A US judge has started unsealing sensitive court documents containing the identities of people linked to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The 66-year-old killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex crimes.
According to AFP, the 1,000-page document contains depositions, statements and the names of 150 people that were reportedly associates of Epstein and his mistress Ghislaine Maxwell.
Most noted names on the list were former US presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, who have previously not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Included in the document was the testimony given by Johanna Sjoberg who claimed the Duke of York touched her inappropriately on her breast in 2001 while at the late billionaire’s Manhattan apartment.
Prince Andrew has always maintained his innocence, with Buckingham Palace releasing a statement saying the allegations were “categorically untrue.”
In a 2015 email, Maxwell seemingly referred to Andrew and Clinton, and made reference to the 2001 incident.
The unsealing of the documents stems from Virginia Giuffr’s lawsuit, one of Epstein’s accusers.
A federal judge ruled last month that there was no legal justification to keep them private.
Several women have come forward over the years, accusing Epstein of grooming them and pimping them out to his prominent friends and business associates during parties at his private Caribbean island and luxury homes scattered across the US.
Sigrid McCawley, Giuffre’s lawyer, told Reuters that some questions about who enabled Epstein have still not been answered.
“The unsealing of these documents gets us closer to that goal,” she said in a statement.
As for Epstein’s underage victims, those names would remain confidential.
IOL Entertainment