Jeffrey Epstein used London Stansted Airport as a ‘cheaper’ way of moving suspected sex trafficking victims around the world, new emails suggest.
Emails in the latest batch of the so-called Epstein files appear to show how the convicted paedophile would move women between his private jets at Stansted – without them ever leaving the airport – before flying with them to the US.
The emails include conversations about whether women travelling to Britain and onto the US via Stansted’s private terminals would require a UK visa.
In one email, Epstein was told that a Russian woman travelling with him from Paris to Stansted would be allowed to enter the UK as long as she simply transferred from his Falcon jet to the Boeing for an onward journey to the US.
Essex Police last night became the fourth police force in the UK to launch a review into information about Epstein.
The force, which joins the Metropolitan Police, Thames Valley Police and Surrey Police’s in launching probes, has confirmed it is ‘assessing’ information about the use of private jets by Epstein at Stansted.
An Essex Police spokesman said: ‘We are assessing the information that has emerged in relation to private flights into and out of Stansted airport following the publication of the US Department of Justice Epstein files.’
It comes after former prime minister Gordon Brown claimed Epstein’s Boeing 727-100 jet – the so-called Lolita Express – had landed or taken off from UK airports up to 90 times between the 1990s and 2018.
Mr Brown claims the files show in ‘graphic detail’ how Epstein was able to use Stansted to ‘fly in girls from Latvia, Lithuania and Russia.’
Ghislaine Maxwell (left) and Jeffrey Epstein (right) on board a private jet. Some 90 flights came in and out of UK airports with suspected sex trafficking victims on board
Jeffrey Epstein’s plane, the so-called Lolita Express, which jetted into and out of the UK and was used by the paedophile financier to traffic women and girls around the world
In one email, Epstein was told that a Russian woman travelling with him from Paris to Stansted would be allowed to enter the UK as long as she simply transferred from his Falcon jet to the Boeing for an onward journey to the US.
He is also demanding police ‘urgently’ investigate Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor for alleged sex trafficking.
An email from November 30 2012 appears to show Epstein receiving an email about whether a Russian woman would require a visa to enter the UK.
‘Jeffrey, Universal in Houston, our handlers confirmed the follow with UK immigrations: UK has an agreement with USA immigration that allows a Russian passport to enter UK territory as long as the person does not leave airport property and the person has a valid US Visa and will continue to USA.
‘In other words, if you arrive in a Private Jet into Stansted from Paris with [REDACTED] and she possess a US Visa, she is allowed to enter UK and transfer from the Falcon to the Boeing, as long as we are departing to US soil. I would have to fwd copies of her passport and US visa to UK immigrations.
‘The procedure of clearing her into UK should only take 5 min on arrival from Paris, and transfer her to the Boeing for departure to US.’
In a separate email, dated December 5 2012, Epstein asks: ‘…and if we come by plane ? what does she need to do?’
A reply to Epstein says: ‘Jeffrey, This is message from London ref train/taxi to Stansted, she’ll need UK visa to enter if she arrives via train.’
He is forwarded a message from Universal Aviation which says: ‘I can confirm that if he was to travel via train then taxi he would need a UK visa to enter the country as well as his visa for the US if he was still intending to travel there.’
A day later, arrangements for Epstein to stay at the Raddison Blu Hotel in Stansted are made. An email from Lesley Groff says: ‘I’m sure Jeffrey will just love the Raddison Blue [sic] Hotel!’
Elsewhere, another email from November 30 2012 shows Epstein’s conversations about travelling to Stansted with a woman who does not have a UK visa.
The email, from a sender named Larry to Epstein’s long-term executive assistant Lesley Groff, says: ‘ps, Je mentioned he may use the Boeing on Dec7th London to NY, He told me he would Paris to London, Stansted UK to meet the boeing there with [REDACTED] , I did some work since [REDACTED] has no UK visa, where she can enter UK and make tranfer [sic] to Boeing,.’
On November 30 2012, emails were exchanged about getting a woman travelling with Epstein to come through Stansted without a UK visa
Epstein is also seen asking questions about travelling to the UK with a woman without a UK visa by plane or train
Emails show that Epstein also appeared to be interested in investing in Stansted Airport with the help of a Chinese businessman.
An email from Epstein fixer David Stern to Epstein with the subject field Stansted Investment Opportunity says: ‘Do you want to send the idea (if you like it) of investing in Stansted =irport [sic] to the Chinese guy that came to see you (Beijing Capital =irport [sic].
