Inside Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘Global Network’ of Models

The newly released DOJ files are giving. us more clues into how Jeffrey Epstein. potentially lured victims into his web. or tried to, and this includes the world. of modeling. Key members of the New York. and Miami based agency that Epstein. helped fund lie at the center of. allegations connected to sex [music]. crimes. An email correspondence between. Epstein and a model scout maybe show how. the alleged operation made its [music]. way across the globe. That is what we're. going to talk about right now. Welcome. to Sidebar presented by Law and Crime.

I'm Jesse Weber. All right, real quick, got to say, it's. that time of year again, tax time, always stressful. Maybe you owe back. taxes, maybe have unfiled returns, maybe. you pulled money from your 401k, got hit. with an unexpected bill. No matter the. reason, the outcome is the same. The. penalties grow, interest compounds, and. you could owe again with no plan in. place. The IRS, they're not waiting. They can enforce collections through. wage garnishments or property seizures, and they can file without your consent. But, with over 15 years in business, Tax.

Network USA has seen it all and resolved. over $1 billion in debt. No matter the. amount, they help taxpayers get back on. track, and they can do the same for you, but you have to call right now. They're. offering a free investigation call with. the IRS, after which they'll put a clear. plan in place for you. Do not wait for. another IRS letter. Call 866-981-4548. or visit tnusa.com/lc. or click the link below. You don't need.

me to tell you that the modeling world. is known for glamour and beauty and. innovation in fashion. But now, with the newly released Epstein. files, these are painting a very. different picture, one that allegedly. uses modeling for a means of sexual. assault and international recruitment of. new victims. That is the set of. allegations that is being amplified in. these files. And in fact, according to. an exposé from from New York Times, Epstein allegedly exploited his. financial connections to wealthy people.

and connected people like Leslie Wexner, who we've talked about a lot, to gain. access to young women, sometimes under. the guise of legitimate modeling. opportunities. Now, we know that Epstein. was known on the surface as this wealth. financier and one of his top clients for. nearly two decades was Wexner, the. founder of L Brands, which is the parent. company of Victoria's Secret and Bath &. Body Works. Reportedly, Epstein's. financial influence extended beyond just. standard asset management with this guy. He also had power of attorney over. Wexner's personal finances and assets, including real estate and a private.

plane. That's according to a power of. attorney legal document that we. reviewed. But, the 2019 exposé from the. New York Times reveals that while. Epstein was involved with Wexner's. finances, he allegedly, on at least one. occasion, back in 1997, posed as a. Victoria's Secret talent scout and lured. model Alicia Arden into his Santa Monica. hotel room, where the report alleges he. attempted to sexually assault her. Now, Wexner's business and personal ties to. Epstein reportedly came to an end at. around 2007. That was a key period of.

time. Remember, this was following. Epstein's first wave of sex crimes. involving minors. Remember, in 2008, he. entered into that sweetheart deal, where. he avoided federal charges, pled guilty. to Florida charges of solicitation of. prostitution, including with a minor. But, going back to Leslie Wexner, that. is apparently around that time when his. team discovered that Epstein was also. reportedly misappropriating Wexner's. funds. According to Wexner's statement. to the Wexner Foundation, this. misappropriation involved vast sums of. family money, some of which were later.

recovered and some of which the. statement says to have been channeled. into charitable foundations controlled. by Epstein. It was later announced in. 2020 that Wexner would be stepping down. as CEO of the company, transitioning to. chairman emeritus. This is following a. decline in sales. Some have speculated. maybe that was due in part to his. connection, his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. And by the way, in 2020, L Brands. announced a deal to sell a majority. stake in Victoria's Secret to Sycamore. Partners, though that transaction was. later terminated. Now, I do want to add. that Wexner actually gave a deposition.

in the Epstein probe last month, where. he denied any knowledge or involvement. in Epstein's alleged sex trafficking. activity. We did an entire episode on. Sidebar on this deposition, so if you. want to take a look, it's up right now. on Law&Crime's YouTube channel. And to. be clear though, with Leslie Wexner, he. hasn't been officially implicated in a. crime. There's neither concrete evidence. that he knew about what Epstein was. allegedly a part of, and he hasn't been. charged with a crime. But, Epstein's. connections to the modeling world span. much further than his dealings with.

