Prince Andrew linked to alleged sexual encounter with 17‑year‑old, questionable Kazakh property sale, and ties to Al‑Yamamah arms deal and Lockerbi...

, Prince Andrew and girl, 17, who sex offender friend flew to Britain to meet him | Mail On... Page 3 of 17 eyewitness, photographs and flight details of Epstein’s private jets. One picture, said to have been taken by Epstein during Andrew’s first encounter with the girl in March 2001 and published today by The Mail on Sunday, shows the Prince with his arm around her waist. This is not the first time the Duke of York’s judgment and choice of associates have been questioned. He appears to relish the company of super-rich oil billionaires from the Middle East, North Africa and the former Soviet Union. The peculiar sale of his former marital home to a Kazakh businessman for £15 million after it had languished unsold for five years at £12 million has never been satisfactorily explained. In the recent leak of American diplomatic cables it was revealed that he had criticised an official corruption investigation into the huge Al-Yamamah arms deal between Britain and Saudi Arabia, while he is also said to be close to Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the beleaguered Libyan president, and may have had a role in the early release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Al Megrahi. While on the streets, | slept with men for money. | was a paedophile's dream But it is Andrew’s friendship with Epstein, whom he has known since at least 2000, and with Epstein’s confidante Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of the late disgraced newspaper baron Robert Maxwell, that gives most concern. He was first seen with the pair on holiday in Thailand, and was pictured cavorting with Ghislaine at a Halloween fetishthemed party in Manhattan. The photograph that appeared last weekend shows the prince strolling through Central Park with 58- year-old Epstein. Andrew was said to have spent four days at his New York mansion in December, when he was joined by other distinguished guests, including Woody Allen, at a dinner. It is by no means the first New York soiree Andrew has attended as Epstein’s guest. A lengthy profile of the financier in Vanity Fair magazine some years ago reported that Andrew was a guest at a cocktail party thrown by Epstein and Maxwell packed with young Russian models. ‘Some guests were horrified,’ said the article’s author, Vicky Ward. It should not be forgotten that Epstein is a registered sex offender after recently completing his sentence for offences relating to child prostitution. However, he avoided trial on more serious charges that carried a potential life sentence. And no one reading The Mail on Sunday’s interview with the woman who was prepared to testify against him can be in any doubt of the seriousness of the charges. Epstein, a Wall Street money manager who once counted Bill Clinton and Donald Trump among his friends, became the subject of an undercover investigation in 2005 after the stepmother of a 14-year old girl claimed she was paid $200 (£125) to give him an ‘erotic massage’. The subsequent FBI probe uncovered at least 20 girls levelling sexual allegations against him. Eventually, Epstein struck a ‘plea bargain’ with prosecutors — a practice not permitted under British law — under which he was allowed to plead guilty to two relatively minor charges. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1361039/Prince-Andrew-girl-17-sex-offender-frie... 3/16/2011 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_021699 |