Ghislaine Maxwell#Conviction

File:Headington Hill Hall 04.jpg, Oxford]]

Ghislaine Maxwell was born in 1961, in Maisons-Laffitte, Île-de-France, France,{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10231630/Betty-Maxwell.html|title=Betty Maxwell Obituary|date=8 August 2013|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=18 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190718064245/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10231630/Betty-Maxwell.html|archive-date=18 July 2019|url-status=live}} the ninth and youngest child of Elisabeth (née Meynard), a French-born scholar, and Robert Maxwell ({{ne|Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch}}), a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor. Her father was from a Jewish family, and her mother was of Huguenot (French Protestant) descent. Maxwell was born two days before a car accident that left her fifteen-year-old brother Michael in a prolonged coma until his death in 1967.{{cite book|title=A Mind of My Own: My Life with Robert Maxwell|last=Maxwell|first=Elisabeth|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers|year=1994 |isbn=0060171049|location=New York, NY|page=[https://archive.org/details/mindofmyownmylif00maxw/page/307 307]|url=https://archive.org/details/mindofmyownmylif00maxw/page/307}} Her mother later reflected that the accident had an effect on the entire family, and surmised that Ghislaine had shown signs of anorexia while only a toddler.

Throughout childhood, Maxwell lived with her family in Oxford at Headington Hill Hall, a 53-room mansion, where the offices of Pergamon Press, a publishing company run by her father, were also located.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/maxwell-home-sold-with-tenant-tycoons-widow-may-stay-at-headington-another-six-years-2316626.html |title=Maxwell home sold – with tenant: Tycoon's widow may stay at Headington another six years|last=Stevenson|first=Tom|date=29 May 1993|newspaper=The Independent|access-date=20 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190718070349/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/maxwell-home-sold-with-tenant-tycoons-widow-may-stay-at-headington-another-six-years-2316626.html|archive-date=18 July 2019|url-status=live}} Her mother said that all her children were brought up as Anglicans.{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/celebrity/article/relative-values-elisabeth-maxwell-the-widow-of-robert-maxwell-and-their-daughter-isabel-7s67cqwksvb?region=global%2Cglobal|title=Relative Values: Elisabeth Maxwell, the widow of Robert Maxwell, and their daughter Isabel|last=McFerran|first=Ann|date=11 April 2004 |newspaper=The Sunday Times |access-date=27 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219072108/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/relative-values-elisabeth-maxwell-the-widow-of-robert-maxwell-and-their-daughter-isabel-7s67cqwksvb?region=global|archive-date=19 December 2019|url-status=live}} Maxwell studied first at Oxford High School for Girls in North Oxford and then, aged nine, was enrolled at Edgarley Hall preparatory school in Somerset, followed by Headington School at age thirteen.{{Cite web|last=Ffrench|first=Andrew|date=3 August 2021|title=Before meeting Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell was an Oxford United director|url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/18624525.jeffrey-epstein-ghislaine-maxwell-oxford-united-director/|url-status=live|access-date=13 October 2021|website=Oxford Mail|language=en|archive-date=29 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029173422/https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/18624525.jeffrey-epstein-ghislaine-maxwell-oxford-united-director/}} She attended Marlborough College to study for A-Levels, before going on to earn a degree in Modern History with Languages from Balliol College, Oxford, in 1985.{{Cite news|last=Kelly|first=Jon|date=29 December 2021|title=Who is Ghislaine Maxwell? The story of her downfall|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59733623|access-date=31 December 2021}}

Maxwell had a close relationship with her father and was reportedly his favourite.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jan/04/court-papers-robert-maxwell-daughter-sex-slave-claims-prince-andrew|title=Court papers put daughter of Robert Maxwell at centre of 'sex slave' claims|last=Davies|first=Caroline|date=4 January 2015|access-date=19 July 2019|newspaper=The Guardian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719182120/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jan/04/court-papers-robert-maxwell-daughter-sex-slave-claims-prince-andrew|archive-date=19 July 2019|url-status=live}} According to Tatler, Maxwell recalled that her father installed computers at Headington in 1973 and her first job was training to use a Wang 2200 and later programming code.{{cite magazine|last=Willis|first=Tim|date=April 2000|title=Tatler Archive: The return of the Maxwells, as Ghislaine is finally found|url=https://www.tatler.com/article/tatler-archives-maxwell-family-interview|access-date=14 July 2020|magazine=Tatler|archive-date=24 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724225536/https://www.tatler.com/article/tatler-archives-maxwell-family-interview|url-status=live}} The Times reported that he did not permit Maxwell to bring her boyfriends home or to be seen with them publicly, after she started attending Oxford University.{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/ghislaine-maxwell-daughter-of-robert-maxwell-fell-under-the-spell-of-rich-and-domineering-men-3pqqpxmnk|title=Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of Robert Maxwell, fell under the spell of rich and domineering men|last=Bower|first=Tom|date=12 August 2019|newspaper=The Times|access-date=12 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812031851/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ghislaine-maxwell-daughter-of-robert-maxwell-fell-under-the-spell-of-rich-and-domineering-men-3pqqpxmnk|archive-date=12 August 2019|url-status=live}}

File:Dancing Hare.jpg yacht, formerly known as the Lady Ghislaine]]

Maxwell was a prominent member of the London social scene in the 1980s.{{Cite news|url=https://www.insider.com/ghislaine-maxwell-jeffrey-epstein-alleged-madame-2019-7|title=What to know about British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's alleged madam|last=Cranley|first=Ellen|date=8 July 2019|work=Insider|access-date=11 August 2019|archive-date=31 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211231101334/https://www.insider.com/ghislaine-maxwell-jeffrey-epstein-alleged-madame-2019-7|url-status=live}} She founded a women's club named after the original Kit-Cat Club{{cite book|last=Field|first=Ophelia|title=Kitten Club: Friends who Imagined a Nation|year=2009|publisher=Harper Press|pages=379}} and was a director of Oxford United Football Club during her father's ownership.{{cite web|url=http://www.walkersresearch.com/profilePages/Show_Executive_Title/Executiveprofile/G/Ghislaine__Maxwell_400176248.html |title=Profile of Ghislaine Maxwell |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131126100129/http://www.walkersresearch.com/profilePages/Show_Executive_Title/Executiveprofile/G/Ghislaine__Maxwell_400176248.html |archive-date=26 November 2013 |url-status=live |work=Walker's Research |year=2009}}{{cite web|last1=Crabtree |first1=David |last2=Brunt |last3=Williams |last4=Brodetsky |display-authors=1 |url=http://www.oufc.co.uk/page/History |title=A history of Oxford United Football Club |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016194444/http://www.oufc.co.uk/page/History |archive-date=16 October 2011 |url-status=dead |website=oufc.co.uk |date=12 October 2011}} She also worked at The European,{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/the-socialite-and-the-epstein-scandal-ghislaine-maxwell-s-life-and-times-lrk76q9jm?region=global%2Cglobal|title=The socialite and the Epstein scandal: Ghislaine Maxwell's life and times|last=Whitworth|first=Damian|date=13 August 2019|work=The Times|access-date=14 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220142838/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-socialite-and-the-epstein-scandal-ghislaine-maxwell-s-life-and-times-lrk76q9jm?region=global|archive-date=20 December 2019|url-status=live}} a publication her father had established. According to Tom Bower, writing for The Sunday Times, in 1986 Robert invited her to the naming in her honour of his new yacht the Lady Ghislaine, at a shipyard in the Netherlands.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/england/london-travel/out-from-capn-bobs-shadow-and-into-a-web-of-sex-and-royals-nwh69jcmlcr|title=Out from Cap'n Bob's shadow and into a web of sex and royals|last=Bower|first=Tom|date=11 January 2015|website=The Sunday Times|location=London|access-date=18 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190718090110/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/out-from-capn-bobs-shadow-and-into-a-web-of-sex-and-royals-nwh69jcmlcr|archive-date=18 July 2019|url-status=live}} She spent a large amount of time in the late 1980s aboard the yacht, which was equipped with a jacuzzi, sauna, gym and disco. The Scotsman said Robert had also "tailor-made a New York company for her".{{Cite news|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news-2-15012/misery-in-the-maxwell-house-1-584534|title=Misery in the Maxwell House|date=16 November 2001|work=The Scotsman|access-date=20 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190720215738/https://www.scotsman.com/news-2-15012/misery-in-the-maxwell-house-1-584534|archive-date=20 July 2019|url-status=live}} The company, which dealt in corporate gifts, was not profitable.

The Sunday Times reported that Maxwell flew to New York City on 5{{nbsp}}November 1990 to deliver an envelope on her father's behalf that, unknown to her, was part of "a plot initiated by her father to steal $200m" from Berlitz shareholders.

After Robert Maxwell purchased the New York Daily News in January 1991, he sent Ghislaine to New York City to act as his emissary.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-appearances/the-gall-of-ghislaine-maxwell|title=The Gall of Ghislaine Maxwell|last=Fry|first=Naomi|date=16 August 2019|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=16 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817005549/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-appearances/the-gall-of-ghislaine-maxwell|archive-date=17 August 2019|url-status=live}} In May 1991, Maxwell and her father took the Concorde on business to New York, from where he soon departed for Moscow and left her to represent his interests at an event honouring Simon Wiesenthal.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/ghislaine-maxwell-daughter-of-robert-maxwell-fell-under-the-spell-of-rich-and-domineering-men-3pqqpxmnk|title=Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of Robert Maxwell, fell under the spell of rich and domineering men|last=Bower|first=Tom|date=12 August 2019|work=The Times|access-date=12 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812031851/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ghislaine-maxwell-daughter-of-robert-maxwell-fell-under-the-spell-of-rich-and-domineering-men-3pqqpxmnk|archive-date=12 August 2019|url-status=live}}

In November 1991, Robert Maxwell's body was found floating in the sea near the Canary Islands and Lady Ghislaine."Family Misfortunes", 21 January 1996, The Observer, page 14 Soon afterwards, Ghislaine flew to Tenerife, where the yacht was berthed, to attend to his business paperwork. She attended her father's funeral in Jerusalem alongside Israeli intelligence figures, president Chaim Herzog, and prime minister Yitzhak Shamir, who gave his eulogy.{{cite web |last1=Biedermann |first1=Florence |title=The Maxwells: Scandal, conspiracy and more than a few days in court |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-maxwells-scandal-conspiracy-and-more-than-a-few-days-in-court/ |website=Time of Israel |access-date=10 July 2020 |date=4 July 2020 |archive-date=16 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716180814/https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-maxwells-scandal-conspiracy-and-more-than-a-few-days-in-court/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Diehl |first1=Jackson |last2=Frankel |first2=Glenn |title=Israel Gives Maxwell Farewell Fit For Hero |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1991/11/11/israel-gives-maxwell-farewell-fit-for-hero/1773995a-0eac-4a3e-abed-1d3254cc0baa/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=10 July 2020 |date=11 November 1991 |archive-date=23 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723115914/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1991/11/11/israel-gives-maxwell-farewell-fit-for-hero/1773995a-0eac-4a3e-abed-1d3254cc0baa/ |url-status=live }} Although a verdict of death by accidental drowning was recorded, Maxwell has since said she believes her father was murdered,{{cite news|first=Mark|last=Lawson|author-link=Mark Lawson|title=Shot in the dark?|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London, England|date=20 February 1997}} commenting in 1997: "He did not commit suicide. That was just not consistent with his character. I think he was murdered.""Soundbites", The Observer, 23 February 1997 After his death, Robert Maxwell was found to have fraudulently appropriated the pension assets of Mirror Group Newspapers, a company that he ran and in which he held a large share of ownership, to support its share price.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/mar/06/ghislaine-maxwell-sandringham-epstein|first=Owen|last=Bowcott|title=Ghislaine Maxwell: Press baron's daughter and Epstein's former lover|date=6 March 2011|work=The Guardian|access-date=11 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112002741/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/mar/06/ghislaine-maxwell-sandringham-epstein|archive-date=12 January 2015|url-status=live}} Pension funds in excess of £400m were said to be missing, and 32,000 people were affected.{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1222736.stm|title=The Pensioners' Tale|date=29 March 2001|work=BBC News|access-date=19 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719200839/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1222736.stm|archive-date=19 July 2019|url-status=live}} Two of Maxwell's brothers, Ian and Kevin, who were the most involved with their father in daily business dealings, were arrested on 19 June 1992 and charged with fraud related to the Mirror Group pension scandal.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/06/19/maxwells-sons-arrested-on-fraud-theft-charges/c689df86-ea1c-4234-b3e4-081a220d0331/|title=Maxwell's Sons Arrested on Fraud, Theft Charges|last=MacAskill|first=Ewan|date=19 June 1992|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=29 January 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129222934/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/06/19/maxwells-sons-arrested-on-fraud-theft-charges/c689df86-ea1c-4234-b3e4-081a220d0331/|archive-date=29 January 2020}} The brothers were acquitted three and a half years later in January 1996.{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/the-way-is-still-clear-for-a-tyrant-and-a-fraud-1324867.html|title=The way is still clear for a tyrant and a fraud|date=20 January 1996|website=The Independent|language=en|access-date=30 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129202108/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/the-way-is-still-clear-for-a-tyrant-and-a-fraud-1324867.html|archive-date=29 January 2020|url-status=live}}

