Jeffrey Epstein used foreign passport with fake name to enter Saudi Arabia: prosecutors

Source: NBC News

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

The questionable travel document was found inside a safe — along with $70,000 in cash and 48 loose diamonds — in the home of the accused child predator.

July 17, 2019, 5:14 PM CDT

By Tom Winter and Rich Schapiro

Jeffrey Epstein used a foreign passport with a fake name to enter several countries in the 1980s including the U.K., Spain and Saudi Arabia, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

The questionable travel document was found inside a safe — along with $70,000 in cash and 48 loose diamonds — in the New York City home of the wealthy financier and accused sex trafficker. It contained a photo of Epstein with a different name and listed his place of residence as Saudi Arabia, according to prosecutors.

Epstein's lawyers filed court papers Tuesday claiming he obtained the Austrian passport in 1982 for "personal protection" to be presented to "potential kidnappers, hijackers, or terrorists." The lawyers said Epstein's Jewish faith and substantial wealth made him a target while traveling in the Middle East.

But on Wednesday, prosecutors did just that.

"In fact, the passport contains numerous ingress and egress stamps, including stamps that reflect use of the passport to enter France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia in the 1980s," the court papers say.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/jeffrey-epstein-used-foreign-passport-fake-name-enter-saudi-arabia-n1031046