “younger” – they were underage teen girls, according to the allegations against him.
At the time, the Brooklyn native was beyond reproach: a brilliant hedge fund manager, rich, a friend to celebrities and politicians whose appearance was often compared to the designer Ralph Lauren.
But his luxurious homes in Palm Beach and New York hid dark secrets, according to investigations by American authorities and multiple lawsuits brought against him by alleged victims.