Maxwell moved to the United States in 1991, shortly after her father's death. Maxwell was provided with an annual income of £80,000 ({{Inflation|UK|80,000|1991|fmt=eq|cursign=£|round=-1}}) from a trust fund established in Liechtenstein by her father.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/madam-maxwell-linked-to-film-stars-and-top-politicians-j2s00hdqp3c|title='Madam' Maxwell linked to film stars and top politicians|last1=Brown|first1=David|date=6 January 2015|work=The Times|access-date=25 August 2019|last2=Keate|first2=Georgie|last3=Spence|first3=Matt|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190825225435/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/madam-maxwell-linked-to-film-stars-and-top-politicians-j2s00hdqp3c|archive-date=25 August 2019|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|last=Alexander|first=Mick Brown and Harriet|date=3 January 2020|title=The rise and fall of socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's 'best friend'|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-rise-and-fall-of-socialite-ghislaine-maxwell-jeffrey-epstein-s-best-friend-20200103-p53omx.html|access-date=15 June 2020|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615172637/https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-rise-and-fall-of-socialite-ghislaine-maxwell-jeffrey-epstein-s-best-friend-20200103-p53omx.html|archive-date=15 June 2020|url-status=live}} By 1992, she had moved to an apartment of an Iranian friend overlooking Central Park. At the time, Maxwell worked at a real estate office on Madison Avenue and was reported to be socialising with celebrities.{{Cite news|title=All right for some; Maxwell family|last=Davison|first=John|date=7 June 1992|work=The Sunday Times|page=11}} She quickly rose to wider prominence as a New York City socialite.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.thecut.com/2019/07/ghislaine-maxwell-jeffrey-epstein-alleged-madam.html|title=Everything We Know About Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's Alleged Madam|last=Arnold|first=Amanda|date=12 July 2019|magazine=New York|access-date=12 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712160225/https://www.thecut.com/2019/07/ghislaine-maxwell-jeffrey-epstein-alleged-madam.html|archive-date=12 July 2019|url-status=live}}

File:Maxwell and Epstein, 1993.jpg (right) in 1993]]

Accounts differ on when Maxwell first met American financier Jeffrey Epstein. According to Epstein's former business partner, Steven Hoffenberg, Robert Maxwell introduced his daughter to Epstein in the late 1980s.{{Cite news|last1=Helderman|first1=Rosalind S.|last2=Fisher|first2=Marc|date=31 July 2020|title=Before President Trump wished Ghislaine Maxwell 'well,' they had mingled for years in the same gilded circles|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/before-president-trump-wished-ghislaine-maxwell-well-they-had-mingled-for-years-in-the-same-gilded-circles/2020/07/31/f8d3f56a-d02f-11ea-8c55-61e7fa5e82ab_story.html|access-date=1 August 2020|archive-date=31 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731233421/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/before-president-trump-wished-ghislaine-maxwell-well-they-had-mingled-for-years-in-the-same-gilded-circles/2020/07/31/f8d3f56a-d02f-11ea-8c55-61e7fa5e82ab_story.html|url-status=live}} The Times reported that Maxwell met Epstein in the early 1990s at a New York party following "a difficult break-up with Count Gianfranco Cicogna Mozzoni" (1962–2012) of the CIGA Hotels clan.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/jeffrey-epstein-obituary-mvcg9rl8b|title=Jeffrey Epstein obituary|date=10 August 2019|work=The Times|access-date=11 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810181557/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/jeffrey-epstein-obituary-mvcg9rl8b|archive-date=10 August 2019|url-status=live}}

Maxwell had a romantic relationship with Epstein for several years in the early 1990s and remained closely associated with him for more than 25 years until his death in 2019.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/8365015/Ghislaine-Maxwell-profile.html|title=Ghislaine Maxwell: profile|date=7 March 2011|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=11 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150111002234/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/8365015/Ghislaine-Maxwell-profile.html|archive-date=11 January 2015|url-status=live}} The nature of their relationship remains unclear. In a 2009 deposition, several of Epstein's household employees testified that Epstein referred to her as his "main girlfriend" who also hired, fired, and supervised his staff, starting around 1992.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/following-epsteins-arrest-spotlight-shifts-to-financiers-longtime-associate-11562881299|title=Following Epstein's Arrest, Spotlight Shifts to Financier's Longtime Associate|last1=Hong|first1=Nicole|last2=Davis O'Brien|first2=Rebecca|date=11 July 2019|website=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=19 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719055325/https://www.wsj.com/articles/following-epsteins-arrest-spotlight-shifts-to-financiers-longtime-associate-11562881299|archive-date=19 July 2019|url-status=live}} She has also been referred to as the "Lady of the House" by Epstein's staff and as his "aggressive assistant".{{Cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/insider/royalssociety/who-is-ghislaine-maxwell-the-life-of-jeffrey-epstein-s-former-socialite-girlfriend-and-alleged-madam-a4192456.html|title=Who is Ghislaine Maxwell? The life of Jeffrey Epstein's former socialite girlfriend and alleged 'madam'|last=Abrams|first=Margaret|date=19 July 2019|newspaper=London Evening Standard|access-date=21 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190718184342/https://www.standard.co.uk/insider/royalssociety/who-is-ghislaine-maxwell-the-life-of-jeffrey-epstein-s-former-socialite-girlfriend-and-alleged-madam-a4192456.html|archive-date=18 July 2019|url-status=live}} In a 2003 Vanity Fair profile on Epstein, author Vicky Ward said Epstein referred to Maxwell as "my best friend". Ward also observed that Maxwell seemed "to organize much of his life".{{cite magazine|last=Ward|first=Vicky|date=27 June 2011|title=The Talented Mr. Epstein |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2003/03/jeffrey-epstein-200303|magazine=Vanity Fair |publication-date=March 2003|access-date=21 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150612144453/http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2003/03/jeffrey-epstein-200303|archive-date=12 June 2015|url-status=live}}

Politico reported that Maxwell and Epstein had friendships with several prominent individuals in elite circles of politics, academia, business and law, including President Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, attorney Alan Dershowitz, and Prince Andrew, Duke of York.{{Cite web|last=Forgey|first=Quint|date=4 August 2020|title=Trump doubles down on well-wishes for alleged sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/04/trump-well-wishes-ghislaine-maxwell-391274|access-date=5 August 2020|website=Politico|language=en|archive-date=5 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805022733/https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/04/trump-well-wishes-ghislaine-maxwell-391274|url-status=live}}

Maxwell is known for her longstanding friendship{{Cite web|last=Ross|first=Martha|date=3 December 2019|title=Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell are still chums and still talk, reports say|url=https://www.mercurynews.com/prince-andrew-and-ghislaine-maxwell-are-still-chums-and-still-talk-reports-say|access-date=15 June 2020|website=The Mercury News|language=en-US|archive-date=31 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211231101326/https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/12/31/prince-andrew-and-ghislaine-maxwell-are-still-chums-and-still-talk-reports-say/|url-status=live}} with Prince Andrew, and for having escorted him to a "hookers and pimps" social function in New York.{{cite news|first=Matt|last=Wells|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/apr/10/constitution.monarchy|title=New role for Andrew in doubt after royal fiasco|date=10 April 2001|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London, England}} In a November 2019 interview with the BBC, Andrew said that the two had known each other since Maxwell was an undergraduate at Oxford.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/07/prince-andrew-ghislaine-scandal-history|title=How Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell's Friendship Became a Scandal|magazine=Vanity Fair|first=Erin|last=Vanderhoof|date=9 July 2020|accessdate=26 November 2022}} She introduced Epstein to Prince Andrew, and the three often socialised together.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/11321947/Prince-Andrew-categorically-denies-claims-he-sexually-abused-teenager.html|first=Gordon|last=Rayner|title=Prince Andrew 'categorically denies' claims he sexually abused teenager|date=2 January 2015|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=11 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102202445/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/11321947/Prince-Andrew-categorically-denies-claims-he-sexually-abused-teenager.html|archive-date=2 January 2015|url-status=live}} In 2000, Maxwell and Epstein attended a party thrown by Prince Andrew at the Queen's Sandringham House estate in Norfolk, England, reportedly for Maxwell's 39th birthday.{{Cite book|title=Filthy Rich|last=Patterson|first=James|publisher=Little Brown and Company|year=2016|isbn=978-0-316-27405-0|location=New York|pages=216, 221}} In his November 2019 interview with the BBC, Prince Andrew confirmed that Maxwell and Epstein had attended an event at his invitation, but he denied that it was anything more than a "straightforward shooting weekend".{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-50449339|title=Prince Andrew Newsnight interview: Transcript in full|date=17 November 2019|work=BBC News|access-date=15 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191121124811/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-50449339|archive-date=21 November 2019|url-status=live}}

In 1995, Epstein renamed one of his companies the Ghislaine Corporation; based in Palm Beach, Florida, the company was dissolved in 1998. As a trained helicopter pilot, Maxwell also transported Epstein to his private Caribbean island.{{Cite web|last1=Hurtado|first1=Patricia|last2=Alexander|first2=Sophie|date=17 July 2020|title=Mystery of Ghislaine Maxwell's Wealth Hangs Over Case|url=https://time.com/5868402/ghislaine-maxwell-net-worth-mystery-epstein-trial/|access-date=20 July 2020|via=Time|agency=Bloomberg|archive-date=20 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200720003402/https://time.com/5868402/ghislaine-maxwell-net-worth-mystery-epstein-trial/|url-status=live}}

File:Ghislaine Maxwell (cropped).jpg

In 2008, Epstein was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution and served 13 months of an 18-month jail sentence. Following Epstein's release, although Maxwell continued to attend prominent social functions, she and Epstein were no longer seen together publicly.

