Private detectives have been asked to testify about removing evidence from Jeffrey Epstein's Palm Beach mansion in 2005. Photo / US Department of Justice
Private detectives have been asked to testify about removing evidence from Jeffrey Epstein's Palm Beach mansion in 2005. Photo / US Department of Justice
Jeffrey Epstein’s private detectives have been asked to testify over the removal of a trove of evidence from his Palm Beach mansion before police searched it in 2005.
The material, understood to include three desktop computers and more than two dozen phone directories, appears never to have been obtained bythe Department of Justice (DoJ).
In February, the Telegraph revealed for the first time how private detectives hid the late sex offender’s computers and photographs in storage lockers across the US.
According to letters seen by ABC News, members of the House oversight committee want to question the detectives about the removal of what could have been key evidence in the investigation into Epstein’s sex trafficking.
Robert Garcia, the ranking member on the committee, wrote in letters to the three private investigators employed by Epstein, that “the committee requests that you make yourself available for a transcribed interview to provide insight into the contents, removal, storage, and location of the materials removed from Mr Epstein’s Palm Beach home”.
“The committee also seeks information regarding the reason for the removal of these materials, the potential withholding of these materials from law enforcement, and any other information regarding the activities and crimes of Jeffrey Epstein and any of his co-conspirators,” he said.
The Telegraph’s investigation found the removal of potential evidence may have shielded Epstein from scrutiny.
In 2020, the DoJ blamed Alexander Acosta, then Miami’s top federal prosecutor, for agreeing to a plea deal before securing the missing computers, including one believed to store surveillance footage.
“There was good reason to believe the computers contained relevant – and potentially critical – information; and it was clear Epstein did not want the contents of his computers disclosed,” the report said.
In letters obtained by ABC News, Garcia formally asked Paul Lavery, Stephen Kiraly and William Riley to appear for an interview.
They have until April 9 to respond.
On March 19, Darren Indyke, Epstein’s long-time lawyer, told a congressional committee the evidence was probably never handed to law enforcement.
“After Epstein’s conviction, after he served jail time, through conversations with defence counsel I became aware that there were computer hard drives in the possession of private investigators,” Indyke said in his deposition. “I just don’t know how they came into possession, but I knew of the existence of hard drives.”
Evidence relating to Jeffrey Epstein, including computers and phone directories, was hidden in US storage lockers and never obtained by the Department of Justice. Photo / Getty Images
Documents in the Epstein files, uncovered by the Telegraph, show the paedophile paid private detectives to remove equipment from his Florida home, apparently to prevent it from being found by investigators.
A 2005 memo from Riley to one of Epstein’s defence lawyers stated that Lavery visited the Palm Beach mansion to remove “items of potential evidentiary value” less than two weeks before police raided it in October 2005.
An index released by the DoJ lists more than 100 items removed, including three computers, 29 bound telephone directories, a listing of nearby masseuses and sexually explicit material.
Authorities have long suspected Epstein was tipped off about the raid. Michael Reiter, the former Palm Beach police chief, later said, “the place had been cleaned up”, and some computer material appeared to be missing.
In an August 2009 email uncovered by the Telegraph, Riley told Epstein and his lawyer that Virginia Giuffre’s legal team was “looking to get from me the computers and paperwork I took from Jeff’s house prior to the search warrant”.
The documents also show Epstein rented six storage units across the US to hold items from his properties, including computers from Little Saint James, his private Caribbean island.
He leased at least one unit from 2003, when he moved in social circles in Florida that included US President Donald Trump. Credit card receipts show payments continued until 2019, the year of his death.
The private detectives did not respond to requests for comment.
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