Jeffrey Epstein helped the Duchess of York avoid bankruptcy by paying off part
of her £5 million debts after an intervention from the Duke of
York, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
The convicted paedophile gave £15,000 to the Duchess’s former personal
assistant, Johnny O’Sullivan, after the Duke allegedly made a personal
appeal to him to help his former wife with her financial troubles. A source
who was involved in negotiations around the Duchess’s finances said the Duke
was “sorting the offer” of financial help from Epstein when the two men were
photographed together in New York’s Central Park last December.
The Duchess’s spokesman confirmed last night that Epstein, who was sentenced
to 18 months in jail for child sex offences in 2008, paid off part of the
£78,000 the Duchess owed Mr O’Sullivan in a “private arrangement” between
the two men.
The money is understood to have changed hands at around the time the Duke met
Epstein. Buckingham Palace has refused to comment on the allegation that
the Duke discussed the Duchess’s finances during their meeting last year and
said the matter was to do with the Duchess’s finances and not the Duke’s.
The disclosure will pile further pressure on the Duke to stand down as
Britain’s trade ambassador, regardless of the Government’s decision to
downgrade his role. The Duchess owed a total of £5 million last year when
the Duke engaged the accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers to put together an
offer to her creditors to stave off bankruptcy. The creditors were
reportedly offered 25 per cent of what they were owed, but the settlement
could only go through if all of them agreed to it.
Mr O’Sullivan, who was owed £78,000, turned down the offer, and the Duchess
allegedly turned to Epstein in the hope that he would pay Mr O’Sullivan the
balance of the money above the 25 per cent on offer so the settlement with
creditors could be finalised.
A source said: “It was one of the things that was discussed [in New York].
This was the Duke trying to sort this out, it was him sorting the offer.”
The Duchess is also reported to have told friends about the Duke’s discussions
with Epstein. According to a Sunday newspaper, she told one acquaintance:
“The Duke and Jeffrey, they want to do this so badly.’’ She also said
Epstein would call O’Sullivan on behalf of her former husband. Last night a
spokesman for the Duchess said: “Epstein paid a small amount of money to Mr
O’Sullivan in an independent arrangement between the two of them. Epstein
knew Mr O’Sullivan through the Duchess.’’
The Duchess has now cleared her debts after signing an agreement with her
final outstanding creditor last week.
The Duke’s 16-year friendship with Epstein, during which he stayed at a
Florida mansion where the billionaire financier molested young girls, has
led to a string of embarrassing disclosures, including a photograph of the
Duke with his arm around the waist of a 17-year-old “masseuse” who claimed
to have been one of Epstein’s victims.
Yesterday it emerged that two women who were questioned over their knowledge
of Epstein’s sex crimes were asked whether the Duke had sex with underage
girls.
During civil proceedings against Epstein brought by his victims, Sarah Kellen,
Epstein’s personal assistant, was asked by a lawyer: “Would you agree with
me that Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein used to share underaged girls for
sexual relations?”
She replied: “On the instruction of my lawyer, I must invoke my Fifth
Amendment privilege (the right to remain silent).”
Nadia Marcinkova, described by one lawyer as Epstein’s “sex slave”, was asked:
“Have you ever been made to perform sexually on Prince Andrew?”
She replied: “Fifth.”
There is no suggestion that the Duke did anything improper and there is no
evidence that he had any sexual contact during his visits to Epstein’s
mansion.
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