By late 2015, Maxwell had largely retreated from attending social functions.{{Cite news|last=Shubber|first=Kadhim|url=https://www.ft.com/content/cc4f8382-bf6f-11e9-89e2-41e555e96722|title=Epstein scandal's pressing issue: the role of Ghislaine Maxwell|date=16 August 2019|work=Financial Times|access-date=30 March 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202053449/https://www.ft.com/content/cc4f8382-bf6f-11e9-89e2-41e555e96722|archive-date=2 December 2019}}

Details of a civil lawsuit, made public in January 2015, contained a deposition from "Jane Doe{{nbsp}}3" that accused Maxwell of recruiting her in 1999, when she was a minor, and grooming her to provide sexual services for Epstein:

{{blockquote| In court documents, Epstein's accusers allege that Maxwell acted as a recruiter, an instructor, and in some cases a participant in the abuse he practiced. Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who claims that Maxwell recruited her on behalf of Epstein when Giuffre was a 16-year-old spa attendant at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, where Epstein has a home, said much of her grooming came from Maxwell herself. "The training started immediately", she said in a video interview with the Miami Herald. "It was everything down to how to give a blowjob, how to be quiet, be subservient, give Jeffrey what he wants. A lot of this training came from Ghislaine herself. Being a woman, it kind of surprises you that a woman could let stuff like that happen. Not only let it happen but to groom you into doing it."{{cite web | last=Schneier | first=Matthew | title=Ghislaine Maxwell, The Socialite on Jeffrey Epstein's Arm | website=The Cut | date=15 July 2019 | url=https://www.thecut.com/2019/07/ghislaine-maxwell-the-socialite-on-jeffrey-epsteins-arm.html | access-date=1 October 2024}}}}

A 2018 exposé by Julie K. Brown in the Miami Herald revealed Jane Doe{{nbsp}}3 to be Virginia Giuffre, who was previously known as Virginia Roberts. Giuffre met Maxwell at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, when Giuffre was a 16-year-old spa attendant. She asserted that Maxwell had introduced her to Epstein, after which she was "groomed by the two [of them] for his pleasure, including lessons in Epstein's preferences during oral sex".{{Cite news|first=Julie K.|last=Brown|url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article219494920.html|title=Even from jail, sex abuser manipulated the system. His victims were kept in the dark |newspaper=The Miami Herald|date=28 November 2018|access-date=30 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181201013512/https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article219494920.html|archive-date=1 December 2018|url-status=live}}

Maxwell repeatedly denied any involvement in Epstein's crimes. In a 2015 statement, Maxwell rejected allegations that she has acted as a procurer for Epstein and denied that she had "facilitated Prince Andrew's [alleged] acts of sexual abuse". Her spokesperson said "the allegations made against Ghislaine Maxwell are untrue" and she "strongly denies allegations of an unsavoury nature, which have appeared in the British press and elsewhere, and reserves her right to seek redress at the repetition of such old defamatory claims".{{cite press release|title=Statement on Behalf of Ghislaine Maxwell|publisher=Devonshires Solicitors|date=10 March 2011|url=https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/statement-on-behalf-of-ghislaine-maxwell-156665045.html|access-date=15 July 2019|agency=PR Newswire|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715213811/https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/statement-on-behalf-of-ghislaine-maxwell-156665045.html|archive-date=15 July 2019|url-status=live}}

Giuffre asserted that Maxwell and Epstein had trafficked her and other underage girls, often at sex parties hosted by Epstein at his homes in New York, New Mexico, Palm Beach, and the United States Virgin Islands. Maxwell called her a liar. Giuffre sued Maxwell for defamation in federal court in the Southern District of New York in 2015. While details of the settlement have not been made public, in May 2017 the case was settled in Giuffre's favour,{{cite news|url=https://www.courthousenews.com/billionaires-alleged-sex-slave-settles-libel-case/ |title=Billionaire's Alleged Sex Slave Settles Libel Case|last1=Russell|first1=John|date=25 May 2017|access-date=6 March 2019|agency=Courthouse News Service|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190307112424/https://www.courthousenews.com/billionaires-alleged-sex-slave-settles-libel-case/|archive-date=7 March 2019|url-status=live}} with Maxwell paying Giuffre "millions".{{cite news|first=Julie K.|last=Brown|url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article226922729.html|title=Alan Dershowitz suggests curbing press access to hearing on Jeffrey Epstein sex abuse|newspaper=The Miami Herald|date=1 March 2019|access-date=1 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302015752/https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article226922729.html |archive-date=2 March 2019|url-status=live}}

Giuffre's family reported that she committed suicide on 25 April 2025, at her farm in Australia.{{cite news|title=Virginia Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein's most prominent abuse survivors, dies by suicide|date=25 April 2025|access-date=26 April 2025|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/virginia-giuffre-one-jeffrey-epsteins-prominent-abuse-survivors-dies-s-rcna203027}} She was 41, and had three children.

In 2017, Sarah Ransome filed a suit, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, against Epstein and Maxwell, alleging that Maxwell hired her to give massages to Epstein and later threatened to physically harm her or destroy her career prospects if she did not comply with their sexual demands at his mansion in New York and on his private Caribbean island of Little Saint James, in the United States Virgin Islands. The suit was settled in 2018 under undisclosed terms.{{cite web |url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article232385422.html|title=With Jeffrey Epstein locked up, these are nervous times for his friends, enablers|last=Brown|first=Julie K.|date=7 July 2019 |newspaper=The Miami Herald|access-date=19 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707230038/https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article232385422.html|archive-date=7 July 2019|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/ghislaine-maxwell-jeffrey-epstein-arrest-856874/|title=Who Is British Socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's Longtime Partner?|last=Dickson|first=EJ|date=9 July 2019|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=19 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719034846/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/ghislaine-maxwell-jeffrey-epstein-arrest-856874/|archive-date=19 July 2019|url-status=live}}

On 16 April 2019, Maria Farmer went public and filed a sworn affidavit in federal court in New York, alleging that she and her 15-year-old sister, Annie, had been sexually assaulted by Epstein and Maxwell in separate locations in 1996. Farmer's affidavit was filed in support of a defamation suit by Virginia Giuffre against Alan Dershowitz.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/epstein-accuser-holds-victorias-secret-billionaire-responsible-as-he-keeps-his-distance/2019/10/05/1b6baf6c-d0d3-11e9-b29b-a528dc82154a_story.html |title=Epstein accuser holds Victoria's Secret billionaire responsible, as he keeps his distance|last1=Ellison|first1=Sarah|date=5 October 2019|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=30 January 2020|url-status=live|last2=O'Connell|first2=Jonathan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200131141722/https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/epstein-accuser-holds-victorias-secret-billionaire-responsible-as-he-keeps-his-distance/2019/10/05/1b6baf6c-d0d3-11e9-b29b-a528dc82154a_story.html|archive-date=31 January 2020}} According to the affidavit, Farmer had met Maxwell and Epstein at a New York art gallery reception in 1995. The affidavit says that in the summer of the following year, they hired her to work on an art project in billionaire businessman Leslie Wexner's Ohio mansion, where she was then sexually assaulted by both Maxwell and Epstein.{{cite news|first=Julie K.|last=Brown|url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/article229277874.html|title=New Jeffrey Epstein Accuser Goes Public: Defamation Lawsuit Targets Dershowitz|newspaper=The Miami Herald|date=16 April 2019|access-date=17 April 2019|archive-url=https://archive.today/20190417145523/https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/article229277874.html|archive-date=17 April 2019|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/12/she-was-so-dangerous-where-in-the-world-is-the-notorious-ghislaine-maxwell|title='She was so dangerous': where in the world is the notorious Ghislaine Maxwell?|last=Saner|first=Emine|date=12 December 2019|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=15 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214204822/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/12/she-was-so-dangerous-where-in-the-world-is-the-notorious-ghislaine-maxwell|archive-date=14 December 2019 |url-status=live}} Farmer reported the incident to the New York Police Department and the FBI.{{cite news|last1=Hill|first1=James|last2=Remillard|first2=Mark|last3=Effron|first3=Lauren|date=9 January 2020|title=Jeffrey Epstein survivor paints portraits of other survivors: 'Each one of those should have never happened'|publisher=ABC News|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/jeffrey-epstein-survivor-paints-portraits-survivors-happened/story?id=68148224|access-date=11 February 2020|archive-date=8 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200208192226/https://abcnews.go.com/US/jeffrey-epstein-survivor-paints-portraits-survivors-happened/story?id=68148224|url-status=live}} Her affidavit also stated that during the same summer, Epstein flew Annie to his New Mexico property where he and Maxwell molested her on a massage table.{{cite news|last=Corbett|first=Rachel|url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/artist-accuses-jeffrey-epstein-1595977 |title=Jeffrey Epstein's Latest Accuser Is an Artist Who Claims the Billionaire Sex Offender Lured Her in With Promises to Help Her Career|date=9 July 2019|publisher=Artnet News|access-date=20 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721002035/https://news.artnet.com/art-world/artist-accuses-jeffrey-epstein-1595977|archive-date=21 July 2019|url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/26/us/epstein-farmer-sisters-maxwell.html|title=The Sisters Who First Tried to Take Down Jeffrey Epstein|last=Baker|first=Mike|date=26 August 2019|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=31 January 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204040958/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/26/us/epstein-farmer-sisters-maxwell.html|archive-date=4 February 2020 |url-status=live}}

Farmer was interviewed for CBS This Morning in November 2019 where she detailed the 1996 assault and alleged that Maxwell had threatened both her career and her life after the assault.{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeffrey-epstein-accuser-maria-farmer-says-ghislaine-maxwell-threatened-her-life-after-assault-fbi-failed/|title=Jeffrey Epstein accuser Maria Farmer says Ghislaine Maxwell threatened her life, FBI 'failed' her|publisher=CBS News|date=19 November 2019|access-date=20 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191120062617/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeffrey-epstein-accuser-maria-farmer-says-ghislaine-maxwell-threatened-her-life-after-assault-fbi-failed/|archive-date=20 November 2019|url-status=live}}

On 14 August 2019, Jennifer Araoz filed a lawsuit in New York County Supreme Court against Epstein's estate, Maxwell, and three unnamed members of his staff; the lawsuit was made possible under New York state's new Child Victims Act, which took effect on the same date.{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/08/14/751078102/jeffrey-epstein-accuser-sues-his-estate-staff-over-sexual-assaults|title=Jeffrey Epstein Accuser Sues His Estate, Staff Over Alleged Sexual Assaults|last=Ingber|first=Sasha|date=14 August 2019|publisher=NPR|access-date=19 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820183300/https://www.npr.org/2019/08/14/751078102/jeffrey-epstein-accuser-sues-his-estate-staff-over-sexual-assaults|archive-date=20 August 2019|url-status=live}} Araoz later amended her complaint on 8 October 2019 with the names of the previously unidentified women enablers to include Lesley Groff, Cimberly Espinosa, and the late Rosalyn Fontanilla.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-jeffrey-epstein-araoz-idUSKBN1WN27R|title=Jeffrey Epstein accuser expands lawsuit against estate, alleged enablers|last1=Stempel|first1=Jonathan|date=9 October 2019|work=Reuters|access-date=25 January 2020|url-status=live|last2=Pierson|first2=Brendan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200125185207/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-jeffrey-epstein-araoz-idUSKBN1WN27R|archive-date=25 January 2020}}

