$500 million lawsuit filed in Minnesota against Jeffrey Epstein's estate
Jeffery Epstein is shown in a March 28, 2017, file photo, provided by the New York State Sex Offender Registry.
HASTINGS, Minn. (FOX 9) - A woman is suing the estate of Jeffrey Epstein and his brother Mark Epstein for $500 million in damages. The suit claims the late multi-millionaire financier allegedly forced her into a "immoral relationship" which lasted three decades, during which he presented her as an "underage prostitute" to his clients and associates in order to pay off a debt, according to court documents.
The lawsuit was filed in Dakota County District Court in Minnesota on Tuesday.
The lawsuit alleges Epstein repeatedly interfered with the woman's life from her career to personal relationships in order to create a "system of enslavement" to exploit her for profit. The woman was a victim of drug-facilitated sexual assaults throughout her childhood and adult life, according to the lawsuit. Those alleged assaults involved the "wealthy & elite (to be named) clients and associates of [Epstein]".
Epstein began to exploit her as a way to recover from a multi-million settlement he paid to the woman's family because he allegedly sexual abused one of her relatives, according to the lawsuit. The money, however, was misappropriated from his client Leslie Wexner of L. Brands, Inc, according to the court document. In order to pay back Wexner, he "sold" the woman to his wealthy associates for sexual exploits that he recorded as blackmail, the suit alleges.
The blackmail was used to protect his reputation and insure his "personal sexual pathologies of preying upon children and drugging women or men for sexual assault could never again" be used by his associates "to ostracize him from the high levels of wealth and success he desperately strived for," the suit claims.
When the woman later took security measures to stop the alleged sex trafficking, Epstein then shared her trade secrets to his clients, according to the lawsuit.
Last year, Epstein was indicted for sex trafficking minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. He was later arrested and denied bail. On Aug. 10, Epstein was found dead in his jail cell from an apparent suicide.
In the months leading up to his death, the lawsuit alleges Epstein took efforts to destroy evidence and prevent the woman from taking legal action.