A federal judge on Monday delayed a decision on bail for Jeffrey Epstein, who is locked up at the Metropolitan Correctional Center following his arrest last week on sex-trafficking charges. U.S. District Judge Richard Berman said he will deliver his decision Thursday.
Epstein’s lawyers argued that the 66-year-old should be allowed to await trial at his $77 million Manhattan mansion. He offered the home itself and his private jet as collateral for his bond. His lawyers also said he’d de-register his jet, hand over his passport, and agree to electronic monitoring.
But prosecutors were not interesting in granting Epstein the privilege of going home. They argued that Epstein is both a flight risk and a danger to the community. We’ll find out Thursday if Judge Berman agrees. In the meantime, here’s everything we learned at Monday’s hearing:
Police found some eyebrow-raising things in Epstein’s house.
Shortly after the FBI raided Epstein’s Upper East Side mansion just over a week ago, the public learned about some of what they found, including nude photos of what appeared to be his underage victims. At Monday’s hearing, prosecutors revealed more.
FBI agents found “piles of cash,” a haul of diamonds, and, most interestingly, a decades-old passport listing Epstein’s place of residence as Saudi Arabia. The passport, whose issuing country was not clear, had Epstein’s picture on it but a different name.
We learned a little about Epstein’s finances.
The mystery of Epstein’s wealth unraveled a tiny bit Monday when prosecutors reveled that they had seen evidence that Epstein is worth at least $500 million. Records show he has one bank account with $110 million in it.
Still, the broader picture of Epstein’s finances is incredibly murky. “How much money does he have? Where is it? … How much of it is in diamonds or art?” U.S. Attorney Alex Rossmiller asked the court. Judge Berman said he was unsatisfied with the financial documents that Epstein’s lawyers filed. “Respectfully, I don’t think the financial summary” is sufficient, he said, according to reporter Adam Klasfeld. “For one it’s an unverified … unaudited, and not very detailed either.”
“It seems to me there has to be a fuller financial picture to know what would be appropriate,” Berman added.
More accusers are coming forward.
Prosecutors told the court that new accusers have come forward to claim that Epstein abused them while they were underage. Rossmiller, who did not reveal how many new accusers there were, said the case is “already significantly stronger and getting stronger every single day.”
Two women who said they were girls when Epstein abused them were at the hearing Monday. They both spoke to the court.
“Your honor, my name is Courtney Wild and I was sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein at the age of 14. He is a scary person to have walking the street,” said Wild, who claimed Epstein abused her in Palm Beach.
“I was 16 years old when I had the misfortune of meeting Mr. Epstein here in New York,” Annie Farmer said. She told Berman that she does not think Epstein should receive bail.
