The late American financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein tried to establish ties with the Russian political elite and, according to documents released by the US Department of Justice, was willing to do anything to secure a meeting with President Vladimir Putin. This is reported by UNN with reference to AFP.
Details
According to the published documents, Epstein, who was accused of sex trafficking and committed suicide in a New York prison, traveled to Russia and had a network of criminals who sought out young Russian women and girls.
The documents also indicate that Epstein likely visited Russia several times. A Russian business visa was issued to the financier in June 2018, when Moscow was hosting the FIFA World Cup.
Travel itineraries show that he planned to watch the Morocco-Iran match in St. Petersburg and the Uruguay-France match in Nizhny Novgorod. The US Department of Justice report also contains an application for a Russian visa from 2011.
Let's try to arrange a meeting with Putin
He repeated this request in 2015 and 2018.
In addition, Epstein and his network exploited the desire of some young women and girls to leave Russia and their precarious immigration status while in the US, the publication states.
Flight data shows numerous trips booked for Epstein and Russian women on his behalf. Many women were offered to Epstein by Russian modeling agencies, which often emphasized that the women were young and blonde.
Another interesting fact is that a prominent figure in these documents is Russian diplomat Vitaly Churkin, Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN from 2006 until his death in 2017.
Documents show that Epstein and Churkin met several times in 2016–2017. In August 2016, Epstein invited Churkin to lunch with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and businessman Tom Barrack, who is now the US Ambassador to Turkey.
The documents also indicate that Epstein helped arrange an internship for Churkin's son, Maxim, at a New York investment fund in late 2016.
Epstein also tried to get acquainted with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Recall
Former US First Lady and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused the administration of current President Donald Trump of "covering up" information regarding the case of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.