神秘的亿万富翁、性交易贩子杰弗里·爱泼斯坦是谁？

现年66岁的杰弗里·爱泼斯坦于星期一在纽约被起诉，罪名是在位于上东区的豪华住宅以及佛罗里达州棕榈滩的一处住所中经营性交易团伙。至于这位投资家是如何发家致富的，以及他是如何长期保持影响力的，仍有许多未知之处。

在这个耸人听闻的故事里，最新进展是爱泼斯坦被控在2002年至2005年间经营性交易团伙，付钱给小至14岁的女孩进行性交易。纽约南区联邦检察官杰弗里·伯曼在周一表示，如果罪名成立，最高可判45年监禁。检察官要求法官拒绝保释，因为爱泼斯坦的财富让他有潜逃的风险。他的保释听证会定于7月15日。

爱泼斯坦出生于纽约，因与知名商界名流、政界大亨以及包括美国总统唐纳德·特朗普和前总统比尔·克林顿在内的名人交往密切而出名。

爱泼斯坦在发家致富前，是曼哈顿一所私立学校的数学和物理老师。他于20世纪70年代末踏入金融界，在国际投行贝尔斯登（Bear Stearns）担任期权交易员。1980年，爱泼斯坦成为该公司的有限责任合伙人。

两年后，他创建了自己的财务管理公司爱泼斯坦公司（J. Epstein & Co.），据信由该公司管理资产的客户身家超过10亿美元。据估计，爱泼斯坦身家有数亿美元。

一些已发表的文章称，1996年，爱泼斯坦将公司更名为Financial Trust Co.，将总部设在美属维京群岛，目的主要是为了避税。然而，根据2002年《纽约杂志》（New York Magazine）和2003年《名利场》（Vanity Fair）人物报道中对爱泼斯坦的描绘，他的身上笼罩着一层神秘和敬意。

在《纽约杂志》的文章中，爱泼斯坦被描述成一个成败都不在公众视线里显山露水的人。“爱泼斯坦打破了常规。”该杂志写道，“街上的大多数人都听说过他，但是似乎没有人知道他到底在搞什么鬼。他就喜欢这样。”

据报道，特朗普是他的粉丝。该杂志引用了特朗普的话：“我已经认识杰夫15年了。他很棒。和他在一起很有意思。甚至有人说他和我一样喜欢漂亮女性，而且更喜欢年轻姑娘。毫无疑问，杰弗里很享受他的社交生活。”

《名利场》的文章标题为《天才爱泼斯坦》（The Talented Mr. Epstein），意为向小说及同名电影电影《天才雷普利》（The Talented Mr. Ripley）致敬。爱泼斯坦是零售巨头莱斯利·韦克斯纳的主要投资者和基金经理。韦克斯纳是有限品牌公司（Limited Brands Inc.，简称L Brands Inc.）的创始人。该公司拥有多个面向女性顾客的商场品牌，包括维多利亚的秘密（Victoria’s Secret）和Bath & Body Works。

该杂志还写把爱泼斯坦描写成一个活跃于交际场上的人。文章中写道，“一个热爱女人的男人——很多女人，大部分是年轻姑娘。听说，模特们常说她们非常感谢爱泼斯坦让她们能到处飞，他也是很多维密天使的老熟人。”

《名利场》杂志还称，从20世纪80年代初就认识爱泼斯坦的朋友只有少数，他们还记得，他曾告诉他们，自己是一名“赏金猎人”，为政府或富人追回丢失或被盗的钱。他还有持枪执照。他还担任了几个委员会的委员，包括外交关系委员会、纽约科学院和国际教育研究所。

《名利场》的文章称，爱泼斯坦影响力很强，其他人形容他慷慨、残酷、甚至“不计后果”。

为《名利场》撰写这篇文章的记者维姬·沃德在周一告诉微软全国有线广播电视公司（MSNBC），在她的记录里，有年轻的两姐妹告诉她，她们其中一个在未成年时遭爱泼斯坦性侵。沃德说，爱泼斯坦联系了杂志的编辑，删除了她们的话，文章仍然只写了他的神秘生意。

“这是杰弗里·爱泼斯坦过去16年一直在营造的主题。”沃德告诉MSNBC，“他是不可捉摸的，从与他交往、或者被他利用的富豪以及权势者手里拿到了免费通行证。”