Leslie Wexner. In fact, he helped fund a. modeling agency called MC2 Model. Management. It was founded in the early. 2000s by French model scout Jean-Luc. Brunel, who is a character that we've. talked many times regarding the Epstein. saga. He was later accused of sexual. abuse, implicated in multiple civil. suits. Now, included in the latest batch. of Epstein files is this document. related to a lawsuit from 2023 between. the US Virgin Islands and JP Morgan. Chase surrounding Epstein's apparent. criminal activity, okay? And in that.

filing, JP Morgan Chase agrees that they. approved a $1 million standby letter of. credit in Epstein's name to support a. loan to MC2 Model Management in 2005. Now, the agency represented big-name. clients like Nordstrom, Macy's, Neiman. Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, operating. primarily out of New York and Miami with. models recruited internationally. But, when it comes to the talent that MC2. apparently scouted out, you have these. newly surfaced emails, these. correspondence and statements from.

accusers that suggest that while some of. the girls and women were presented under. the guise of legitimate modeling work, many were seemingly funneled into. environments where Epstein, and perhaps. his associates, could allegedly exploit. them sexually. This is where Daniel. Sciaud comes in. So, Sciaud is. apparently a Swedish modeling scout who. was commissioned under Brunel to find. new talent for MC2. But, he also appears. in the Epstein files nearly what? A. thousand, two thousand times? One of.

those mentions comes from an email sent. by Stan Pottinger, a lawyer for several. Epstein victims. Here's what he. apparently said in a 2016 message to a. New York district prosecutor detailing. information that was received from. Brunel. From Stan Pottinger, May 3rd, 2016, 12:02 p.m. Subject: Forward. contact info Daniel Seat from Brunel. Yesterday I spoke of Daniel Seat whom. Jean-Luc Brunel describes as a scout or. recruiter of girls and or women for J.

Epstein. Attached to this incoming email. from Brunel is the contact information. he has for Seat. Best regards, Stan. Now, while this email was sent in 2016, you had conversations between Epstein. and Seat that related to model. recruitment that spanned much further. back. I mean, here is one of those. conversations from 2009 to give you an. idea. May 14th, 2009, 6:56 a.m. Daniel. Seat apparently writes, "I try to chat. with live but you not answering. I'm. trying to get to pay my fees to Slovakia. TCCK Republic and Poland and Hungary to.

spend the month of June and July. scouting in small villages before the. summer vacations. I will make you a. great surprise when you come to Paris. My best regards, Daniel." And then you. see Epstein apparently write back to. Seat, "How much dollar sign how much. money?" The response from Seat appears. to be, "Hello Jeffrey, I would traveling. with train and bus and sometimes we have. to take taxi sometime. I have to invite. the parents for lunch or cafe. I have. some girls already who are there waiting.

for me like in Poland and I have to give. them some money. So, it's going to be. not less than 4,000 euro right now. Poland city named Krakow, Slovakia is. the right place to be. I have already. one ladies waiting for me to see more. than 45 models sitting in Koski or the. mark. Then I will be traveling to. Budapest. I will send you a full report. in every city that I was. Most of the. girls I find here are already with. different agencies. I like when I do a. real scouting and beside I have this. camera. It's very helpful. Voila, let me. know what you think. My warmest regards,

Daniel. Now, you can speculate that this. back and forth between Epstein and Siad. was related strictly to modeling. recruitment, but the fact that he says. I'll make you a great surprise when you. come to Paris leads to a few questions, right? Does that surprise have to do. with women, girls? In what capacity? Don't know for sure. Also, when Siad. says, "I like when I do a real. scouting." No idea what that means. Makes a lot of people wonder what that. means. But here's another back and forth. between Epstein and Siad in a Skype. message exchange from 2016. Siad.

apparently says, "Call me if you have. time. I am in Barcelona with amazing. beauty. Call me back. I meet today. also." Epstein seemingly replies, "Skype. name? This one is prettier and sweeter.". Siad seemingly replies the next day, "Yes, like style, very sweet. She hasn't. been around. May not be worth it to put. in the fashion industry. Sorry, her full. name is" and Epstein replies to Siad, "Call me." Now, again, this conversation. could be purely surrounding legitimate.

modeling purposes, but the way they. describe this, right? They describe. women or girls in question makes you. wonder if there were other purposes for. recruitment. That could be an. allegation. We don't know for sure. But. here's another example of similar. correspondence from 2017 that I want to. call out. Now, Siad, who attaches a. photo of a redacted female, says, "Cute. French girl in Marrakech, 22 years old. I took some picture of I know her for 4. years. She said that she is happy to. meet you. Her name is redacted. Right.

now, she works as boutique chef in. Champs-Élysées.". And And the following page is more. images of what appears to be the same. woman in a different setting. And. Epstein then replies, "Cute.". Now, 2 days later, he writes again, "All. good?" To which Siad seemingly replies, "When would you like to come to visit. Marrakech? I can organize amazing. casting and great place to stay, private. house. If you would like to stay at. Mandarin Oriental, the owner is very. good friend of mine, Nasser El Kabbaj.

