Prosecutors: Ghislaine Maxwell Lived 'Life of Privilege' in Hiding

Prosecutors cite all-cash $1 million purchase of NH estate in arguing she's a flight risk
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 3, 2020 10:03 AM CDT
Ghislaine Maxwell Laid Low on 156-Acre Estate
A boulder inscribed with "Tucked Away" sits beside a road going to an estate where Ghislaine Maxwell was taken into custody on Thursday in Bradford, NH.   (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Ghislaine Maxwell appears to have made "intentional efforts to avoid detection" before her arrest Thursday, from jetting off to Qatar and Japan to changing her phone number, according to authorities. Maxwell—who reportedly holds citizenship in the UK, US, and France—took "at least 15 international flights in the last three years," federal prosecutors wrote in a document urging a judge to detain her ahead of a trial. They argue she's a serious flight risk, with at least hundreds of thousands of dollars in more than 15 bank accounts, per the Guardian. She took to "hiding out in locations in New England" following Jeffrey Epstein's July 2019 arrest, and as reports surfaced that the FBI was investigating her in December, Maxwell bought a 156-acre estate in Bradford, NH, in a $1 million all-cash deal arranged "through a carefully anonymized LLC," prosecutors wrote.

The property, surrounded by a "padlocked metal fence" and "No Trespassing" signs, sits at the end of a "half-mile dirt driveway," per Reuters. William Sweeney, assistant director in charge of the New York FBI office, said Maxwell lived a "life of privilege" there until her arrest on charges that she "assisted, facilitated, and contributed to Jeffrey Epstein's abuse of minor girls." If convicted, the 58-year-old faces up to 35 years in federal prison. "In short, Maxwell has three passports, large sums of money, extensive international connections, and absolutely no reason to stay in the United States and face the possibility of a lengthy prison sentence," prosecutors wrote. They note she also switched her email address, registered a new phone number under the name "G Max," and ordered "packages for delivery with a different person listed on the shipping label." (More Ghislaine Maxwell stories.)

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