Before his 2019 death in a Manhattan jail cell, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein built connections across Africa’s elite.
According to a report by Miami Herald on Wednesday, Epstein tried to amass money, power and women across the continent.
When Senegal investigated former President Abdoulaye Wade’s son for corruption, Epstein supported him with his Palm Beach mansion and extensive legal funding, even hiring a top firm to lobby US officials for his release, the report said.
“[V]ery glad to have you back,” Epstein wrote to Karim Wade, son of Abdoulaye Wade, shortly after he was released from prison. “[W]e can skype when you like ⌠we can share incarceration stories,” the report said.
He also pursued ties with Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi in 2010, then shifted to anti-regime figures as Gaddafi’s power faded, the report said.
In a meeting at his Palm Beach mansion in 2018, Epstein advised a Nigerian-born businessman pursuing a mining deal affected by US sanctions, suggesting: “[I]f you had a meeting with the appropriate division of [T]reasury, im sure you can structure around it.”
On at least two occasions, Epstein was on the prowl for women who could be sent to him, preferably younger and white.
“I prefer under 25,” he emailed a woman referred to him by a model he had known in New York, Nina Keita, the niece of the Ivory Coast president Alassane Ouattara.
In another email to European modeling scout Daniel Siad, who had contacts in South Africa, Epstein explicitly said he was willing to cover the travel expenses of South African women to be brought to him, but “not the dark one.”
Epstein’s ties to Karim Wade began in 2010 and included introductions to global financiers and hospitality at his properties. After Karim Wade was accused of amassing $1.4 billion and imprisoned, Epstein offered support, writing, “[Y]ou and your family are welcome to use my house in Palm Beach⌠[Y]ou will not suffer.”
He funded legal efforts, including lobbying through a US law firm, and wrote in 2016: “I want my friend back.” Karim was pardoned later that year after serving three years.