It's difficult to take pictures. The. best is to organize a casting. I just. meet a friend of mine. She has been. scouting for a long time. She is. interested to open an agency with me, also to work on Fashion Week project in. Marrakech. Sending you my warmest. regards. Thank you for everything." And. this is to which Epstein seemingly. replies, "Late September, when the. weather is nicer." And Siad seemingly. responds back, "Okay." You have another. standout mention from the conversations. between these two has to do with asking. about the age of these women being.

recruited. So, here are two. conversations starting with one from. 2012. So, you have this one on Thursday, January 19th, 2012 at 3:38 p.m. Daniel. Siad writes, "Hello again. Here are the. pictures of that I'm trying to place in. New York. My best regards, Daniel.". Epstein writes back, "Have you seen her? How old is she?" Responds back, "I speak. with her almost every day through SK. She is 20 years old. She has She is very. sweet and shy right now. Is with her. there in Germany. She's sending warmest.

regards." I don't know. Very sweet and. shy? Not exactly sure if that's, you. know, necessarily what modeling scouts. are looking for when assessing new. talent. Maybe, maybe not. Personality. matters. But I do want to move on to. this other conversation from 2014, okay? August 27th, 2014, Jeffrey Epstein. seemingly writes, "???" and. Daniel Siad seemingly writes back, "And. she cooler than Daniel Siad.". Epstein writes back, "Age?" Responds. back, "26, but look, she look 18. Very.

interesting purs. I'm assuming here. means person. Now, while some of these. emails involve women of legal age, you. have other emails directly seemingly. referencing minors. For example, in. 2014, Siad appears to note in an. exchange that there are girls 16 and 17. and even a 15-year-old that were. seemingly recruited with parental. consent for modeling work. July 19, 2014, Epstein writes, "I understand that.

most or many of the girls are either. gone to Saint Tropez or holiday. Too. late. I will now come end of August. instead. Hope you are well." Daniel Siad. writes back, "Who said that? You. supposed to be here, Jeffrey. I have few. still here. Really disappointed. It's. not the first time you promised to come. and you changed the plans. Have a great. summer." Epstein writes back, "I consent. to see them if you like. I only wish you. well." Siad seemingly responds, "I had. two girls from Sweden, Slovakian, two. French and the Russian that with whom.

you spoke and a beautiful Chinese named. Star that introduced Swedish and then. Slovakian. Booked for them ticket and. hotel. Wendy is helping me a lot when. needed. I don't see what can help me. with. Next time, make sure that you are. here before I organize anything. Have a. great summer. I am on my way back. tomorrow to Stockholm." What about this. one? July 20, 2014, you have Epstein. writing, "I will reimburse you, of. course, for any expenses. Let's Skype. Please send me the details of the girls'.

names, etc." As you recall the last few. times that I did come, things did not. work out and I was very understanding. I. value your friendship and hope this did. not cause you too much trouble. Responds. back, again seemingly from Siad as, "I. am positive person. That's my ground. I. keep on with positive energies and I. have lots of respect for you. You have. been always sincere with me. I lose some. credibility from these girls, but there. are millions of them out there. I paid. their tickets and hotel for those. Swedish age 21 and 22 and the Slovakian. 22. The Swedish decided to go to Ibiza.

Slovakian is going back tomorrow. The. French girl from Strasbourg went back. this afternoon. Even was coming for. Switzerland for 3 days. The Russian girl. has canceled her fly. I wanted to make. for you a great surprise. It didn't work this time. I really hope. that it work next time. In this business, I feel like fisherman. sometime. One catch quick. Sometime no. fish. I really did good work for. scouting in Scandinavia. Most of them. will be ready to start with to tomorrow.

At least five of them 16 and 17 will be. ready for next year, but I can't send. you their pictures as no. Paris, I found. maybe a new star. I will be sending the. pictures to tomorrow in Sweden. I almost. burned my image with agencies. They send. requests to tomorrow. You know the. story. The French, her name is She is. 15. Her parents checked me out and they. are very happy their daughter to start. modeling. I'm going back to Stockholm. then Gotland for what we call Stockholm. week. All the girls from Sweden gather.

