Epstein used London apartments to exploit women BBC investigation reveals

A BBC investigation has found that financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein housed women he allegedly exploited in multiple London apartments for several years after British police declined to open an inquiry.

Documents from Epstein’s case files, including receipts, correspondence, and bank records, show he rented at least four properties in the affluent Kensington and Chelsea areas. Six women who stayed in those apartments later said they were victims of his abuse.

According to the BBC, many of the women—including individuals from Russia and Eastern Europe—were brought to the United Kingdom after the Metropolitan Police in 2015 chose not to pursue an investigation into a complaint by Virginia Giuffre, who had alleged the existence of a trafficking network in London.

The Metropolitan Police said it had followed “reasonable lines of inquiry” at the time, interviewed Giuffre, and worked with US investigators.

Correspondence cited in the investigation indicates that Epstein allegedly coerced some women into recruiting others into the exploitation scheme and frequently moved them between countries, including transporting them to Paris via Eurostar trains.

Documents from the US Department of Justice suggest the scope of Epstein’s activities was broader than previously understood, involving a complex infrastructure and continued movement of victims up until his death.

The BBC reported that British authorities had further grounds to launch an investigation, including a new complaint filed in 2020 alleging abuse by Epstein in the UK, though it remains unclear whether any action was taken.

By Tamilla Hasanova