Ghislaine Maxwell was named in one of three lawsuits filed in New York on 20 August 2019 against the estate of Jeffrey Epstein.{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeffrey-epstein-news-new-lawsuits-detail-how-jeffrey-epstein-allegedly-lured-victims/|title=New lawsuits detail how Jeffrey Epstein allegedly lured victims|date=20 August 2019|publisher=CBS News|access-date=30 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190827023421/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeffrey-epstein-news-new-lawsuits-detail-how-jeffrey-epstein-allegedly-lured-victims/|archive-date=27 August 2019|url-status=live}} The woman filing the suit, identified as "Priscilla Doe", claimed that she was recruited in 2006 and trained by Maxwell with step-by-step instructions on how to provide sexual services for Epstein.{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/ghislaine-maxwell-accused-in-new-epstein-lawsuit-gb7tgxcjk|title=Ghislaine Maxwell accused in new Jeffrey Epstein lawsuit|last=Pavia|first=Will|date=22 August 2019|newspaper=The Times|access-date=30 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830203336/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/ghislaine-maxwell-accused-in-new-epstein-lawsuit-gb7tgxcjk|archive-date=30 August 2019|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article234189557.html#storylink=cpy|title=Jeffrey Epstein lawsuits offer sordid details, including sex while on work release|last=Ovalle|first=David|date=20 August 2019|newspaper=The Miami Herald|access-date=30 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831042313/https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article234189557.html#storylink=cpy|archive-date=31 August 2019|url-status=live}}

Annie Farmer, represented by David Boies, sued Maxwell and Epstein's estate in Federal District Court in Manhattan in November 2019, accusing them of rape, battery and false imprisonment and seeking unspecified damages.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/17/nyregion/jeffrey-epstein-lawsuits-victims.html|title=Why These 5 Accusers of Jeffrey Epstein Want More Than Money |last=McKinley|first=Jesse|date=17 November 2019|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=25 January 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200125165922/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/17/nyregion/jeffrey-epstein-lawsuits-victims.html|archive-date=25 January 2020|url-status=live}}

In January 2020, a lawsuit was filed against Maxwell and Epstein alleging that they recruited a 13-year-old music student at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in the summer of 1994 and subjected her to sexual abuse.{{Cite web|last=Hill|first=James|date=9 July 2020|title=Ghislaine Maxwell attorneys call federal indictment against her 'meritless'|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/ghislaine-maxwell-attorneys-call-federal-indictment-meritless/story?id=71706492|access-date=14 July 2020|publisher=ABC News|archive-date=14 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200714055823/https://abcnews.go.com/US/ghislaine-maxwell-attorneys-call-federal-indictment-meritless/story?id=71706492|url-status=live}} The suit states that Jane Doe was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Epstein over a four-year period and that Maxwell played a key role both in her recruitment and by participating in the assaults. According to the lawsuit, Jane Doe was targeted by Epstein and Maxwell for being fatherless and from a struggling family, in much the same manner as many of the other alleged victims.

On 12 March 2020, Maxwell filed a lawsuit in Superior Court in the US Virgin Islands seeking compensation from Epstein's estate for her legal costs.{{cite news|last=Goldstein|first=Matthew |date=18 March 2020|title=Jeffrey Epstein's Ex, Ghislaine Maxwell, Sues His Estate for Legal Fees|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/business/jeffrey-epstein-ghislaine-maxwell-lawsuit.html|url-status=live|access-date=18 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200319045745/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/business/jeffrey-epstein-ghislaine-maxwell-lawsuit.html|archive-date=19 March 2020}}{{cite news|date=19 March 2020|title=Ghislaine Maxwell sues Jeffrey Epstein's estate over legal fees|publisher=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51955675|url-status=live|access-date=19 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200319134553/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51955675|archive-date=19 March 2020}} Maxwell claimed she had been a longtime employee of Epstein (from 1998 to 2006){{cite news|last=Hall|first=Kevin G.|url=https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/investigations/article241266701.html|title=Ghislaine Maxwell says she was Epstein's employee not his madam. She wants part of his estate|date=18 March 2020|newspaper=The Miami Herald|access-date=2 April 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200402211920/https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/investigations/article241266701.html|archive-date=2 April 2020}} who had served to manage his property holdings in the US Virgin Islands, New York, New Mexico, Florida and Paris{{cite web|url=https://stthomassource.com/content/2020/03/27/epstein-associate-ghislaine-maxwell-sues-estate/|title=Epstein Associate Ghislaine Maxwell Sues Estate|last=Shimel|first=Judi|date=2 March 2020|publisher=St. Thomas Source|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328051114/https://stthomassource.com/content/2020/03/27/epstein-associate-ghislaine-maxwell-sues-estate/|archive-date=28 March 2020|access-date=2 April 2020}} while continuing to deny any knowledge or involvement in his criminal activities. According to the lawsuit, Maxwell was seeking damages for the legal fees associated with defending herself against her accusers, expenses that she claims Epstein had promised to cover for her.

Maxwell was named in a civil suit filed against Epstein's estate in March 2021 by a Broward County woman who accused Epstein and Maxwell of trafficking her after repeatedly raping her in Florida in 2008.{{cite news|last=Brown|first=Julie K.|date=30 March 2021|title=A lawsuit names Jeffrey Epstein, Maxwell and alleges actions sinister even by his standards|newspaper=The Miami Herald|url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article250316759.html|access-date=15 May 2021|archive-date=17 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817011056/https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article250316759.html|url-status=live}}

On 2 July 2019, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ordered the unsealing of documents from the earlier civil suit against Maxwell by Virginia Giuffre.{{cite news|url=https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/in-major-development-court-orders-unsealing-of-docs-related-to-alleged-epstein-sex-trafficking-ring/|title=In Major Development, Court Orders Unsealing of Docs Related to Alleged Epstein Sex Trafficking Ring|last=Naham|first=Matt|date=3 July 2019|work=Law and Crime|access-date=10 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190725185546/https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/in-major-development-court-orders-unsealing-of-docs-related-to-alleged-epstein-sex-trafficking-ring/|archive-date=25 July 2019 |url-status=live}} Jeffrey Epstein was arrested on 6 July 2019 at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and charged with sex trafficking and sex trafficking conspiracy.{{cite news |url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article232374872.html|title=Jeffrey Epstein arrested on sex trafficking charges|last=Brown|first=Julie K.|date=6 July 2019|newspaper=The Miami Herald|access-date=7 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707032426/https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article232374872.html|archive-date=7 July 2019|url-status=live}} Maxwell requested a rehearing in a federal appeals court on 17 July 2019, in an effort to keep documents sealed that were part of a suit by Giuffre.{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-18/epstein-s-socialite-pal-maxwell-asks-court-to-keep-files-sealed|title=Jeffrey Epstein's Socialite Pal Ghislaine Maxwell Asks Court to Keep Files Sealed|last=Larson|first=Erik|date=18 July 2019|publisher=Bloomberg L.P.|access-date=19 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719153413/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-18/epstein-s-socialite-pal-maxwell-asks-court-to-keep-files-sealed|archive-date=19 July 2019|url-status=live}} On 9 August 2019, the first batch of documents was unsealed and released from the earlier defamation suit by Giuffre against Maxwell.{{cite news|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/08/new-details-in-unsealed-jeffrey-epstein-documents|title=Powerful Men, Disturbing New Details in Unsealed Epstein Documents|last=Sherman|first=Gabriel|date=9 August 2019|magazine=Vanity Fair|access-date=10 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810032557/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/08/new-details-in-unsealed-jeffrey-epstein-documents|archive-date=10 August 2019|url-status=live}} Epstein was found dead on 10 August 2019, after reportedly hanging himself in his Manhattan prison cell.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/10/nyregion/jeffrey-epstein-suicide.html |title=Jeffrey Epstein Dead in Suicide at Manhattan Jail, Officials Say|last1=Rashbaum|first1=William K.|last2=Weiser|first2=Benjamin|date=10 August 2019|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=10 August 2019 |last3=Gold|first3=Michael|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810131318/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/10/nyregion/jeffrey-epstein-suicide.html|archive-date=10 August 2019|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/jeffrey-epstein-kills-himself-in-jail-according-to-media-reports/2019/08/10/a3d48862-bb73-11e9-b3b4-2bb69e8c4e39_story.html|title=Jeffrey Epstein dead after apparent suicide in New York jail|last1=Zapotosky|first1=Matt|date=10 August 2019|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=10 August 2019|last2=Barrett |first2=Devlin|last3=Merle|first3=Renae|last4=Leonnig|first4=Carol D.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810152502/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/jeffrey-epstein-kills-himself-in-jail-according-to-media-reports/2019/08/10/a3d48862-bb73-11e9-b3b4-2bb69e8c4e39_story.html|archive-date=10 August 2019|url-status=live}}

Maxwell and her lawyers continued to argue against the further release of court documents in December 2019.{{cite news|url=https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/ghislaine-maxwell-argues-it-would-be-too-difficult-to-release-full-epstein-files/|title=Ghislaine Maxwell Argues It Would Be Too 'Difficult' to Release Full Epstein Files|last=Kalmbacher|first=Colin|date=12 December 2019|work=Law and Crime |access-date=5 January 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231122552/https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/ghislaine-maxwell-argues-it-would-be-too-difficult-to-release-full-epstein-files/|archive-date=31 December 2019}} Reuters confirmed on 27 December 2019 that Maxwell was under investigation by the FBI for facilitating Epstein's criminal activities. Additional documents from the Giuffre v Maxwell defamation suit were released on 30 July 2020.{{cite web|last1=Chappell|first1=Bill|last2=Neuman|first2=Scott|date=31 July 2020|title=Judge Releases Trove Of Sealed Records Related To Lawsuit Against Ghislaine Maxwell|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/07/31/896627505/judge-releases-trove-of-sealed-records-related-to-case-against-ghislaine-maxwell|access-date=1 August 2020|publisher=NPR|archive-date=31 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731194502/https://www.npr.org/2020/07/31/896627505/judge-releases-trove-of-sealed-records-related-to-case-against-ghislaine-maxwell|url-status=live}} The documents included a deposition given by Giuffre and more recent email exchanges between Maxwell and Epstein, with some of the correspondence from 2015.

On 3 January 2024, over 900 pages of previously sealed documents{{cite news|url=https://uploads.guim.co.uk/2024/01/04/Final_Epstein_documents.pdf|title=Final Epstein documents|date=3 January 2024|work=Boies Schiller Flexner|publisher=The Guardian}} relating to Giuffre's civil case against Maxwell were made public following litigation by the Miami Herald; further documents were released on 4 January.{{cite news|url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/article283787348.html|title=Dozens more Jeffrey Epstein documents are now public. Here's what we know so far|date=5 January 2024|work=Miami Herald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105161905/https://www.miamiherald.com/news/article283787348.html |archive-date=5 January 2024}}

On 27 December 2019, Reuters reported that Maxwell was among those under FBI investigation for facilitating Epstein.{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-jeffrey-epstein-investigation/exclusive-fbi-investigating-british-socialite-and-others-who-facilitated-epstein-sources-idUSKBN1YV0VB|title=Exclusive: FBI investigating British socialite and others who 'facilitated' Epstein|last=Hosenball|first=Mark|date=27 December 2019|work=Reuters|access-date=5 January 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103131908/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-jeffrey-epstein-investigation/exclusive-fbi-investigating-british-socialite-and-others-who-facilitated-epstein-sources-idUSKBN1YV0VB|archive-date=3 January 2020}} After his arrest, Maxwell was in hiding, communicating with the courts only through her lawyers who, as of 30 January 2020, had refused to accept on her behalf service of three lawsuits against her.{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/victims-allege-ghislaine-maxwell-purposefully-evading-justice-system/story?id=68626164|title=Victims allege Ghislaine Maxwell is purposefully evading justice system|last=Hill|first=James|date=30 January 2020|publisher=ABC News|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200130123440/https://abcnews.go.com/US/victims-allege-ghislaine-maxwell-purposefully-evading-justice-system/story?id=68626164|archive-date=30 January 2020|access-date=30 January 2020}} The New York Times reported that by 2016, Maxwell was no longer being photographed at events. By 2017, her lawyers claimed before a judge that they did not know her address; they further stated that she was in London but they did not believe she had a permanent residence.