there for 5 days non-stop parties to. throw my hooks. All the expenses include. Leana ticket and her pocket money. Really happy to get out of there. A real. nightmare. I spent 2700 euro. Please try. to call if you have time. Warmest. regards, Daniel Siad. I know it's kind. of broken English, but you kind of get. the idea there. Now, a couple things. Some of the models in this discussion. again are allegedly 16 and 17, but now. you just heard reference to a. 15-year-old. And knowing the allegations. and what Epstein was ultimately.

convicted of, you talk about minors, it's chilling to read these girls were. potentially entangled in the agency. Also, the fact that Siad labels these. potential recruits by nationality. instead of name, little dehumanizing. But I also have to call out this quote. like about the fisherman, you catch. quick, sometimes no fish. Yeah, I don't. know about that one. Putting model. scouting and fishing in the same. sentence sounds a lot more like hunting. for food than it does business, but. again, you know, people talk in weird. ways. It might not suggest any. criminality or any knowledge of.

criminality or any illicit behavior, but. icky to say the least. Now again, maybe. that's just also how the modeling. industry describes the job. Here's another example of model. recruitment. These talks between Epstein. and Siad from 2011, okay? Siad seemingly. writes, "Here is Jessica, 19 years old, half French, half Berber." And then. gives off the measurements, "Very nice. girl." Jeffrey Epstein seemingly writes. back, "Not very interesting. Sorry.". Now, we can dissect these emails all we. want, but we have to address what.

insiders and accusers have also said. about Epstein's alleged involvement with. Jean-Luc Brunel and MC2 Model. Management. Here's what famous Epstein. accuser, the late Virginia Giuffre, known as Jane Doe 3, said in a 2014. court filing. "Another person in. Epstein's inner circle of friends who. becomes apparent with almost no. investigative effort is Jean-Luc Brunel. Epstein sexually trafficked Jane Doe 3. to Jean-Luc Brunel many times. Brunel. was another of Epstein's closest friends. and a regular traveling companion who. had many contacts with young girls. throughout the world. Brunel has been a.

model scout for various modeling. agencies for many years and apparently. was able to get US passports for young. girls to work as models. He would bring. young girls ranging to ages as young as. 12 to the United States for sexual. purposes and farm them out to his. friends, especially Epstein. Brunel. would offer the girls modeling jobs. Many of the girls came from poor. countries or impoverished backgrounds. and he lured them in with a promise of. making good money. Epstein forced Jane. Doe 3 to observe him, Brunel, and. Maxwell engage in illegal sexual acts.

with dozens of underage girls. Epstein. also forced Jane Doe 3 to have sex with. Brunel on numerous occasions at places. including Epstein's mansion in West Palm. Beach, Little Saint James Island in the. US Virgin Islands, many including orgies. that were comprised of other underage. girls, New York City, New Mexico, Paris, the South of France, and California. By. the way, Brunel denied all wrongdoing. He was awaiting trial at the time of his. death, which we'll get into a little bit. later on. But also included in the files. is a 2010 deposition from MC2's former.

bookkeeper, Maritza Vasquez. And here's. a portion of how that went, okay? Question, and what is your. understanding, or what was your. understanding that Jeffrey, in terms of. Jeffrey Epstein's involvement with MC. Squared? Answer, Jean-Luc always said. that Jeffrey was his friend, that he is. a millionaire, and that Jeffrey was. giving him the money to, you know, loans. or whatever, and the apartments for the. girls and things like that. At some. point in time, you drove several girls. or a number of girls over to Jeffrey. Epstein's house, correct? Answer, not. me, Jean-Luc directly took them. I was.

making the arrangements to get a. limousine or a car, and Jean-Luc himself. was driving the girls to his house. because he was having a party, and they. were supposed to be girls. Now, at. another point, Vasquez is asked about. different girls. Question, do you know. those two girls? Yes. And were those. girls somehow involved with Jean-Luc or. the modeling agency? Yes. They were both. MC Squared models? Yes. And at the time. when they began, how old were they, do. you remember? I believe was like 14, 15,

and was 13, 14 when she came. Did you find out that Jeffrey Epstein. and or Jean-Luc Brunel were involved in. these underage girls that were staying. at these apartments? I really don't know. that. You know, I cannot tell you. I. know there were girls staying there. I. never knew if they were going there or. not. You mean you knew that the girls. were staying there, 13, 14, and 15? Some. of the girls were underage, yeah. As. well as 13, 14, or so? 13 or 14, yeah. Did you ever ask any of the girls if.

they were sexually involved with. Jean-Luc and or Jeffrey Epstein? No. One. time there was a problem with and she. was, I believe she was 14 years old, and. she tried to go, or they took her to a. discotheque in Miami Beach, And when I. went to work the day after, they told me. that the police was asking. So, since. she was doing whatever she wanted, you. know, I brought her to my house and I. said, "You're not going out at night. You're only 13, 14, and that's my. responsibility." How would you know that. Jean-Luc was taking underage girls to. Jeffrey Epstein's house during those.

