Emails Show Model Agent Introduced Women to Jeffrey Epstein, US Files Reveal
By Web Desk :
Newly released US justice department files suggest a model agent introduced women, including teenagers aged 18 and above, to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein over a period of several years.
The emails, exchanged between Ramsey Elkholy and Epstein from 2009 until shortly before Epstein’s death in 2019, reveal discussions about meeting female models and potential opportunities within the international fashion industry.
Elkholy, who worked as a model agent during the 2010s, sent hundreds of emails to Epstein describing women he knew, commenting on their appearance and attitudes towards relationships. In one message from 2011, he urged Epstein to meet a woman in her twenties who he said was “desperate for cash”, asking the financier to “try her in bed”.
Speaking to the BBC, Elkholy said he regretted the language used in some of the messages and expressed regret over his association with Epstein. He said he had not been aware that Epstein had been abusing women.
Epstein, who died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, was accused by authorities of abusing large numbers of women and girls over many years. The FBI has estimated that the number of victims could be as high as 1,000.
The correspondence sheds further light on Epstein’s links within the global modelling industry, which investigators say he used to gain access to young women. According to the documents, Elkholy sometimes discussed arranging introductions between models and contacts in the fashion sector, including individuals associated with major brands.
The emails also suggest that Elkholy had contact with French modelling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, a long-time associate of Epstein. Brunel had been under investigation in France over allegations of sexual exploitation involving minors before he was found dead in a Paris prison cell in 2022.
Elkholy told the BBC that he was not part of Epstein’s inner circle and said he had met the financier around 10 to 12 times over a decade.
In several messages, Elkholy discussed introducing Epstein to young women, including an 18-year-old Russian student and other models aged 19 or older. The BBC said it had not found references to individuals under the age of 18 in connection with Elkholy in the released files.
Some of the correspondence also referred to modelling industry contacts and business proposals. During a trip to Brazil in 2016, Elkholy suggested potential investments in modelling agencies, magazines and competitions that he said could provide access to aspiring models.
One email proposed a modelling contest involving thousands of participants across multiple cities, while another suggested purchasing a Brazilian fashion magazine that would feature new models on its cover.
The documents also mention Kazakh model Ruslana Korshunova, whom Elkholy appeared to represent. Flight records show she visited Epstein’s private Caribbean island in 2006 when she was 18. Two years later, she died after falling from a ninth-floor balcony in New York, a death authorities ruled a suicide.
Correspondence between Elkholy and Epstein continued until early 2019, when the financier was facing renewed legal scrutiny. In one of their final exchanges, they discussed the possibility of bringing a Russian woman to the United States.
Three months later, Epstein was arrested again on federal charges related to sex trafficking.
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