Maxwell has a history of being unreachable during legal proceedings.{{cite web|url=https://docplayer.net/amp/4070674-Exhibit-c-epstein-vs-edwards-undisputed-statement-of-facts.html|title=Exhibit C. Epstein vs. Edwards Undisputed Statement of Facts|date=8 April 2011|website=docplayer.net|at=Page 22 of 39|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201222553/https://docplayer.net/amp/4070674-Exhibit-c-epstein-vs-edwards-undisputed-statement-of-facts.html|archive-date=1 February 2020|access-date=1 February 2020 |quote=Exhibit CC. "Maxwell, however, contrived to avoid the deposition. On June 29, 2010, one day before Edwards was to fly to NY to take Maxwell's deposition, her attorney informed Edwards that Maxwell's mother was deathly ill and Maxwell was consequently flying to England with no intention of returning to the United States. Despite that assertion, Ghislaine Maxwell was in fact in the country on July 31, 2010, as she attended the wedding of Chelsea Clinton"}}{{cite web|url=https://casetext.com/case/ransome-v-epstein|title=Ransome v. Epstein, 17-cv-616 (JGK) (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 30, 2018)|date=30 January 2018|website=Casetext|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201222549/https://casetext.com/case/ransome-v-epstein|archive-date=1 February 2020|access-date=1 February 2020}}{{Cite web|url=http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/07/jeffrey-epstein-high-society-contacts.html|title=The High Society That Surrounded Jeffrey Epstein|date=2 July 2019|website=Intelligencer |access-date=1 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190815013646/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/07/jeffrey-epstein-high-society-contacts.html|archive-date=15 August 2019|url-status=live}} During the lawsuit filed in 2017 from Ransome against Maxwell, District Judge John G. Koeltl granted a motion for "alternative service" on the grounds that the plaintiff's efforts to reach Maxwell were persistently thwarted; these included hiring a private investigation firm that attempted service at three physical addresses, sending information to several email addresses, and reaching out to the lawyers actively representing Maxwell in another lawsuit who refused to become a "general agent of process" to relay the information to her.

According to court documents from a lawsuit filed by Epstein against Bradley Edwards (a representative for several of his accusers), in 2010 Maxwell had agreed to provide a deposition in the case but reportedly left the country one day before Edwards was scheduled to fly to New York to take her deposition, "claiming she needed to return to the United Kingdom to be with her deathly ill mother" with no intention of returning to the United States. However, Maxwell returned within a month to attend Chelsea Clinton's wedding.

In January 2020, it was reported that Maxwell had refused to allow her lawyers to be served with several lawsuits in which she has been directly named in 2019 and 2020, including one by Farmer and from Araoz. While Maxwell's lawyers continued to argue on her behalf against the release of additional court documents from the Giuffre v Maxwell lawsuit, they claimed to not know where she was or to have permission to accept the lawsuits filed against her.

Authorities in the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) were unsuccessful in locating Maxwell during the three and a half months they were seeking to serve her with a subpoena.{{cite web|last1=Hill|first1=James|last2=Madden|first2=Pete|date=14 July 2020|title=Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's alleged recruiter, under investigation in US Virgin Islands|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/ghislaine-maxwell-epsteins-alleged-recruiter-investigation-us-virgin/story?id=71766589|access-date=14 July 2020|publisher=ABC News|archive-date=14 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200714155404/https://abcnews.go.com/US/ghislaine-maxwell-epsteins-alleged-recruiter-investigation-us-virgin/story?id=71766589|url-status=live}} USVI prosecutors consider Maxwell to be a "critical fact witness" in their lawsuit against Epstein's estate. A court filing from the USVI Department of Justice, released on 10 July 2020, stated that Maxwell was also under investigation for her alleged participation in Epstein's sex trafficking operation in the US Virgin Islands.{{cite news|last=Metcalf|first=Tom|date=13 July 2020|title=Ghislaine Maxwell Is Also Under Investigation in U.S. Virgin Islands|publisher=Bloomberg|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-13/ghislaine-maxwell-is-also-target-of-probe-in-u-s-virgin-islands|access-date=14 July 2020|archive-date=13 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713165929/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-13/ghislaine-maxwell-is-also-target-of-probe-in-u-s-virgin-islands|url-status=live}}

File:Fed29jail5bbtjeh.JPG]]Maxwell faced persistent allegations of procuring and sexually trafficking underage girls for Epstein and others, charges she denied.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/15/us/ghislaine-maxwell-epstein.html|title=The 'Lady of the House' Who Was Long Entangled With Jeffrey Epstein|last1=Twohey|first1=Megan|date=15 July 2019|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=15 July 2019|last2=Bernstein|first2=Jacob|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190716023001/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/15/us/ghislaine-maxwell-epstein.html|archive-date=16 July 2019|url-status=live}} Maxwell was arrested in Bradford, New Hampshire by the FBI on 2 July 2020, through the use of an IMSI-catcher ("stingray") mobile phone tracking device on a phone used by her to call one of her lawyers, her husband Scott Borgerson, and her sister Isabel.{{cite news|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-the-fbi-tracked-down-ghislaine-maxwell-alleged-madam-of-jeffrey-epstein|title=Revealed: How the FBI Tracked Down Ghislaine Maxwell|surname=Briquelet|given=Kate|surname2=Rohrlich|given2=Justin|date=4 January 2021 |department=Crime & Justice|newspaper=The Daily Beast|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210105131548/https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-the-fbi-tracked-down-ghislaine-maxwell-alleged-madam-of-jeffrey-epstein|archive-date=5 January 2021}}

Prosecutors, led by United States District Attorney Audrey Strauss, charged Maxwell with six federal crimes, including enticement of minors, sex trafficking of children, and perjury.{{cite news|last1=Scannell|first1=Kara|last2=Orden|first2=Erica|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/02/us/ghislaine-maxwell-jeffrey-epstein/index.html|title=Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's longtime associate, has been charged with enticement of minors|publisher=CNN|date=2 July 2020|access-date=2 July 2020|archive-date=3 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200703221143/https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/02/us/ghislaine-maxwell-jeffrey-epstein/index.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Gerstein|first=Josh|date=2 July 2020|title=Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell arrested|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/02/ghislaine-maxwell-arrested-jeffrey-epstein-348053|access-date=1 August 2020|website=Politico|archive-date=6 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806192953/https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/02/ghislaine-maxwell-arrested-jeffrey-epstein-348053|url-status=live}} The indictment charged that between 1994 and 1997, she "assisted, facilitated, and contributed" to the abuse of minor girls despite knowing that one of three unnamed victims was 14 years old.{{Cite web|last=Seal|first=Mark|date=3 July 2020|title="Ghislaine, Is That You?": Inside Ghislaine Maxwell's Life on the Lam|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/07/inside-ghislaine-maxwells-life-on-the-lam|access-date=21 July 2020|magazine=Vanity Fair|archive-date=25 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725210355/https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/07/inside-ghislaine-maxwells-life-on-the-lam|url-status=live}}

{{As of|2021|04|28}}, Maxwell was held at the Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn, New York.{{cite web|url=https://www.bop.gov/mobile/find_inmate/byname.jsp |title=Federal Inmates Locator: Find an inmate... | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623184137/https://www.bop.gov/mobile/find_inmate/byname.jsp |archive-date=23 June 2016 |url-status=live |publisher=Federal Bureau of Prisons |website=bop.gov |access-date=28 May 2021}} (search Ghislaine Maxwell's BOP Register Number: 02879-509){{cite news|last=Jacobs|first=Shayna|date=13 July 2020|title=Ghislaine Maxwell had ex-British military as security at New Hampshire estate, prosecutors say|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/ghislaine-maxwell-british-military-new-hampshire/2020/07/13/3987e922-c531-11ea-a99f-3bbdffb1af38_story.html|access-date=13 July 2020|archive-date=13 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713225310/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/ghislaine-maxwell-british-military-new-hampshire/2020/07/13/3987e922-c531-11ea-a99f-3bbdffb1af38_story.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Hals|first=Tom|date=6 July 2020|title='Crushing experience' awaits Ghislaine Maxwell at troubled jail|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-ghislaine-maxwell-prison-idUSKBN2472LN|access-date=14 July 2020|archive-date=15 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715124710/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-ghislaine-maxwell-prison-idUSKBN2472LN|url-status=live}} Lawyers requested that Judge Nathan release her on $5 million bond with monitored home confinement while awaiting trial.{{cite news|last=Jacobs|first=Shayna|date=10 July 2020|title=Ghislaine Maxwell's siblings willing to endorse US$5 million bond, lawyer says|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/ghislaine-maxwell-bail/2020/07/10/e7794220-c2b5-11ea-9fdd-b7ac6b051dc8_story.html|access-date=16 July 2020|archive-date=15 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715100228/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/ghislaine-maxwell-bail/2020/07/10/e7794220-c2b5-11ea-9fdd-b7ac6b051dc8_story.html|url-status=live}} Maxwell appeared by video link before a court in Manhattan on 14 July 2020 and pleaded not guilty to the charges. A naturalised US citizen since 2002 who also holds passports from France and the United Kingdom, Maxwell was denied bail as a flight risk amid concerns regarding her "completely opaque" finances, her skill at living in hiding, and the fact that France does not extradite its citizens.{{cite news|last=Orden|first=Erica|date=14 July 2020|title=Ghislaine Maxwell is denied bail as judge says risks of fleeing 'are simply too great'|publisher=CNN|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/14/us/ghislaine-maxwell-pleads-not-guilty/index.html|url-status=live|access-date=14 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723001641/https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/14/us/ghislaine-maxwell-pleads-not-guilty/index.html|archive-date=23 July 2020}}{{cite web|last=Togoh|first=Isabel|title=Ghislaine Maxwell's US$5 Million Bail Application Could Be Blocked Because Of Her French Passport|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabeltogoh/2020/07/14/ghislaine-maxwells-5-million-bail-application-could-be-blocked-because-of-her-french-passport/|access-date=17 July 2020|work=Forbes|archive-date=17 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717052724/https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabeltogoh/2020/07/14/ghislaine-maxwells-5-million-bail-application-could-be-blocked-because-of-her-french-passport/|url-status=live}} The judge set a trial date of 12 July 2021.{{cite news|last1=Neuminster|first1=Larry|last2=Hays|first2=Tom|title=Maxwell denied bail on Epstein-related sex abuse charges|url=https://apnews.com/1912c3ce781806727cab2f732e4ba84a|work=Associated Press|date=14 July 2020|access-date=14 July 2020|archive-date=15 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715002523/https://apnews.com/1912c3ce781806727cab2f732e4ba84a?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Ghislaine Maxwell denied bail in Epstein sex trafficking case|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-53403270|publisher=BBC News|date=14 July 2020|access-date=14 July 2020|archive-date=14 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200714174446/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-53403270|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Bekiempis|first=Victoria|title=Ghislaine Maxwell pleads not guilty in trafficking case|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/13/ghislaine-maxwell-court-sex-trafficking-trial-epstein|newspaper=The Guardian|date=14 July 2020|access-date=15 July 2020|archive-date=3 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603233539/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/13/ghislaine-maxwell-court-sex-trafficking-trial-epstein|url-status=live}}

Maxwell's attorney reiterated her request for bail on 18 December 2020, and proposed that Maxwell reside with a friend in New York City while under 24-hour surveillance as she awaited trial. Her husband, Scott Borgerson, made a secured offer of US$22 million to guarantee her presence at future appearances.{{cite web|first=Josie|last=Ensor|url=https://news.yahoo.com/ghislaine-maxwell-process-divorcing-husband-230939327.html|title=Ghislaine Maxwell was in process of divorcing husband, prosecution claims as it slams fresh bail bid|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=18 December 2020|access-date=29 December 2020|archive-date=19 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201219080138/https://news.yahoo.com/ghislaine-maxwell-process-divorcing-husband-230939327.html|url-status=live}} On 28 December 2020, a further request for bail was again rejected by the judge.{{cite news|first=Victoria|last=Bekiempis|title=Ghislaine Maxwell's latest request for bail denied by US federal judge|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/28/ghislaine-maxwell-bail-request-denied-judge|newspaper=The Guardian|date=28 December 2020|access-date=29 December 2020|archive-date=29 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201229012342/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/28/ghislaine-maxwell-bail-request-denied-judge|url-status=live}} Maxwell's bail request was opposed by alleged victim Annie Farmer.