years? Because he was saying in the. office, "There is a party at Jeffrey's. house. I'm taking the girls." And the. girls that they were in town, they were. like underage girls. We're still talking. about 14, 15, 16. Yeah, 16 at the. oldest. Yes. And they were going, the. other girls, too. But he he personally. was taking the little ones because the. other ones, they could go in their own. cars or whatever, you know, with their. boyfriends. Did you ever say anything to. him about taking underage girls to. Jeffrey Epstein's house? You know, as a. mother, I always told him that they were. underage girls. And he was saying, "Oh,

that I'm the father." Now, The Guardian. put out a report in 2022 surrounding. accusers in Epstein and Brunel's circle. dating back to the late '80s before the. company was ever founded. And one. accusation mentioned was from a woman. named Courtney Sorenson, who detailed an. alleged casting call with Jeffrey. Epstein for a Hollywood movie that was. arranged by Brunel. Here's how Sorenson. described this alleged encounter. The. appointment at 6:00 p.m. on 3rd of May, 1988, was in an apartment just off the. Champs-Élysées. Epstein, who was joined.

by a videographer, told her, "First, I. need to see that you're a good kisser. and that you're passionate. This is. going to be a movie with a lot of love. scenes, romance. So, we want to make. sure that you have the right body and. show us what you're capable of.". Sorenson expressed her discomfort, telling him she would prefer to do this. with an actor and not with him, but went. along with it. She says he then. suggested moving to the kitchen to film. a different scene. Epstein told her, "I'll come up and start kissing you from. behind, and then we'll make out on the. floor." Sorenson says it was when he put. his hands on her breasts and up her.

skirt that she broke away and told him. it wasn't appropriate. She remembers he. then tried to hug her and began touching. himself. That's when I just had to get. out of there, she says. I remember. shaking, the shame and the fury. Now, according to a report from the Miami. Herald, MC2 Model Management quietly. dissolved in 2019. This was the same. year that Epstein was in jail awaiting. trial on federal sex trafficking charges. in New York, and we know that he. ultimately died. Some accusers have. alleged they were recruited under the. pretense of modeling opportunity, so no. modeling agency has been criminally.

convicted in connection or criminally. implicated in connection with Epstein's. traffic scheme or alleged trafficking. scheme. There were no formal charges. that were filed against model scout. Daniel Sciad, although the French. publication Le Monde reports that French. prosecutors did open an investigation. last month into both human trafficking. and financial offenses following the. release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. The publication says that French. prosecutors also received a complaint. that was filed by a Swedish woman. against Sciad, accusing him of sexual. acts that she describes as rape and that.

may have been committed in France in. 1990. Now, Sciad also denied wrongdoing, even said he didn't know this accuser, and in a statement to the Guardian, he. considered his work with Epstein to. include legitimate modeling casting. sessions in Paris. Told the publication, quote, "Epstein had a big apartment. where he used to organize all his. meetings, including casting for models I. recruited for Victoria's Secret and MC2, and the casting time would not last more. than 10 minutes. I always left the place. with the models immediately." Now, the. Guardian also reports that Daniel Sciad.

told France TV last month that Epstein. had abused his trust and that he hadn't. quote, "in a position to know that this. man was dangerous. With time, one. discovers that this individual committed. atrocities. Fortunately, I never. introduced him to any minor or non-minor. who was abused. I have nothing to. reproach myself for." As for Jean-Luc. Brunel, he was investigated in 2020. There were accusations of rape of minors. over the age of 15, sexual harassment. He was also under a broader. investigation of human trafficking. surrounding his apparent ties to.

Epstein's network, but he was later. found dead in his jail cell 2022 after. spending 14 months in custody awaiting. trial in what prosecutors would describe. as him committing suicide by hanging. By. the way, here's how Brunel's lawyers. responded to his death according to the. report from the New York Times. His. decision was not guided by guilt but by. a deep sense of injustice. Mr. Brunel. had never stopped claiming his. innocence. But there you go, another. component to the Jeffrey Epstein [music]. saga. That's all we have for you right.

now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank. you so much for joining us. As always, please subscribe [music] on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you. should get your podcast. We're also up. on NBC's [music] Peacock as well. If you. want to follow me X, Instagram, my. NewsNation show Jesse Weber Live. >> [music]. >> Monday through Friday 11:00 p.m. Eastern. I'll see you next time, everybody.