Review: Sky documentary on Ghislaine Maxwell

By Mark Langabeer, Hastings and Rye Labour member

Sky Documentaries recently broadcast a programme which implicates Ghislaine Maxwell, the daughter of the disgraced tycoon, Robert Maxwell, of trafficking young girls for sexual exploitation. She has been charged with the procurement of girls, some as young as 14, for the convicted sex-offender, Jeffrey Epstein.

Her trial date is expected in November and could result in the biggest scandal in living memory. The programme has three episodes and begins with her upbringing and ties with the famous and those with power. She is described as a ‘socialite’ and the girlfriend of Epstein, who had a network of trafficking girls in the US and in Europe.

One of their victims was a young artist who was employed as a receptionist, who said that Maxwell would drive to nearby schools, and offer girls the prospect of modelling careers or other kinds of employment. This victim was invited to a grand estate where she suffered sexual abuse from both Epstein and Maxwell. She reported this to the local police and was advised to contact the FBI, but they failed to investigate her allegations and disturbingly, Maxwell was aware of the complaint and made threats about any future contact with the police.

This was back in the mid-90s and the abuse of vulnerable young women and girls continued until Epstein’s imprisonment in 2007. The programme discussed whether Maxwell’s upbringing had a bearing on her lack of moral compass.

£400m stolen from staff pension fund

Her father, Robert Maxwell was an infamous press baron in the late 1960s, owning the Daily Mirror newspaper, who turned out to be a crook. After his mysterious disappearance from his yacht on the high seas, his affairs were investigated by the Department of Trade and Industry, and it was discovered that he had stolen £400m from the Mirror Group Staff Pension Fund. He was described by many of those who worked under him as a bully and he often humiliated his own children in public.

Parallels were made in the programme between Robert Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein, both of them very rich and crooked. Epstein was involved in a ‘ponzi’ scheme during the 1980s but managed to evade any charges. Both later died in mysterious circumstances, having on the face of it committed suicide, although many have doubts. Robert Maxwell’s empire was about to collapse and that was the reason for his pilfering from the staff pension scheme; Epstein was facing the prospect of jail for the rest of his natural life; so in both cases it may have been suicide.

Ghislaine Maxwell was interviewed in 1992, when she claimed that her father would not have committed suicide and that she was proud of the Maxwell name. There was no contrition or apologies to the Mirror Group pensioners who lost out. She left the UK and went to live in New York and met up with Epstein.

Contributors to the programme thought that their relationship was ‘transactional’ in that Epstein was rich and Maxwell was usefully well-connected. It was revealed that her father, Robert, had set up a trust fund which gave her an annual income of £80,000 – a pretty reasonable sum for most of us, but not for the likes of Ghislaine. That trust money ought to have been returned to the Mirror pension fund, of course, but the rich can avoid the legal system in a myriad of ways.

Ghislaine Maxwell was described by one of her victims as very materialistic and someone who spent most of her time shopping and swimming. The rest of her time was spent on grooming girls, some still in their school uniforms. The victim stated that initially, Epstein had appeared to be charming, but she described Maxwell as a ‘monster’.

Leniency shown by Federal authorities

Epstein was arrested in 2007 for trafficking minors, after a complaint was made by a mother of one the victims and the second episode in the Sky series describes the leniency shown by the Federal authorities at that time. He received only an 18-month sentence, instead of the 15 years he ought to have got, by agreeing a guilty plea to a lesser charge. Furthermore, no action was taken against those who had helped him.

Contributors to the programme believed that Epstein had kept incriminating evidence of the sexual activity of many of the world’s elite, sometimes involving minors. There were 1,500 names on a computer file held by Epstein and Maxwell. It will be interesting to see if any of those names now see the light of day. Epstein was also given privileges while serving his initial prison sentence. During this time, Ghislaine Maxwell changed her image and even set up a ‘charity’ which involved protecting our oceans and even helping poor women.

Upon his release, Epstein carried on pretty much as he had before his conviction, and more victims of his abuse were to come forward later. A journalist for the Miami Herald exposed the leniency given by the FBI and as result of the expose they were forced to act by charging him with more serious offences. One of victims was accused by Maxwell of lying and a defamation suit was taken out against her, until an out-of-court settlement was agreed.

It has also emerged, as is now well known, that Prince Andrew was one of the so-called elite who spent time at Epstein’s home. This, it should be noted, was after his first conviction. One young woman claims that she has a photograph of herself with Prince Andrew, together at Epstein ‘s home.

In his interview with the BBC, Prince Andrew claimed that he had never met this girl and denied having sex with minors, and it has to be said that at this stage, it is difficult to know who is telling the truth, because nowadays even photographs can be doctored. Andrew’s squirming interview was widely regarded as a bit of a ‘car crash’, because he showed so little empathy with Epstein’s victims.

As one investigative journalist pointed out on the programme, the legal system was protecting the rich and powerful, and not just in the US. Some may argue that Ghislaine Maxwell is also a victim of Jeffrey Epstein and that may even be her defence at the trial. One victim pointed out that ‘they’ (ie the rich and powerful) get away with it or they are killed. It is possible that there are some in very high places who are worried about revelations that might spring from Maxwell’s trial when it begins in Autumn.

The documentary can be found here.