On 19 January 2021, a court hearing was disrupted by believers in QAnon – who believe Maxwell to be working in cohort with a cabal of child-sacrificing Satanist liberal elites who traffic children for sex – as the proceedings were illegally livestreamed to YouTube.{{cite news|last1=Bekiempis|first1=Victoria|title=Ghislaine Maxwell court hearing disrupted by apparent QAnon followers|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/19/ghislaine-maxwell-court-proceeding-qanon|access-date=21 January 2021|newspaper=The Guardian|date=19 January 2021|archive-date=20 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120213431/http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/19/ghislaine-maxwell-court-proceeding-qanon|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last1=Pavia|first1=Will|title=QAnon disrupts Ghislaine Maxwell case|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/royal-family/article/qanon-disrupts-ghislaine-maxwell-case-gm5z8xssj|access-date=21 January 2021|newspaper=The Times|date=20 January 2021|location=New York|archive-date=21 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121002214/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/qanon-disrupts-ghislaine-maxwell-case-gm5z8xssj|url-status=live}}

On 26 January 2021, a motion by Maxwell's attorneys challenged her grand jury indictment, claiming that it did not reflect the ethnic diversity of the jurisdiction in which the violations of the law were alleged to have occurred.{{cite news|last=Jacobs |first=Shayna |date=26 January 2021 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/ghislaine-maxwell-seeks-dismissal-jeffrey-epstein/2021/01/26/e8e8e560-5fe6-11eb-afbe-9a11a127d146_story.html |title=Ghislaine Maxwell says grand jury that indicted her was too White, seeks dismissal of sex abuse case |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127042248/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/ghislaine-maxwell-seeks-dismissal-jeffrey-epstein/2021/01/26/e8e8e560-5fe6-11eb-afbe-9a11a127d146_story.html |archive-date=27 January 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=27 January 2021 |url-status=live}}

On 29 March 2021, US prosecutors added new charges of sex trafficking a minor and sex trafficking conspiracy, alleging that Maxwell was involved in grooming a fourth girl, aged 14, to engage in sexual acts with Epstein between 2001 and 2004 at his residence in Palm Beach.{{cite web|title=Ghislaine Maxwell faces new charges as US expands sex crime case|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-ghislaine-maxwell/ghislaine-maxwell-faces-new-charges-as-u-s-expands-sex-crime-case-idUSKBN2BL2P2|work=Reuters|first=Jonathan|last=Stempl|date=29 March 2021|access-date=30 March 2021|archive-date=30 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330012204/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-ghislaine-maxwell/ghislaine-maxwell-faces-new-charges-as-u-s-expands-sex-crime-case-idUSKBN2BL2P2|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Diaz|first=Jaclyn|date=30 March 2021|title=Prosecutors Add Sex Trafficking Charges Against Ghislaine Maxwell|url=https://www.npr.org/2021/03/30/982597363/prosecutors-add-sex-trafficking-charges-against-ghislaine-maxwell|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330090032/https://www.npr.org/2021/03/30/982597363/prosecutors-add-sex-trafficking-charges-against-ghislaine-maxwell|archive-date=30 March 2021|access-date=30 March 2021|website=NPR}} Maxwell pleaded not guilty to the additional charges; she faced six counts that included sex trafficking of a minor and sex trafficking conspiracy, in addition to two counts of perjury.{{cite web|title=Maxwell makes first US court appearance|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-56865986|date=23 April 2021|access-date=24 April 2021|publisher=BBC News|archive-date=23 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423204205/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-56865986|url-status=live}}

Maxwell's attorneys regularly protested about the conditions of her confinement, which included being kept awake by a light shone in her eyes every fifteen minutes to deter the chances of her committing suicide, and being denied a sleep mask.{{Cite web |title=Ghislaine Maxwell's sleep loss in jail concerns judges |url=https://sports.yahoo.com/ghislaine-maxwells-sleep-loss-jail-185358257.html |access-date=1 May 2023 |website=Yahoo Sports |date=26 April 2021 |language=en-US}} One, David Markus, protested, "There's no evidence she's suicidal. They're doing it because Jeffrey Epstein died on their watch", and "She's not Jeffrey Epstein, this isn't right".

In April 2021, US District Judge Alison Nathan ruled that Maxwell would face two separate trials, one for the sex trafficking charges and another for perjury.{{cite web|last=Wieder|first=Ben|title=Ghislaine Maxwell's bid to dismiss sex trafficking, perjury charges rejected|url=https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida/2021/04/17/ghislaine-maxwells-bid-to-dismiss-sex-trafficking-perjury-charges-rejected/|access-date=15 June 2021|newspaper=Tampa Bay Times|archive-date=8 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508172120/https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida/2021/04/17/ghislaine-maxwells-bid-to-dismiss-sex-trafficking-perjury-charges-rejected/|url-status=live}} Nathan delayed the first trial to 29 November 2021 after Maxwell's defence lawyers successfully argued that the new charges added in March 2021 did not give them enough time to prepare for trial.{{cite web|title=Judge sets November for start of Ghislaine Maxwell's trial|work=ABC News |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/judge-sets-november-start-ghislaine-maxwells-trial-77631573|access-date=15 June 2021|archive-date=12 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512061354/https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/judge-sets-november-start-ghislaine-maxwells-trial-77631573|url-status=live}} Maxwell appeared in court on 15 November 2021.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/15/ghislaine-maxwell-pre-trial-court-appearance |title=Ghislaine Maxwell appears relaxed in pre-trial court appearance |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115190242/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/15/ghislaine-maxwell-pre-trial-court-appearance |archive-date=15 November 2021 |date=15 November 2021 |work=The Guardian |last=Bekiempis |first=Victoria |location=New York |url-status=live}} The trial commenced on 29 November with opening statements. Twelve jurors had been picked, plus six alternates, from a pool of forty to sixty people.{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/ghislaine-maxwell-nyc-trial-starts-17f7c28591c1f32c802f3b7bc413bfe0 |title=Maxwell, Epstein were 'partners in crime,' prosecutor says |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205083526/https://apnews.com/article/ghislaine-maxwell-nyc-trial-starts-17f7c28591c1f32c802f3b7bc413bfe0 |archive-date=5 December 2021 |work=AP News |agency=Associated Press |last1=Neumeister |first1=Larry |last2=Hays |first2=Tom |location=New York |date=29 November 2021 |access-date=29 November 2021 |url-status=live}}

Psychology professor Elizabeth Loftus was called as an expert witness for the defence and provided testimony on false memory syndrome.{{Cite web|date=29 December 2021|title=Jury in Ghislaine Maxwell trial asks to review expert testimony|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/29/jury-in-ghislaine-maxwell-trial-asks-to-review-expert-testimony|access-date=31 December 2021|website=Al Jazeera|language=en}}

Maxwell chose not to testify, telling the judge "Your honour, the government has not proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. So there is no need for me to testify." A spokesperson for Maxwell's family had previously said she was "too fragile" to testify.{{Cite web|last=Sheets|first=Megan|date=20 December 2021|title=Ghislaine Maxwell tells court she will not testify as defence rests|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/ghislaine-maxwell-trial-testify-defence-b1978434.html|access-date=31 December 2021|website=The Independent|language=en}}

In early December 2021, Twitter suspended the account "@TrackerTrial", an account monitoring Maxwell's trial. The account was two weeks old and had 525,000 followers before its suspension.{{cite web |title=An Interview with the Ghislaine Maxwell Trial Tracker – The Now Suspended Twitter Account that had over 500k followers |url=https://southfloridatheater.com/2022/01/03/an-interview-with-the-ghislaine-maxwell-trial-tracker-the-now-suspended-twitter-account-that-had-over-500k-followers/ |website=South Florida Theater Magazine |date=3 January 2022 |access-date=28 June 2022}}{{cite web |url=https://heavy.com/news/trackertrial-tracker-trial-twitter-account-suspended/amp/ |website=Heavy |access-date=28 June 2022|title='Tracker Trial' Twitter Account Providing Ghislaine Maxwell Trial Updates Suspended |date=8 December 2021 }}{{cite web |title=Twitter suspends account providing Ghislaine Maxwell trial updates |url=https://www.foxnews.com/media/twitter-account-ghislaine-maxwell-trial-suspended.amp |website=Fox |access-date=28 June 2022}}

On 28 December, as infections from COVID-19 rose in the city, judge Nathan extended the jury's sitting times, as she was concerned that juror infections would raise the possibility of a mistrial.{{Cite web|last1=Weiser|first1=Benjamin|last2=O'Brien|first2=Rebecca Davis|date=28 December 2021|title=Fearing Mistrial Because of Virus, Maxwell Judge Extends Jury's Hours|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/28/nyregion/ghislaine-maxwell-trial.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230120122/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/28/nyregion/ghislaine-maxwell-trial.html|archive-date=30 December 2021|access-date=30 December 2021|website=New York Times|via=}}{{Cite web|last=Bekiempis|first=Victoria|date=28 December 2021|title=Ghislaine Maxwell: jury weighs charges as judge warns Covid could derail trial|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/28/ghislaine-maxwell-jury-deliberations-resume-sex-trafficking-trial|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230185439/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/28/ghislaine-maxwell-jury-deliberations-resume-sex-trafficking-trial|archive-date=30 December 2021|access-date=30 December 2021|website=The Guardian}}

File:US_v_Ghislaine_Maxwell_Verdict_Statement_by_Damian_Williams.webm, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, gives a statement following the conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell.]]

