A woman who was sexually assaulted by Jeffrey Epstein has revealed that the head of her modeling agency at the time put her in danger. It is claimed that he sent himself to two photo shoots held at Epstein's Florida beach house, where he had a record of sexual crimes.
In 2009, Epstein was serving a prison sentence for sex crimes against minors. However, it was allowed to go out during the day and work from home.
In an interview with the BBC World Service, victim Rosa said, "The agency's role was to protect me, but they failed to fulfill their responsibility. In fact, they put me in danger and they must take responsibility for this."
Rosa was 18 years old when she first visited Epstein's Palm Beach home through the U.S. branch of modeling agency MC2 Model Management. It had been only a month since I came to the United States from Uzbekistan. Jeff Fuller, who was the CEO of MC2's US branch at the time, currently runs another US model agency called 'The Source Models'.
Rosa emphasized, “The agency knew exactly where I was,” and “Jeff also clearly knew where I was going.”
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Rosa released an expense statement issued after the second filming at Epstein's home. The statement contains evidence that Fuller booked his own flight home from Palm Beach. This contradicts Fuller's previous claim that he did not know Rosa was going to Epstein's home.
Rosa said that she was hired as Epstein's secretary after this photo shoot. Other victims have also testified that Epstein used secretarial hiring as an elaborate tactic to continually exploit young women.
Rosa said she was systematically sexually assaulted by Epstein after her recruitment.
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Fuller did not respond to inquiries from the BBC. He explained in the past that he had no idea that Rosa was being abused.
Through related documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice, reporters confirmed that Epstein met or communicated with 10 MC2 models even after he was found guilty.
The document also contains the fact that Epstein paid $1 million to MC2 in 2005. This directly contradicts the explanation given by the agency's owners to an American media outlet two years later, saying, "Epstein has nothing to do with the company."
Testimony obtained by the BBC Eye investigative team also calls into question the role of former agent Ramsey Elkoli and agency director Faith Cates. Justice Department documents show that they also had a close relationship with Epstein.
Recently, New York State Senator Zellnor Mhairi raised an issue with the statement released by the Justice Department last year. The Justice Department stated at the time that no evidence was found to warrant further investigation into "unindicted third parties."
Mhairi has introduced a new anti-sex trafficking bill that would give police greater powers to investigate alleged associates of Epstein.
Sarah Ziff, founder of the Model Alliance, an organization that has called for stronger protection of the rights and interests of models in the United States, also agreed.
“Modeling agencies in general are at the heart of the problem. They act as a link between models and predatory men.”
Rosa revealed that the person holding the camera at the photo shoot that MC2 sent her to was not a professional photographer. It is said that the person who filmed it was Nadia Marcinko, Epstein's girlfriend at the time.
Rosa recalled the scene at the time, “It was a strange situation where there wasn’t even a stylist.” The photos taken that day were not even used. Rosa later became convinced that this shoot had been planned and staged in advance by Epstein and MC2.
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Fuller's emails included in the Justice Department documents show a close relationship between the agency and Epstein.
“If it weren’t for you, we would have fired that model months ago,” Fuller wrote in a March 2012 email to Epstein, referring to another model. He added, “He’s the type to brag, so you’d better be careful.”
A month after Epstein's second arrest in 2019, MC2's U.S. branch disbanded. Afterwards, Fuller founded a new agency (The Source Models) and runs it to this day. As a result of BBC coverage, it was confirmed that 50 models from MC2 had transferred to his new agency.
Reporters requested a statement from The Source Models regarding the allegations, but did not receive a response.
Attorney Sigrid McCauley, who represents more than 100 victims of the Epstein case, pointed out that modeling agencies were a useful tool for Epstein.
“Epstein told several people that he wanted three women a day. Think about that number. Model scouts were key because they were responsible for finding the type of women that Epstein preferred.”
BBC Eye's investigative reporting team confirmed that former agent Ramsey Elkoli attempted to connect a total of 34 women to Epstein, including an 18-year-old woman who was a student at the time.
One of these women's case shows how secretaries are included in the abuse structure.
According to Justice Department documents, before Elkoli introduced the woman to Epstein, one of Epstein's female assistants suggested that Epstein befriend her.
The woman, interviewed by reporters, revealed that she first met Epstein at a New York townhouse when she was 19 years old, and that she was sexually harassed there.
Ramsey Elkoli told the BBC, "I completely deny all allegations that I knew of or assisted in any form of abuse," and added, "I was not aware of any abuse at the time, and only believed in Epstein's own explanation for the 2008 judicial action."
He added: "Records and media reports show that women were often groomed by other women in his inner circle. I have never been part of that group and have never been involved in any such activities. My intention was to help the model find professional opportunities by introducing her to a well-connected person."
Attorney McCauley said the female secretaries at the time would not have had a choice about their actions.
“The young victims were being abused on a regular basis and their livelihoods were being threatened… They would have had no choice but to do as they were told.”
Another model interviewed by reporters, Simona (pseudonym), from Eastern Europe, said she had been sexually assaulted more than 200 times by Epstein.
“People think we agreed to this abuse to gain something, whether it be money or influence, but that’s not true,” Simona said. “All we’re left with is deep trauma.”
Simona was 20 years old and had already signed with a New York modeling agency when she first met Epstein. However, it is said that Epstein offered to introduce her to Faith Cates, calling her a 'good' friend.
At the time, Cates was the CEO of Next Management, one of the world's largest model agencies. Cates stepped down from his position as chief executive officer in December of last year, but is still legally listed as a director of the company.
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Simona said that Cates recommended she undergo plastic surgery and that she passed the plastic surgeon's details to Epstein.
After meeting Cates, Epstein reportedly convinced her to quit modeling.
Like Rosa and the other victims, Simona also became Epstein's secretary. Simona said she was sexually assaulted by Epstein and controlled every aspect of her life for about two years.
The Justice Department documents show that Epstein asked Cates to meet with five additional models. However, it is unclear how many of these meetings actually took place.
Faith Cates' lawyers explained to the BBC, "Jeffrey Epstein was a manipulator, and Cates was one of those who was seriously deceived by Epstein. If Cates and everyone else had known then what they know now, they would never have associated with him."
The defense team added that Cates never asked the model to undergo plastic surgery.
Reporters requested a statement from Next Management, but did not receive a response.
Mhairi told the BBC that if her bill were enacted, "those who sent models to Epstein and knew, or were reasonably likely to know, what he was doing would be held accountable."
Rosa said that for now, “there is no justice for me, and there is no way to turn everything back to how it never happened.”
However, Rosa hoped that telling the world about the damage she suffered would give courage to other victims.
“There are countless victims who never speak out because of fear. I want to say this to every victim who is in the same situation as me: Now you know me and you know my name. Please reach out.”
*Additional reporting: Annika Grosser
