Jeffrey Epstein Built Vast Fortune Working with African Warlords to Hunt Down Stolen Money, Ghislaine Maxwell Claims By Chris Spargo

Jeffrey Epstein made his fortune hunting down money that had been stolen from some of the wealthiest people in the world, according to Ghislaine Maxwell, who shared this information during a July interview with the Department of Justice.

The interview was conducted amid mounting pressure for President Donald Trump and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to release an Epstein client list.

The longtime Epstein confidante — who is currently serving a 20 year prison sentence after being convicted on federal charges of: conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors to participate in illegal sex acts, transporting a minor to participate in illegal sex acts, sex trafficking conspiracy, and sex trafficking of a minor — said that in this endeavor, he either worked with or for African warlords.

The idea came from a girlfriend at the time, said Maxwell, though she did not identify the woman by name.

“She was the daughter of a billionaire, for instance. And that billionaire, whoever his — whatever his name was — had had some money stolen, and for some reason this woman introduced Jeffrey, and Jeffrey — I think that’s how that business started. That’s what I remember,” Maxwell said in her interview.

She also said that in this position, Epstein found himself spending time with some incredibly polarizing people.

“He showed me a photograph that he had with some African warlords,” Maxwell said.

She later said of that photo: “That’s the only actual active memory I have of something nefarious — not nefarious, I don’t even know if it was nefarious, but covert, I suppose would be the word.”

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Questions have long swirled as to how Epstein managed to leave behind an estate valued at close to $600 million given his confounding job history.

Epstein started as a cab driver and then, at the age of 21 and without a college degree, secured a teaching position at Dalton, an elite private school on New York City’s Upper East Side.

He was fired from the school for poor performance, according to administrators at the time, but managed to land on his feet after the father of one of his students offered him a job at Bear Stearns.

Five years into that job, Epstein again found himself out of work, later saying in a deposition that he had performed a trade that violated the U.S. Securities Act.

It was after this termination in 1981 when Epstein began to work for himself, and started hunting down money which had been stolen from a number of wealthy clients, according to Maxwell.

Epstein would later go on to work with a number of high-profile executives, investors and socialites, including Johnson & Johnson heiress Elizabeth “Libet” Johnson.

Maxwell said Epstein restructured Johnson’s finances, handled her investments and even drew up the contracts for members of her staff.

How those clients paid Epstein was somewhat nontraditional, however, and in Johnson’s case that involved signing over one of her multi-million dollar properties to Epstein.

In 1998, Johnson transferred the deed for her ski chalet in Vail to a trust set up and controlled by Epstein, according to property records obtained by PEOPLE.

That chalet sold for $24 million shortly after Epstein’s death in 2020.

Maxwell was asked to sit for an interview with the DOJ despite the fact that federal prosecutors in New York previously charged her with two counts of perjury for statements she made during a 2016 deposition in a civil suit filed by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre.

In that initial indictment, prosecutors accused Maxwell of lying when she said she was not aware of any efforts to recruit underage girls for Epstein and when she claimed to be unaware of anyone 18 years or younger being on Epstein’s properties.

In her interview with the DOJ, she doubled down on her claim that she herself was unaware of efforts to recruit underage girls and did not witness underage girls at Epstein’s homes, but she did note that it could be true.

She also continues to claim that the now infamous photograph of her and Prince Andrew with a 17-year-old Giuffre taken by Epstein inside her London townhouse is fake.

Maxwell met with the DOJ in July and has since been subpoenaed to testify in front of Congress.

Her lawyers have expressed a willingness on her part to appear, but said she would invoke her Fifth Amendment rights unless she was granted full immunity or a presidential pardon.

Maxwell made her desire for clemency apparent during her interview as she effusively praised President Trump, saying at one point: “As far as I’m concerned, President Trump was always very cordial and very kind to me. And I just want to say that I find — I admire his extraordinary achievement in becoming the president now. And I like him, and I’ve always liked him.”