On 29 December 2021, Maxwell was convicted by a jury in US federal court on five sex trafficking-related counts carrying a potential custodial sentence of up to 65 years' imprisonment: one of sex trafficking of a minor (maximum: 40 years), one of transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity (10 years) and three of conspiracy to commit choate felonies (15 years total).{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/29/nyregion/ghislaine-maxwell-guilty-verdict.html|title=Ghislaine Maxwell Is Found Guilty of Aiding in Epstein's Sex Abuse|newspaper=The New York Times |date=29 December 2021|access-date=4 March 2022|last1=Weiser |first1=Benjamin |last2=O'Brien |first2=Rebecca Davis |last3=Moynihan |first3=Colin }}

Maxwell was acquitted on the charge of enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts. Maxwell's family said the appeal process had begun.{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/us/ghislaine-maxwell-s-family-begin-appeal-process-after-sex-abuse-verdict-1.4765918|title=Ghislaine Maxwell's family begin appeal process after sex abuse verdict|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=30 December 2021|archive-date=30 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230093422/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/us/ghislaine-maxwell-s-family-begin-appeal-process-after-sex-abuse-verdict-1.4765918|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/ghislaine-maxwell-jeffrey-epstein-virginia-roberts-kevin-jane-b1984186.html|title=Ghislaine Maxwell's family launch appeal after sex abuse verdict|date=30 December 2021|website=The Independent|access-date=30 December 2021|archive-date=30 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230141725/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/ghislaine-maxwell-jeffrey-epstein-virginia-roberts-kevin-jane-b1984186.html|url-status=live}}

The only witness to use her real name during her testimony, Annie Farmer, spoke out after the trial saying, "I hope that this verdict brings solace to all who need it{{nbsp}}... Even those with great power and privilege will be held accountable when they sexually abuse and exploit the young."{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-59827051 |title=Ghislaine Maxwell: Survivors speak of relief after guilty verdict |date=31 December 2021 |work=BBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211231013732/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-59827051 |archive-date=31 December 2021 |url-status=live}}

A retrial was sought on the grounds that a juror did not disclose during jury selection that he had been sexually abused as a child. He had shared a narrative of that abuse with other jurors during the proceedings.[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/08/juror-ghislaine-maxwell-trial-judge-court-hearing Maxwell juror says he was distracted during jury selection but 'I did not lie'], The Guardian,

Victoria Bekiempis, 8 March 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2022.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/19/ghislaine-maxwell-request-retrial-juror-revelation|title=Ghislaine Maxwell's legal team files request for retrial over juror's revelation|date=20 January 2022|access-date=20 January 2022|first=Victoria|last=Bekiempis|website=The Guardian}} On 1 April 2022, the judge found that the juror's failure to disclose his abuse as a child did not warrant a new trial and dismissed Maxwell's request to set aside the verdict.{{Cite news|last=Weiser|first=Benjamin|date=1 April 2022|title=Juror's Error Did Not Affect Ghislaine Maxwell Verdict, Judge Rules|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/01/nyregion/ghislaine-maxwell-trial-juror-ruling.html|access-date=30 December 2022|issn=0362-4331}}

On 28 June 2022, Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison;{{Cite web |date=28 June 2022 |title=Ghislaine Maxwell sentenced to 20 years in prison |url=https://apnews.com/article/ghislaine-maxwell-jeffrey-epstein-sentencing-aeac127f9cc3811d975ce8e10d171260 |access-date=28 June 2022 |website=AP News |language=en}} prosecutors were seeking a sentence of at least 30 years.{{cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/ghislaine-maxwell-be-sentenced-sex-trafficking-conviction-2022-06-28/ | title=Ghislaine Maxwell sentenced to 20 years for 'horrific' sex trafficking | newspaper=Reuters | date=29 June 2022 | last1=Cohen | first1=Luc | last2=Pierson | first2=Brendan | last3=Pierson | first3=Brendan }} She complained of threats coming from jail staff in the days prior to sentencing, but gave no details about the nature of the threats. Although she had been placed on suicide watch on 24 June,{{Cite news |last=Winter |first=Tom |date=27 June 2022 |title=Ghislaine Maxwell on Suicide Watch Ahead of NY Sex Trafficking Sentencing: Docs |pages=1 |work=NBC New York |url=https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/ghislaine-maxwell-on-suicide-watch-ahead-of-ny-sex-trafficking-sentencing-docs/3751224/ |access-date=30 June 2022}}{{Cite news |last=Moghe |first=Sonia |date=25 June 2022 |title=Ghislaine Maxwell is on suicide watch but isn't suicidal, may need to postpone sentencing, lawyer says |pages=1 |work=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/25/us/ghislaine-maxwell-on-suicide-watch/index.html |access-date=30 June 2022}} she told the psychiatric team that she was not suicidal. A related request by her lawyers for a sentencing delay was denied.{{cite web |title=Ghislaine Maxwell reported jail staff threatened her safety, prompting suicide watch | date=26 June 2022 |url=https://news.yahoo.com/ghislaine-maxwell-reported-jail-staff-192934441.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9kdWNrZHVja2dvLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADunqF7un8mbl1c_f3v61V02jWNbHs8tvfB5-5Ts-4sYN5UbiU5O1dLnwue2cwnfhUnwNyJhIeLSoix1qcOlNEwlhpdOR56s5tDPZvRGnKtBDj98EwrRhRF6RpvosgXL4JOCNVMSkfRbCbX6G8T1qW-QTQaP8IG844o8mNYywQ5A |access-date=28 June 2022}} She appealed the conviction on 7 July.{{cite news | title=Ghislaine Maxwell appeals against sex trafficking conviction | website=The Guardian | date=7 July 2022 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jul/07/ghislaine-maxwell-appeals-conviction-sex-trafficking | access-date=7 July 2022}} On 25 July 2022, Maxwell was transferred from Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn to a low security federal prison for female inmates at FCI Tallahassee.{{Cite news |last=Sinmaz |first=Emine |date=25 July 2022 |title=Ghislaine Maxwell moved to low-security prison in Florida |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jul/25/ghislaine-maxwell-moved-to-low-security-prison-in-florida-epstein |access-date=15 November 2023 |issn=0261-3077}} She is scheduled to be released on 17 July 2037. In August 2022, her former lawyers sued Maxwell, alleging that she failed to pay $878,000 in legal fees.{{cite news |date=24 August 2022 |title=Law firm sues Ghislaine Maxwell, saying it's owed $878,000 for defense |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/24/ghislaine-maxwell-law-firm-lawsuit |accessdate=25 August 2022 |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=The Guardian|last1=Pengelly |first1=Martin }}

On 17 September 2024, three judges at Manhattan's Second US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Maxwell's five convictions and sentence. In response, her lawyer said she would appeal to the US Supreme Court.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ghislaine-maxwells-sex-trafficking-conviction-is-upheld-2024-09-17/|title=Ghislaine Maxwell's sex-trafficking conviction upheld, appeal planned|work=Reuters|accessdate=17 September 2024|date=17 September 2024|first=Jonathan|last=Stempel}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy0glxd0gxko|title=Ghislaine Maxwell loses sex trafficking appeal|date=17 September 2024 |work=BBC News|accessdate=17 September 2024|first=Aoife|last=Walsh}}

Maxwell faces a second criminal trial for perjury on two charges that she lied under oath during a civil suit in 2015 about Epstein's abuse of underage girls. Each count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-29/ghislaine-maxwell-now-faces-another-criminal-trial-for-perjury |title=Ghislaine Maxwell Now Faces Another Criminal Trial for Perjury |date=29 December 2021 |last=Hurtado |first=Patricia |work=Bloomberg News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230202541/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-29/ghislaine-maxwell-now-faces-another-criminal-trial-for-perjury |archive-date=30 December 2021 |url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-59826505 |title=Ghislaine Maxwell: What next after guilty verdict? |date=31 December 2021 |work=BBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211231103700/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-59826505 |archive-date=31 December 2021 |url-status=live}} Prosecutors have said that perjury charges will be dropped if she is sentenced on schedule.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/15/ghislaine-maxwell-to-be-sentenced-in-new-york-in-late-june|title=Ghislaine Maxwell to be sentenced in New York in late June|work= The Guardian|date=15 January 2022|access-date=20 January 2022}} Following a petition for a new trial, submitted under seal, prosecutors told the judge on 4 February 2022 that Maxwell's arguments for a retrial must be "publicly docketed"; the judge said that the reasons for making the submission under seal must be made public.{{Cite news|last=Bekiempis|first=Victoria|date=5 February 2022|title=Ghislaine Maxwell retrial arguments must be public, prosecutors tell judge|page=1|work=The Guardian News|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/05/ghislaine-maxwell-lawyers-retrial-prosecutors|access-date=6 February 2022}}

In 2012, Maxwell founded the TerraMar Project,{{cite web|url=https://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/eco-tourism/stories/terramar-project-launches-to-celebrate-and-protect-the-worlds-oceans|title=TerraMar Project launches to celebrate and protect the world's oceans|date=10 October 2012|website=Mother Nature Network|access-date=15 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190815113944/https://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/eco-tourism/stories/terramar-project-launches-to-celebrate-and-protect-the-worlds-oceans|archive-date=15 August 2019|url-status=live}} a nonprofit organisation that advocated the protection of oceans. She gave a lecture for TerraMar at the University of Texas at Dallas and a TED talk, at TEDx Charlottesville in 2014.{{cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/ghislaine-maxwell-terramar-project-charity-jeffrey-epstin-2019-7|title=Ghislaine Maxwell abruptly torpedoed her oceanic non-profit in the wake of the scandal surrounding her associate Jeffrey Epstein|last=Cain|first=Áine|date=18 July 2019|publisher=Business Insider|access-date=20 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719152749/https://www.businessinsider.com/ghislaine-maxwell-terramar-project-charity-jeffrey-epstin-2019-7|archive-date=19 July 2019|url-status=live}} Maxwell accompanied Stuart Beck, a 2013 TerraMar board member, to two United Nations meetings to discuss the project.

The TerraMar Project announced its closure on 12 July 2019, less than a week after the charges of sex trafficking brought by New York federal prosecutors against Epstein became public. An associated, UK-based company, Terramar (UK), listed Maxwell as a director.{{cite web|website=Companies House|url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08661523 |title=Terramar (UK)|access-date=13 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717205622/https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08661523|archive-date=17 July 2019|url-status=live}} An application for the United Kingdom organisation to be closed was made on 4 September 2019, with the first notice in The London Gazette made on 17 September 2019.{{cite web |url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08661523/filing-history|title=TERRAMAR (UK) Filing History|website=Companies House|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214110954/https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08661523/filing-history|archive-date=14 December 2019|access-date=9 December 2019}} The company Terramar (UK) was listed as officially dissolved on 3 December 2019.

Since at least 1997, Maxwell has maintained a residence in Belgravia, London.{{cite news|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/ghislaine-maxwell-where-in-the-world-is-jeffrey-epsteins-girlfriend |title=Jeffrey Epstein's 'Madam' Ghislaine Maxwell Spotted at In-N-Out Burger|last1=Briquelet|first1=Kate|date=15 August 2019|newspaper=The Daily Beast|access-date=16 August 2019 |last2=Cartwright |first2=Lachlan|last3=Kennedy|first3=Dana|last4=Ross|first4=Jamie|last5=Frias|first5=Jordan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190815163913/https://www.thedailybeast.com/ghislaine-maxwell-where-in-the-world-is-jeffrey-epsteins-girlfriend|archive-date=15 August 2019|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/where-is-ghislaine-maxwell-london-home-neighbors-deny-knowledge-2019-8?r=US&IR=T|title=We visited alleged Epstein 'madam' Ghislaine Maxwell's upscale house in London's Belgravia, where the superrich live, and got a taste of her lifestyle before she disappeared|last1=Ma |first1=Alexandra|date=22 August 2019|publisher=Business Insider|access-date=25 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218163611/https://www.businessinsider.com/where-is-ghislaine-maxwell-london-home-neighbors-deny-knowledge-2019-8?r=US&IR=T|archive-date=18 December 2019|url-status=live}} In 2000, Maxwell moved into a {{cvt|7000|ft2}} townhouse on East 65th Street, New York City, fewer than 10 blocks from Epstein's mansion. Maxwell's townhouse was purchased for US$4.95 million by an anonymous limited liability company, with an address that matches the office of J. Epstein & Co. Representing the buyer was Darren Indyke, Epstein's longtime lawyer. In April 2016, the property was sold for US$15 million.

Following her personal and professional involvement with Epstein, Maxwell was romantically linked for several years to Ted Waitt, founder of Gateway Computers.{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/ghislaine-maxwell-a-modern-day-geisha-girl-of-the-capitalist-world-7txw9hrhxct|title=Ghislaine Maxwell: 'A modern day geisha girl of the capitalist world'|last=Whitworth |first=Damian|date=8 March 2011|newspaper=The Times|access-date=2 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190902233047/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ghislaine-maxwell-a-modern-day-geisha-girl-of-the-capitalist-world-7txw9hrhxct|archive-date=2 September 2019|url-status=live}} She attended the wedding of Chelsea Clinton in 2010 as Waitt's guest. Maxwell helped Waitt obtain and renovate a luxury yacht, the Plan B, and used it for travel to France and Croatia before their relationship ended, in late 2010{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/14/style/ghislaine-maxwell-terramar-boats-jeffrey-epstein.html|title=Whatever Happened to Ghislaine Maxwell's Plan to Save the Oceans?|last=Bernstein|first=Jacob|date=14 August 2019|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=28 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829220746/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/14/style/ghislaine-maxwell-terramar-boats-jeffrey-epstein.html|archive-date=29 August 2019|url-status=live}} or early 2011.{{Cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/21/jeffrey-epstein-trump-clinton-1424120|title=Meet the woman who ties Jeffrey Epstein to Trump and the Clintons|last1=Schreckinger|first1=Ben|date=21 July 2019|work=Politico|access-date=21 July 2019|last2=Lippman|first2=Daniel|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721124616/https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/21/jeffrey-epstein-trump-clinton-1424120|archive-date=21 July 2019|url-status=live}}

On 15 August 2019, reports surfaced that Maxwell had been living in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, in the home of Scott G. Borgerson, a Council on Foreign Relations fellow in residence, since 2007,{{Cite news|last=Bernstein|first=Jacob|date=11 August 2020|title=How Did Scott Borgerson Get Mixed Up With Ghislaine Maxwell?|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/11/style/who-is-scott-borgerson-ghislaine-maxwell.html|access-date=30 December 2022|issn=0362-4331}} who, in October 2020, due to the publicity surrounding Maxwell, stepped down as CEO of CargoMetrics,{{cite web|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/ghislaine-maxwells-boyfriend-scott-borgerson-resigns-from-his-tech-startup-cargometrics-technologies |title=Ghislaine Maxwell's Boyfriend Resigns From His Tech Startup |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104210454/https://www.thedailybeast.com/ghislaine-maxwells-boyfriend-scott-borgerson-resigns-from-his-tech-startup-cargometrics-technologies |archive-date=4 January 2021 |website=Daily Beast |first=Kate |last=Briquelet |date=2 October 2020 |access-date=20 December 2020 |url-status=live}} a hedge fund he had founded.{{cite news|url=https://www.thecut.com/2019/08/ghislaine-maxwells-great-escape-didnt-get-her-far.html|title=Ghislaine Maxwell's Great Escape Didn't Get Her Far|last=Schneier|first=Matthew|date=19 August 2019|magazine=New York (magazine)|access-date=28 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190818222555/https://www.thecut.com/2019/08/ghislaine-maxwells-great-escape-didnt-get-her-far.html |archive-date=18 August 2019|url-status=live}} Maxwell and Borgerson were described as having been in a romantic relationship for several years.{{cite web|url=https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b14z9qvl205nh2/cargometrics-cracks-the-code-on-shipping-data|magazine=Institutional Investor (magazine)|date=4 February 2016|access-date=4 February 2020|first=Fred R.|last=Beakley|title=CargoMetrics Cracks the Code on Shipping Data|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204022828/https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b14z9qvl205nh2/cargometrics-cracks-the-code-on-shipping-data|archive-date=4 February 2020|url-status=live}} Locals in the town of Manchester-by-the-Sea said Maxwell had kept a low profile, went by "G" instead of her full first name, and had been seen on several occasions walking a Vizsla dog along the beach.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/18/ghislaine-maxwells-sister-spotted-packing-bags-near-home-socialite/|title=Ghislaine Maxwell's sister spotted packing up bags near home where socialite was rumoured to be staying|last=Sabur|first=Rozina|date=18 August 2019|newspaper=The Telegraph|access-date=28 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190828230058/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/18/ghislaine-maxwells-sister-spotted-packing-bags-near-home-socialite/|archive-date=28 August 2019|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2019/08/15/ghislaine-maxwell-manchester-by-the-sea-massachusetts|title=Jeffrey Epstein's alleged co-conspirator lived a low-key life in this tony seaside town in New England, neighbors say|last=Barrett|first=Devlin|date=16 August 2019|publisher=Boston.com (Boston Globe Media Partners)|access-date=28 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817125355/https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2019/08/15/ghislaine-maxwell-manchester-by-the-sea-massachusetts|archive-date=17 August 2019|url-status=live}}

Borgerson and Maxwell filed documents in Massachusetts Land Court about Borgerson's residence, known as Phippin House, during a civil dispute with neighbours regarding rescinded access rights to the larger Sharksmouth Estate in 2019.{{cite news|last=Millward|first=David|date=17 July 2020|title=Ghislaine Maxwell involved in neighbourly dispute in picturesque Massachusetts town|newspaper=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/07/17/ghislaine-maxwell-involved-neighbourly-dispute-picturesque-massachusetts/|access-date=17 July 2020|issn=0307-1235|archive-date=18 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718055921/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/07/17/ghislaine-maxwell-involved-neighbourly-dispute-picturesque-massachusetts/|url-status=live}} A neighbouring property manager attested that Maxwell and Borgerson were living together at the property in question.{{cite web|last=Mangan|first=Dan|date=14 August 2019|title=Mystery of Ghislaine Maxwell's whereabouts deepens as Jeffrey Epstein accusers eye his alleged madam|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/14/ghislaine-maxwell-location-unknown-jeffrey-epstein-accusers-eye-her.html|access-date=17 July 2020|publisher=CNBC|archive-date=14 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814144759/https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/14/ghislaine-maxwell-location-unknown-jeffrey-epstein-accusers-eye-her.html|url-status=live}} Others have said they had been seen repeatedly running together in the mornings.{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeffrey-epstein-death-ghislaine-maxwell-allegedly-living-mansion-new-england-beach-town/|title=Ghislaine Maxwell was apparently living at secluded mansion in New England beach town|date=15 August 2019|publisher=CBS News|access-date=28 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190818082548/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeffrey-epstein-death-ghislaine-maxwell-allegedly-living-mansion-new-england-beach-town/|archive-date=18 August 2019|url-status=live}}

Borgerson stated in August 2019 that Maxwell was not currently living at the home and that he did not know where she was. On 15 August 2019, the New York Post published photographs of Maxwell dining at a fast-food restaurant in Los Angeles, claiming that "The Post found the socialite hiding in plain sight in the least likely place imaginable — a fast-food joint in Los Angeles".{{cite news|author1=Sara Nathan|author2=Mara Siegler|title=Jeffrey Epstein's gal pal Ghislaine Maxwell spotted at In-N-Out Burger in first photos since his death|url=https://nypost.com/2019/08/15/jeffrey-epsteins-gal-pal-ghislaine-maxwell-spotted-at-in-n-out-burger-in-first-photos-since-his-death/|access-date=7 July 2020|newspaper=New York Post|publisher=NYP Holdings Inc.|date=1 August 2019|archive-date=7 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707191859/https://nypost.com/2019/08/15/jeffrey-epsteins-gal-pal-ghislaine-maxwell-spotted-at-in-n-out-burger-in-first-photos-since-his-death/|url-status=live}} The photos were later proven to have been taken at a meeting with Maxwell's friend and attorney Leah Saffian, who also gave other pictures to the Daily Mail.{{cite news|last=Britton|first=Bianca|date=8 December 2019|title=Ghislaine Maxwell is the woman at the center of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. She's not been seen in months|publisher=CNN |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/08/uk/who-is-ghislaine-maxwell-jeffrey-epstein-intl-gbr/index.html|url-status=live|access-date=9 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191208234028/https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/08/uk/who-is-ghislaine-maxwell-jeffrey-epstein-intl-gbr/index.html|archive-date=8 December 2019}}{{cite web|last=Pompeo |first=Joe|date=26 November 2019|title=The Hunt for Jeffrey Epstein's Alleged Enabler Ghislaine Maxwell|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/11/hunt-for-jeffrey-epstein-alleged-enabler-ghislaine-maxwell |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127001302/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/11/hunt-for-jeffrey-epstein-alleged-enabler-ghislaine-maxwell|archive-date=27 November 2019|access-date=8 June 2020|magazine=Vanity Fair}}

Maxwell moved to a remote {{cvt|156|acre|adj=on}} property in Bradford, New Hampshire, in late 2019,{{cite web|last=Greenberg|first=Zoe|date=7 July 2020|title=What was Ghislaine Maxwell doing in a tiny New Hampshire town?|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/07/metro/ghislaine-maxwells-new-hampshire/|access-date=14 July 2020|newspaper=Boston Globe|archive-date=14 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200714083422/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/07/metro/ghislaine-maxwells-new-hampshire/|url-status=live}} where she used former British military personnel as personal security until her arrest in July 2020. At the time of her arraignment, federal prosecutors stated that Maxwell was married; she did not disclose the identity of her spouse, or their respective finances.{{cite web|last=Hill|first=James|date=14 July 2020|title=Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's alleged recruiter, pleads not guilty|url=https://abc13.com/6317377/|access-date=15 July 2020|publisher=ABC13 Houston|archive-date=16 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716050222/https://abc13.com/6317377/|url-status=live}} In December 2020, it emerged that she had married Borgerson in 2016.{{cite magazine|last=Coke|first=Hope|title=Ghislaine Maxwell transferred assets to husband Scott Borgerson after their marriage|url=https://www.tatler.com/article/ghislaine-maxwell-husband-scott-borgerson-pledge-30-million-bail-free-by-christmas|access-date=21 December 2020|magazine=Tatler|date=16 December 2020|archive-date=11 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211142655/https://www.tatler.com/article/ghislaine-maxwell-husband-scott-borgerson-pledge-30-million-bail-free-by-christmas|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Kelly|first=Guy|date=19 December 2020|title=Who is Scott Borgerson, Ghislaine Maxwell's 'secret' husband?|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/scott-borgerson-ghislaine-maxwells-husband/|access-date=21 December 2020|issn=0307-1235|archive-date=21 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201221113216/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/scott-borgerson-ghislaine-maxwells-husband/|url-status=live}}

{{Reflist}}

{{wikiquote}}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc// Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator — GHISLAINE NOELLE MAXWELL Register Number: 02879-509]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-9hO4wF_xw Right Hand Woman] 27:21 video, 60 Minutes, Australia, 2020
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQOOxOl9l80 Exposing Jeffrey Epstein's international sex trafficking ring], 45:16 video, 60 Minutes, Australia, 2019
• [https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Giuffre-unseal.pdf Unsealed Court Documents from Giuffre vs. Maxwell] released 2019 (74 pages)
• [https://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/18-2868_16-3945_complete_opn.pdf United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from Brown v. Maxwell; Dershowitz v. Giuffre] released 2019

{{Jeffrey Epstein Sex Trafficking Scandal}}

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Category:People charged with perjury

Category:People convicted of sex trafficking

Category:People educated at Headington School

Category:People educated at Marlborough College

Category:People educated at Millfield Preparatory School

Category:People educated at Oxford High School, England

Category:People from Maisons-Laffitte

Category:Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government

Category:Female sex offenders

Category:Child sexual abuse in the United States

Category:Child sexual abuse cover-ups