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Ghislaine Maxwell's $28.5m bail package rejected by judge

The judge still believes Ms Maxwell is a flight risk

Graig Graziosi
Monday 28 December 2020 21:57 GMT
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Ghislaine Maxwell charged with multiple counts of sexual exploitation, US Attorney announces

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A federal judge has denied Ghislaine Maxwell a proposed $28.5m bail package after ruling she was still a flight risk.  

US District Judge Alison Nathan ruled that the British socialite that worked with notorious sex trafficker Jeffery Epstein did not prevent any new information to suggest she would not be a flight risk.  

“The Court concludes that none of the new information that the Defendant presented in support of her application has a material bearing on the Court’s determination that she poses a flight risk,” Judge Nathan wrote.  

Ms Maxwell is currently held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.  

The judge said she considered the weight of the crimes Ms Maxwell is accused of as well as her background when making her determination.  

Ms Maxwell is accused of acting as a pimp and recruiter for Epstein, who died while in prison awaiting trial in 2019 for sex trafficking minors.  

She has denied any involvement in Epstein's sex trafficking.  

Ms Maxwell was arrested in July after disappearing to her 156-acre manor in Braford, New Hampshire. She was eventually tracked down and arrested after Epstein died.  

The same judge that denied Ms Maxwell bail also denied her request to be put under house arrest on a $5m bond.  

The judge said she was concerned that Ms Maxwell possessed both a UK and a French passport.  

After that failed, Ms Maxwell's lawyers attempted to pitch the ill-fated, nearly $30m bail package - which they claim represents all of Ms Maxwell and her husband's financial assets - to get her out of prison.  

She has been charged with recruiting and grooming three girls in the 1990s to be sexually abused by Epstein, and for lying about her role in the crimes. 

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