Jeffrey Epstein Sidekick Ghislaine Maxwell Arrested by FBI

Dan Mangan@_DANMANGAN

CNBC

• The FBI arrested Jeffrey Epstein’s long-time friend and alleged procurer Ghislaine Maxwell, who is expected to be charged with conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse children, according to NBC News.
• The arrest comes just days before the anniversary of Epstein’s arrest in the case on child sex traffic charges. Epstein, 66, killed himself in a federal jail last August.
• Epstein was a former friend of Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, as well as of Britain’s Prince Andrew.

The FBI on Thursday morning arrested Jeffrey Epstein’s long-time friend and alleged procurer Ghislaine Maxwell, was charged with conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse children, as well as perjury about her conduct, court files reveal.

The arrest of the British socialite Maxwell comes just days before the first anniversary of the wealthy investor Epstein’s own arrest in the case on child sex traffic charges. 

Epstein, a 66-year-old convicted sex offender, killed himself in a federal jail in Manhattan last August after being denied bail.

NBC News, citing law-enforcement sources, said that Maxwell, who herself was a former girlfriend of Epstein, was arrested in Bedford, New Hampshire, at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday. She is scheduled to appear in a federal court sometime Thursday.

Typically, a person charged in a federal criminal case is first presented in the federal district in which they were arrested, not necessarily in the district in which they are charged.

Epstein’s victims have called for the arrest of the daughter of the disgraced media mogul and swindler Robert Maxwell every since Epstein was charged last July. 

The FBI and a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which is prosecuting the case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 The SDNY, which has scheduled a press conference on Maxwell’s arrest for noon ET Thursday in lower Manhattan.

Epstein was a former friend of Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, as well as of Britain’s Prince Andrew.

He was arrested last year at a northern New Jersey airport after flying from France. An indictment accused him of sexully abusing dozens of underage girls from 2002 through 2005 at his luxurious residences on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, and in Palm Beach, Florida.

- Additional reporting by CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger