Jeffrey Epstein investigators want to speak to a British aristocrat who made 32 flights on the pedophile’s ‘Lolita Express’ plane as the inquiry continues after the arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell, it has been claimed.
Sources told the Daily Beast that investigators want to contact former Epstein associate Clare Hazell, who became the Countess of Iveagh when she married into the Guinness brewing family in 2001.
Flight logs show her making 32 trips on Epstein’s Boeing 727 between 1998 and 2000, including trips to his luxury homes in New York, Florida and the Caribbean.
It is not suggested that the Countess is suspected of any crime, but lawyers for Epstein’s victims are already thought to have sought her out as a possible witness.
US investigators want to contact former Epstein associate Clare Hazell (pictured) who made 32 flights on the late paedophile’s ‘Lolita Express’ plane, it has been claimed
The investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes is continuing despite the arrest of key suspect Ghislaine Maxwell yesterday (Maxwell and Epstein are pictured together in 2005)
The Countess’s contact details were listed in Epstein’s infamous ‘little black book’ under her married name, Clare Hazell-Iveagh.
According to flight logs, Epstein accompanied her on all but one of the trips on board the plane.
Maxwell, who was yesterday arrested in New Hampshire and accused of procuring underage girls for Epstein, was also a passenger on some of the flights.
The plane was dubbed the ‘Lolita Express’ because it was used to ferry young girls to Epstein’s private Caribbean island or his ranch in New Mexico.
Epstein is also known to have flown with former president Bill Clinton on board the plane, and Maxwell was a guest at his daughter Chelsea Clinton’s wedding in 2010.
Other passengers on the plane included Alan Dershowitz, a lawyer who denies allegations from Prince Andrew’s accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre that she was trafficked to him by Epstein.
Ms Hazell worked as an interior designer and the nature of her connection to Epstein is not fully clear, but a friend said that she regarded him as a financial backer.
Ms Hazell was studying at Ohio State University in the 1990s and reportedly had a modelling agency and an apartment in Columbus, Ohio.
The friend described her as being at Epstein’s ‘beck and call’, saying how mutual plans would be cancelled immediately if she was needed by Epstein and Maxwell.
They also recalled how Ms Hazell had spoken of going on vacation with her boyfriend at Epstein’s Caribbean property.
Maxwell and Bill Clinton on the Lolita Express – Epstein’s private jet that was used to ferry underage girls to his private island in the Caribbean and his ranch in New Mexico
Clare Hazell flew on the Lolita Express (pictured) 32 times between 1998 and 2000, according to flight logs
One of Epstein’s accusers, Maria Farmer, recalled that Ms Hazell ‘liked having nice drinks, piles of cash and nice outfits’.
Ms Hazell became a Countess when she married the Earl of Iveagh, Arthur Edward Rory Guinness, in 2001, and gave birth to an heir called Arthur in 2003.
Reports at the time said the Earl was the 30th-richest man in Britain with a £375million ($470million) fortune.
The couple are the owners of the Elveden Estate in East Anglia, which has been in the Guinness family since the late 19th century.
Edward Cecil Guinness bought the land in 1894 and the current Earl describes it as a ‘world-class producer and purveyor of local and regional food excellence’.
MailOnline has approached the Countess for comment about the Epstein probe, which remains ongoing despite the charges announced against Maxwell yesterday.
A grand jury returned a sealed, six-count indictment against Maxwell on June 29, almost a year after Epstein was charged.
The indictment alleges:
- Maxwell groomed three unnamed girls, all under the age of 18, in London, New York and Florida, and New Mexico between 1994 and 1997
- She befriended them by taking them to the movies or on shopping sprees and ‘normalized’ abusive behavior by getting undressed in front of them herself
- She encouraged them to travel to meet Epstein and engage in sex acts with them and him like ‘group massage sex’ in Epstein’s homes
- Her introduction of them to him resulted in him abusing them when she was not present
- She lied in 2016 depositions while being sued by Virginia Giuffre Roberts that she’d never groomed or had sex with underage girls herself
Maxwell, who has yet to enter a plea, faces 35 years in prison if convicted. She has previously denied any involvement in Epstein’s crimes.
Maxwell was picked up by the FBI and NYPD detectives at 8.30am at the property in Bradford, New Hampshire, she had bought in December 2019 using a limited liability company called Granite LLC to shield her name
Audrey Strauss, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, gestures as she speaks during a news conference to announce charges against Ghislaine Maxwell for her alleged role in the sexual exploitation and abuse of multiple minor girls by Jeffrey Epstein, Thursday, July 2, 2020, in New York
The indictment reads in part: ‘Ghislaine Maxwell facilitated Jeffrey Epstein’s access to minor victims knowing that he had a sexual preference for underage girls and that he intended to engage in sexual activity with those victims’.
Among the allegations in the indictment is that Maxwell groomed the girls, including one in London.
‘Victim 1’ met Maxwell when she was 14 in 1994, the indictment reads.
Maxwell allegedly groomed her by taking her to the movies and on shopping trips, asking her about school, her classes, her family and other aspects of her life.
‘She then sought to normalize inappropriate and abusive conduct by, among other things, undressing in front of her and being present when she undressed in front of Epstein,’ according to the indictment.
The trio then engaged in ‘group sexualised massages’ on more than one occasion, the indictment claims. The victim was allegedly encouraged by Epstein and Maxwell to travel to the financier’s homes in New York and Florida ‘for the purpose of sexual encounters with Epstein’.
‘Victim 2’ met Ghislaine in 1996 and was allegedly groomed by her at Epstein’s New Mexico ranch.
The indictment claims that Maxwell gave her a topless massage and ‘encouraged [her] to massage Epstein’.
‘Victim 3’ met Maxwell in London in 1994 and was groomed until 1995, it is alleged. Maxwell encouraged her to massage Epstein ‘knowing that Epstein would engage in sex acts’ as she did so, prosecutors claim.
The indictment alleges that Maxwell knew the three women were underage at the time.
At a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Acting US Attorney for the Southern District Audrey Strauss, said: ‘Maxwell enticed minor girls, got them to trust her, then delivered them into the trap that she and Epstein had set for them.
‘She pretended to be a woman they could trust, all the while she was setting them up to be sexually abused by Epstein in some cases, by Maxwell herself.
‘Today after many years, Ghislaine Maxwell finally stands charged for her role in these crimes.’
FBI Special Agent William Sweeney said the bureau had been ‘keeping tabs’ on Maxwell ‘for some time’.
‘We have been discreetly keeping tabs on Maxwell for some time.
‘She slithered away to a gorgeous property in New Hampshire, continuing to live a life of privilege while her victims continue to live with the trauma inflicted on them years earlier.’
Before Epstein’s disgrace, she and Maxwell had an astonishing network of influential and important friends and acquaintances around the world, including Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.