‘Good way to test him. Could be an interesting deal. Attachment in Chinese and English.’
It comes after Mr Brown said files showed Epstein’s jet made 90 flights to or from UK airports, including 15 after his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a child.
He said Epstein ‘boasted’ about how cheap the airport charges were in Stansted compared to Paris.
In one email seen by the Mail, Epstein is told by a sender called Larry: ‘Jeffrey, I will need 8000 gallons of fuel for trip to NY. We get a great fuel price in Stansted, UK. These prices include all taxes.’
Epstein is told that the fuel contract price would be $47, 280 from Paris Charles de Galle or $48,080 from Paris Le Bourget compared to $27,360 at Stansted.
In an article for the New Statesman, Mr Brown wrote that Stansted Airport was where ‘women were transferred from one Epstein plane to another’, adding that ‘women arriving on private planes into Britain would not need British visas’.
He said it seemed as though authorities ‘never knew what was happening’, referring to evidence uncovered by the BBC which showed ‘incomplete flight logs, with unnamed passengers simply labelled as ‘female”.
He wrote: ‘In short, British authorities had little or no idea who was being trafficked through our country, and for whom other than Epstein.’
On Wednesday, the Chancellor backed calls for Andrew to come forward with what he knows about the Epstein scandal, saying he “owes it to the victims”.
Speaking to reporters at a supermarket in south London on Wednesday, Rachel Reeves said: “The former prince has got a lot of questions to answer on a whole range of issues.
“I think he owes it to the victims of Epstein and his associates to come forward and give much more information about what he knew around the treatment of young women and girls.”
On Tuesday, a Stansted Airport spokesperson said: ‘All private aircraft at London Stansted operate through independent Fixed Base Operators, which handle all aspects of private and corporate aviation in line with regulatory requirements.
‘All immigration and customs checks for passengers arriving on private aircraft are carried out directly by Border Force.
‘They use entirely independent terminals not operated by London Stansted and no private jet passengers enter the main airport terminal.
‘The airport does not manage or have any visibility of passenger arrangements on privately operated aircraft.’
it comes after the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said that a national group had been set up to support UK police forces that are ‘assessing allegations’ following the publication of the Epstein files.
A spokesperson for the NPCC said: ‘A national coordination group has been set up to support a small number of forces assessing allegations that have emerged following the publication of the US DoJ Epstein files.
Gordon Brown has urged police to interview Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as part of their probe into Epstein. The former prime minister is pictured with former prince in May 2009
Andrew features a number of times in the Epstein files, including images apparently showing him crouching over an unidentified woman in what appears to be Epstein’s New York mansion
Pictured: The rear interior of Epstein’s Boeing 727-100, complete with a double bed, recliner chair and red velvet sofas
Another room inside Epstein’s private jet. The Boeing plane was used primarily to fly young victims between Epstein’s lavish homes
‘We continue to work collaboratively to assess the details being made public to allow us to understand any potential impact arising from the millions of documents that have been published.
‘We continue to support our partners and contribute in any way we can to help secure justice for victims and survivors, and urge anyone who needs support to visit whenyouareready.co.uk.’
The national coordination group will bring together affected forces to ensure consistency of approach, it is understood.
Earlier this month, Thames Valley Police confirmed it was assessing claims Andrew shared confidential reports from his role as the UK’s trade envoy with Epstein.
Surrey Police is also understood to be seeking unredacted files in relation to a separate historical abuse allegation found in the files against Andrew.
On Wednesday, the force urged people with information to come forward about claims of human trafficking and sexual assault linked to the Epstein files.
The force said the allegations, set out in a redacted report released by the US Department of Justice in December, allegedly took place in Virginia Water between 1994 and 1996.
An FBI report from July 2020, which appeared in the files, alleged sexual abuse against Andrew and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell in Surrey in the mid-1990s.
The claims, made as part of an anonymous tip, alleged a woman was restrained on a table and ‘tortured with electrical shocks’ by Maxwell, while the former prince and other men watched on.
Surrey Police said they have found no evidence of the allegations being reported to them after reviewing their systems.
It has urged anyone with information in relation to the claims to come forward and contact police either online or over the phone.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police has already launched a criminal probe into Peter Mandelson over claims he leaked confidential information to Epstein while serving as business secretary in 2009.
Andrew has previously denied any wrongdoing over his Epstein links, but has not directly responded to the latest allegations.
