Epstein associate who still runs model agency 'put me in danger' says abuse survivor

ByOana Marocico, Sheida Kiran and Haya Al Badarneh, BBC Eye Investigations.

Key points

• A month after Epstein's second arrest in 2019, MC2's US branch was dissolved and Fuller opened a new agency, The Source Models.
• "Had it not been for you, we would have fired her months ago, " Fuller writes of another model in March 2012.
• Model agencies were useful to Epstein, notes Sigrid McCawley, the lead lawyer for more than 100 of Epstein's victims.
• Another model we have spoken to, Simona (not her real name), from eastern Europe, informed us Epstein had raped her more than 200 times.
• MC2's US president at the time, Jeff Fuller, now runs another US model agency called The Source Models.

When he sent her to two photoshoots at the convicted sex offender's Florida beach house, a woman raped by Jeffrey Epstein notes the president of the model agency representing her put her in danger.

At the time, in 2009, Epstein was serving a jail sentence for sex offences against a minor but was allowed to work each day from his home.

"My agency's job was to protect me, and they failed. In fact, they put me in danger. And for that, they should be held accountable, " she tells the BBC World Service.

Roza was 18 when she was first sent to Epstein's Palm Beach home by MC2 Model Management's US branch, having only arrived in the US from Uzbekistan regarding a month earlier. MC2's US president at the time, Jeff Fuller, now runs another US model agency called The Source Models.

"My agency knew exactly where I was. So Jeff knew exactly where I was going, " notes Roza.

After her second shoot at Epstein's home, she demonstrates us an expense statement suggesting Fuller himself booked her flight home from Palm Beach. Fuller has previously asserted he did not know Roza was going to Epstein's house.

She notes the photoshoots led to her being employed as an assistant to Epstein. Other survivors have explained how the financier applied the recruitment of assistants as an elaborate ruse to allow him to continue abusing young women. Roza notes Epstein went on to systematically rape her.

Fuller has not responded to the BBC's allegations. He has previously remarked he did not know Roza was being abused.

We discovered through the Epstein-related documents published by the US Department of Justice that 10 models from MC2 met, or were in communication with, Epstein after his conviction.

Notably, the files additionally show Epstein provided $1m (£742, 000) to MC2 in 2005 – despite the agency owners telling a US publication two years afterwards that Epstein had no involvement in their business.

Testimony shared with BBC Eye additionally raises questions concerning the role played by two other individuals who were active in the model industry, and whom the DOJ files show had close relationships with Epstein – former agent Ramsey Elkholy and agency director Faith Kates.

Meanwhile, a DOJ statement from last year, that no evidence has been uncovered which would warrant further investigation against "uncharged third parties", is now being challenged by New York State senator, Zellnor Myrie.

He has proposed a new sex trafficking bill to offer police greater power to investigate Epstein's alleged enablers.

Sara Ziff, founder of the Model Alliance. It campaigns for stronger protections for models in the US, approves.

"Often, are the difficulty. They are the link between the model and these predatory men."

Roza notes the person behind the camera at the photoshoots MC2 sent her to was not a professional photographer, but Epstein's girlfriend at the time, Nadia Marcinko.

Roza describes the set-up as "strange – there was no stylist" and the photos were never applied. She has since become convinced the shoots were stage-managed by Epstein and MC2. If you are outside the UK, please watch on YouTube, external.

Meanwhile, an email in the DOJ files, from Fuller to Epstein, makes clear the close ties between the agency and the financier.

"Had it not been for you, we would have fired her months ago, " Fuller writes of another model in March 2012. "And I would be careful as she blabs about things, " he notes.

For context, a month after Epstein's second arrest in 2019, MC2's US branch was dissolved and Fuller opened a new agency, The Source Models. It is still operating. The BBC has discovered that 50 models from MC2 were transferred to his new agency.

We asked The Source Models to comment on our findings – it did not reply.

"Epstein remarked to numerous individuals he wanted three different girls a day. Think regarding those numbers. The scouts were really critical since they were the ones who were identifying the type of woman that Epstein liked."

In the case of former agent Ramsey Elkholy, BBC Eye has discovered he tried to connect 34 women to Epstein, including an 18-year-old who was still in school.

Meanwhile, the experience of one of the women highlights how assistants would be co-opted into the structure of the abuse.

Elkholy, the DOJ files show, suggested to Epstein that one of the financier's female assistants befriend this woman, before introducing her to Epstein.

We spoke to this woman, and she made public that at her first gathering with Epstein, aged 19, he sexually abused her in his New York townhouse.

Ramsey Elkholy informed the BBC: "I completely reject any allegation that I knew of or facilitated abuse of any kind. At the time, I had no knowledge of any abuse and I knew only his own account of his 2008 case. It I misguidedly believed."

He continued: "The record and published reporting show that women were often groomed by other women in his inner circle. I was never part of that circle, or indeed of any such activity. My intention was to support models find professional opportunities by introducing them to an extremely well-connected individual."

If you are in the UK and you have been affected by any of the problems in this story such as sexual abuse and violence, information and backing is available at BBC Action Line.

Lawyer Sigrid McCawley notes these female assistants would have had "no choice" in how they conducted themselves.

"These young survivors were being abused regularly. Their livelihoods were being threatened. They had to do what they were being informed to do."

"Individuals think that we gained something, that we agreed on this abuse so as to gain something, whether it's monetary or influential, but it's not true. We're left with deep trauma, " notes Simona.

She notes the first time she met the financier, aged 20, she was already signed with a model agency in New York, and he offered to introduce her to his "good" friend Faith Kates.

At the time, Kates was the head of Next Management, one of the world's biggest model agencies. She stepped down from that senior executive position in December last year, but is still legally listed as a director of the firm.

Simona notes at this gathering, Kates suggested she undergo plastic surgery and sent details of a surgeon to Epstein.

After her session with Kates, Simona states Epstein convinced her to stop modelling.

And just like Roza, and a number of other of his victims, she became his assistant. She notes he went on to rape her and control every aspect of her life for almost two years.

Taken together, the developments around epstein associate who still runs model agency ' put me in danger' says point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.