Jeffrey Epstein's former friend Jean-Luc Brunel ready to speak to prosecutors
Jeffrey Epstein’s former close friend and business partner has insisted that he is “not on the run” and is willing to talk to prosecutors, despite not having been seen in public since Epstein’s death.
Jean-Luc Brunel, 74, is a model scout who is said to have “discovered” Jerry Hall, Angie Everhart and Christy Turlington.
The Paris prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation in August into any possible Epstein victims in its territory, and Mr Brunel is of potential interest to investigators.
Last month police searched Karin Models, which Mr Brunel founded.
In court filings, Virginia Guiffre, a long-time accuser of Epstein, claimed teenage girls were brought to the US by Brunel and were “farmed out” by him to have sex with Epstein. Ms Guiffre also claims she was forced to have sex with Brunel several times. Brunel denies both allegations.
His lawyer Corinne Dreyfus-Schmidt said Mr Brunel "firmly contests accusations in the press" and "will reserve his statements for justice officials."
On Monday Ms Dreyfus-Schmidt, said that her client has notified the Paris prosecutor's office that he is at the disposition of judicial officials.
He did so before French officials opened a full investigation into the Epstein case. Mr Brunel's whereabouts had been a mystery, with sightings of him in South America the only clue.
Epstein was found dead on August 10 in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. Mr Brunel and Epstein appear to have first crossed paths in New York, where the French model scout was based having taken over Karin Models and in 1995 expanded into the US.
He later founded MC2 Model Management. From 2000 until 2005 Mr Brunel flew dozens of times on Epstein’s private jet, and spent time at his homes in New York, Palm Beach and on the US Virgin Islands.
Memos of phone calls kept by Epstein’s domestic staff in Florida show that Mr Brunel would call with cryptic-sounding messages.
“He has a teacher for you to teach you Russian,” said a record of one Brunel call for Epstein in April 2005. “She is 2 x 8 years old not Blonde. Lessons are free and you can have 1st today if you call.”
Epstein was arrested in 2005, and Mr Brunel later said in a court filing that he “went to Europe and Asia for a period of time” because Epstein ordered him to leave Florida to avoid having to give testimony.
Mr Brunel visited Epstein in jail in 2008, according to court records and reportedly continued living in an Epstein-owned apartment in Manhattan for years afterward.
Their friendship soured by 2015, however, when Mr Brunel sued Epstein, alleging he and MC2 “lost multiple contacts and business in the modelling business as a result of Epstein’s illegal actions”.
Mr Brunel has allegedly already sold MC2’s assets in New York and is currently in a deal to sell MC2 in Miami.
