Ian Maxwell has said that he wishes that his younger sister “had never met Jeffrey Epstein.”
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today, Ghislaine Maxwell’s older sibling claimed on Wednesday that he saw his sister alongside Epstein “only once” in his life.
Maxwell, a long-time girlfriend and associate of Jeffrey Epstein, is accused of helping him to groom and abuse minors. One of Epstein’s alleged victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, insists that it was Maxwell who introduced her to the financier and claims she was sex trafficked by the pair to Prince Andrew on at least three occasions.
Ian Maxwell: I wish Ghislaine Maxwell had never met Jeffrey Epstein
— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) March 10, 2021
Her brother tells @MishalHusain I’m worried about Ghislaine's capacity to endure much more of her treatment in prison#R4Today https://t.co/STJrP5VcoU pic.twitter.com/PP09fuKtzv
The Duke of York dismisses claims that he had sex with Giuffre and denies even knowing her. Prince Andrew was once pictured alongside Giuffre with his hand around the her waist, with Ghislaine Maxwell in the background, but the duke famously suggested the image may have been doctored.
Giuffre maintains that the photo was taken in Maxwell’s home in London, which is now reportedly up for sale.
Ian Maxwell said that he didn’t know “anything about the photograph,” when asked during the programme but admitted that he does “recognise the setting” in the picture, when pressed by the show’s host.
“I know it’s of interest to your listeners, but nonetheless I am not here to talk about that,” the 65-year-old businessman said.
He agreed that Maxwell might still count Prince Andrew as her friend after all these years, but cast doubt on whether the royal would be willing to be her defence witness: “I can’t answer that. I just don’t know.”
Maxwell’s brother refutes the allegations against his “innocent” sister and continues branding her solitary confinement in Brooklyn prison “brutal, degrading” and “a disgrace to any civilised democracy.”
"There's no natural light, she is under 24-hour round-the-clock surveillance with 10 cameras, including one that moves and tracks her movements,” Ian said during the show.
Maxwell’s lawyers made a third bail attempt in February to release her before her summer trial so she can prepare for the legal battle, but prosecutors have urged the judge to dismiss it again, insisting the socialite remains a flight risk.
