My accuser has her eye on Jeffrey Epstein payout, says Ghislaine Maxwell

Ghislaine Maxwell claims an accusers fabricated allegations about her involvement in child sex abuse because of a ‘desire for cash’.

A photo of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein as charges are announced against Maxwell. Picture: AFP

Ghislaine Maxwell has launched a “vicious” attack on one of her key accusers, claiming she fabricated allegations about Maxwell’s involvement in child sex abuse because of a “desire for cash”.

Lawyers for the British socialite have sought to cast doubt on the credibility of Annie Farmer after it emerged she could receive “millions of dollars” from a compensation fund for victims of Jeffrey Epstein, the American pedophile financier and former boyfriend of Ms Maxwell.

Ms Farmer, who claims she was abused by the couple when she was 16, is one of three women preparing to testify against Ms Maxwell this year in her criminal trial on charges of child sex trafficking and perjury. Ms Maxwell denies all the charges. She faces up to 35 years in jail if convicted.

She also intervened recently in the Briton’s failed attempt to seek bail by providing US prosecutors with a written statement in which she described Ms Maxwell as “a psychopath” who would flee the country if released.

Ms Farmer’s lawyers say Ms Maxwell, 59, is blocking any possible compensation “in retaliation” for helping to keep her behind bars.

The row has surfaced in court papers in a civil lawsuit for dam­ages that Ms Farmer has brought against Ms Maxwell and the estate of Epstein, who killed himself in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for child sex offences.

Ms Farmer, who has waived her right to anonymity, claims she was ordered to strip and had her breasts groped by Maxwell during a visit to the financier’s ranch in New Mexico in 1996. The couple are said to have “lavished her with gifts” before Epstein allegedly assaulted her in a bedroom.

The court filings reveal that Ms Farmer, 41, a psychologist, agreed in October to an offer of payment from the Epstein Victims’ Compensation Program. It has received more than 100 claims from Epstein’s alleged victims and has reportedly paid out more than $US30m. To receive her payment, Ms Farmer is required to drop her civil claim for damages against the estate.

However, Ms Maxwell — a joint defendant in that case with Epstein’s executors — is refusing to have the action thrown out of court in New York and is demanding to know how much money Ms Farmer will receive, despite the fact the sum is meant to remain confidential.

In a letter to the court on December 23, Sigrid McCawley, Ms Farmer’s lawyer, wrote: “It is readily apparent that Maxwell is … focused on delaying Ms Farmer’s receipt of her compensation. It appears this conduct may be in retaliation for Ms Farmer’s recent submission in the bail proceedings pending before judge (Alison) Nathan as evidenced by her counsel’s statement: ‘Your client has been vocal in asking that Ms Maxwell be kept in custody.’ ”

Judge Nathan rejected Ms Maxwell’s $US28.5m bail application in the criminal proceedings last Monday. Two days later, Ms Maxwell’s lawyer, Laura Menninger, filed a missive in the civil case. “The amount of money plaintiff obtains from the Epstein program is very much a matter of public interest and will go to the very core of plaintiff’s credibility during the … criminal trial,” she wrote.

Ms Menninger said there were discrepancies in Ms Farmer’s claims, including a diary she kept of the 1996 New Mexico incident that made “zero” reference to Ms Maxwell: “The fact that plaintiff seeks money from the estate and from Ms Maxwell in the millions of dollars at the same time she is a government witness in an upcoming criminal trial on the same topic is reason enough to suspect that her newly asserted memories of abuse — without corroboration — are not based on truth or a desire for ‘justice’ so much as her desire for cash … The motive for fabrication could not be clearer.”

Last Thursday, Ms McCawley accused Ms Maxwell of “vicious victim-blaming” and said her client stood by all her allegations and “intends to testify truthfully if called in any future proceedings”.

THE SUNDAY TIMES