‘Pin the blame’: Sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell files legal appeal to throw out convictions

The disgraced British socialite has alleged Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes were pinned on her to “satisfy public outrage”, in a new legal filing to appeal her sex trafficking convictions.

Ghislaine Maxwell has launched an appeal against her sex trafficking convictions and 20-year imprisonment on the basis she was prosecuted as a proxy for Jeffrey Epstein to “satisfy public outrage”.

The 61-year-old British socialite was convicted in December 2021 of recruiting and grooming young girls to be sexually abused by Epstein, a convicted paedophile.

The American financier died by suicide in jail in 2019 while awaiting his own sex-crimes trial. Maxwell, his lover turned close friend, was arrested the following year.

In a filing late Tuesday with the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan, Maxwell’s lawyers argued she was denied a fair trial and used as a scapegoat because Epstein evaded justice.

“The government prosecuted Ms Maxwell as a proxy for Jeffrey Epstein. It did so to satisfy public outrage over an unpopular non-prosecution agreement and the death of the person responsible for the crimes,” her defence lawyer Arthur Aidala said in a statement.

Maxwell’s lawyers argued that she was covered by a 2007 non-prosecution agreement between federal prosecutors in Florida and Epstein, which included a provision not to prosecute potential co-conspirators.

Epstein was convicted in Florida in 2008 of paying young girls for massages, but served just 13 months in jail under a secret plea deal.

Earlier in the day, Mr Aidala, issued a statement regarding the matter.

“By the time of trial, she was so disoriented and diminished that she was unable meaningfully to assist in her own defence, much less to testify,” he wrote.

Maxwell will file the appeal with the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York on Tuesday local time.

Maxwell’s lawyers also argued that prosecutors had waited too long to charge her and had violated the statute of limitations.

“In its zeal to pin the blame for its own incompetence and for Epstein’s crimes on Maxwell, the government breached its promise not to prosecute Maxwell, charged her with time-barred offences, resurrected and recast decades-old allegations for conduct previously ascribed to Epstein and other named assistants, and joined forces with complainants’ civil attorneys, whose interests were financial, to develop new allegations that would support charges against Maxwell,” their filing said.

The appeal also said trial judge Alison Nathan had last year wrongfully rejected a request by Maxwell for a new trial.

Maxwell had unsuccessfully argued that a juror, who had boasted of helping convince fellow panellists to convict her by recalling his own experiences as a sex abuse victim, had biased the jury.
The legal move comes after papers were filed with a US judge to finalise her split from estranged husband, Scott Borgerson.

But under the terms of the settlement Maxwell, who is the daughter of the disgraced, late media tycoon, Robert Maxwell, will receive only a small percentage of her fortune, which is estimated at around A$45 million.

Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein. The disgraced financier took his own life in 2019. Picture: AFP

“Ghislaine has long been waiting for her appeal and she believes she has a technically strong case,” a source reportedly told The Sun.

“However, even if her appeal is successful she wouldn’t have enough cash to fund a retrial.”

The 61-year-old transferred her fortune and property portfolio to a fund controlled by her tech entrepreneur husband while she evaded authorities.

But when their marriage disintegrated, Mr Borgerson, who married Maxwell in 2016, refused to give her any of her money to pay for her appeal or her legal bills.

Ghislaine Maxwell pictured in prison where she is serving 20 years for sex trafficking. Picture: Supplied

“The papers for the divorce have been filed but it’s come at a price,” the source reportedly told the British newspaper.

“Ghislaine used to live a life of unimaginable luxury of private jets and luxury yachts.

“But now, between her legal bills and the divorce she is broke.”

Maxwell was jailed for 20 years in June last year after she was found guilty of acquiring teenage girls for her sex offender lover Jeffrey Epstein.

Epstein took his own life in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting trial.

Ghislaine Maxwell with Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts Giuffre. Picture: AFP

Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted for helping the late financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse girls, is serving 20 years in prison. Picture: AFP

Last year, Prince Andrew — a one-time close friend of Maxwell’s — agreed to pay a reported A$21 million to ­Australian based Virginia Roberts Giuffre to settle the sex assault case she brought against him.

Ms Giuffre claimed that the prince had sex with her on three ­occasions when she was just 17, an allegation he has repeatedly denied.

The court heard that one girl, who was just 16 at the time, was given a naked massage by Maxwell.

Maxwell has hired lawyer Arthur Aidala, who is representing movie mogul turned convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein on his appeal against his conviction before a Manhattan jury.

Originally published as ‘Pin the blame’: Sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell files legal appeal to throw out convictions