2003年，爱泼斯坦向哈佛大学捐款3000万美元，希望在这所常青藤名校开创数学生物学和进化动力学项目，登上新闻头条。

本周一，爱泼斯坦对联邦刑事指控坚决不认罪，这些指控与10多年前佛罗里达州指控他性侵的罪名类似。当时他向佛罗里达州联邦检察官办公室承认了两项嫖娼罪名，该办公室那时由现任特朗普总统的劳工部部长亚历山大·阿科斯塔主管。爱泼斯坦被判13个月监禁，其性犯罪者的身份也被登记在册。

今年4月，一名联邦法官裁定，佛罗里达州检察官在爱普斯坦案中，在不让原告之情的情况下向被告提供了秘密认罪协议，违反了相关法律。美国司法部也正在调查此事。（财富中文网）

译者：Agatha

The 66-year-old was indicted Monday in New York on charges he operated a sex trafficking ring at his luxurious Upper East Side mansion and a home in Palm Beach, Florida. There’s still much that’s unknown about how the financier made his fortune and how he was able to remain influential for so long.

In the latest chapter of the lurid saga, Epstein is charged with operating a sex-trafficking ring and paying girls as young as 14 to engage in sex acts from 2002 to 2005. The charges carry a maximum 45-year prison sentence if convicted, Geoffrey Berman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Monday. Prosecutors have asked the judge to deny bail because Epstein’s wealth makes him a flight risk. His bail hearing is set for July 15.

The New York-born Epstein is known for his ties to high-profile business types, political heavyweights and celebrities including U.S. President Donald Trump and former president Bill Clinton.

Before he made his riches, Epstein was a math and physics teacher at a private school in Manhattan. He entered the finance world in the late 1970s, working as an options trader for global investment banking company Bear Stearns. By 1980, Epstein was a limited partner.

Two years later, he created his own financial management firm, J. Epstein & Co., and was reportedly managing the assets of clients who were worth more than $1 billion. It’s estimated that Epstein is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

In 1996, Epstein changed his company’s name to The Financial Trust Co. and had its headquarters in the U.S. Virgin Islands primarily for tax purposes, according to published articles. Yet, according to profiles -- a 2002 New York Magazine story and a 2003 piece in Vanity Fair -- a shroud of mystery and admiration hovered over Epstein.

In the New York magazine profile, Epstein is described as someone who’s successes and failures weren’t played out in public. “Epstein breaks the mold,” the magazine wrote. “Most everyone on the Street has heard of him, but nobody seems to know what the hell he is up to. Which is just the way he likes it.”

He had a fan in Trump, according to the profile. “I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life,” Trump was quoted as saying to the magazine.

In the Vanity Fair piece, “The Talented Mr. Epstein,” a nod to the book and movie, “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” Epstein was the primary investor and money manager for retail magnate Leslie Wexner, the founder of Limited Brands, now called L Brands Inc. The company owns brand-name mall staples primarily for women including Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works.

The magazine also described Epstein as a man about town. “A man who loves women - lots of them, mostly young. Model types have been heard saying they are full of gratitude to Epstein for flying them around, and he is a familiar face to many of the Victoria’s Secret girls,” according to the story.

Vanity Fair also said that the handful of friends who have known Epstein since the early 1980s remember him telling them he was a “bounty hunter,” recovering lost or stolen money for the government or wealthy people. He also had a license to carry a gun. He also sat on several commissions including the Council on Foreign Relations, the New York Academy of Sciences, and the Institute of International Education.

The Vanity Fair piece said Epstein was immensely influential while others described him as generous, vicious, and even “reckless.”

Vicky Ward, the journalist who wrote the Vanity Fair story, told MSNBC on Monday that two young women who are sisters told her on the record that one of them was sexually assaulted by Epstein when she was underage. Ward said Epstein got in touch with the magazine’s editor and had their accounts removed from the article, which remained a story about his mysterious business affairs.

“That has been the motif of Jeffrey Epstein’s last 16 years,” Ward told the cable network. “He’s been untouchable, given a free pass by the very rich people, the very powerful people with whom he socializes and perhaps over whom he has leverage.”

In 2003, Epstein made headlines for giving $30 million to Harvard University to create mathematical biology and evolutionary dynamics programs at the Ivy League institution.

Epstein pleaded not guilty on Monday to federal criminal charges that are similar to those in Florida accusing him of being a sexual predator more than a decade ago. He pleaded guilty to two prostitution charges with the U.S. attorney’s office in Florida which was then overseen by Alexander Acosta, who is now President Trump’s secretary of labor. Epstein was sentenced to 13 months behind bars and became a registered sex offender.

In April, a federal judge ruled that the Florida prosecutors violated a law by offering the secretive plea deal without letting Epstein’s accusers know. The matter is also being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice.