Billionaire Trafficking Bust Makes Associates ‘Nervous’

The weekend arrest of billionaire hedge-funder Jeffrey Epstein reportedly has a lot of rich and famous folks on edge. 

The Miami Tribune reports authorities arrested Mr. Epstein Saturday at a New Jersey airport, with intentions to arraign him Monday.

The arrest on sex-trafficking charges comes a decade after the financier got away with one of the most lenient sentences for a serial sex offender in American history.

The weekend arrest follows months of investigation by federal agents and prosecutors in the New York area. The Tribune further says, " there are indications that others involved in his crimes could be charged or named as cooperating witnesses."

Among those potentially involved are Britith socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and Epstein business associate Jean-Luc Brunel.

Here's what the FBI said (via the Herald) about the probe:

“Epstein, who has homes in Manhattan, Palm Beach, New Mexico, Paris and in the U.S. Virgin Islands, sexually abused nearly three dozen girls, mostly 13-16 years old, at his Palm Beach mansion from 1999 to 2006, according to investigators. He used the girls to help recruit other young girls as part of an operation that ran similar to a pyramid scheme. He also had recruiters who helped with his appointments, scheduling as many as three or four girls a day, the FBI probe found.”

As the Tribune notes, with Mr. Epstein behind bars, "these are nervous times" for friends and enablers.

[Source: Miami Herald]