A lawyer representing women who say they were abused by Jeffrey Epstein has urged Prince Andrew to co-operate with an investigation into the financier.<\/p>\n
Lisa Bloom said the alleged victims were “outraged” by the Duke of York not assisting the US authorities.<\/p>\n
It comes after the prosecutor in charge of the US investigation said the duke had provided “zero co-operation”.<\/p>\n
The prince has said he did not witness or suspect any suspicious behaviour during visits to Epstein’s homes.<\/p>\n
He told the BBC last November that he was willing to help the authorities into the investigation of Epstein, a convicted sex offender who\u00a0took his own life in a jail cell in August,<\/a>\u00a0aged 66, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.<\/p>\n However, US attorney Geoffrey Berman said prosecutors and the FBI have received no reply after contacting the duke’s lawyers.<\/p>\n Ms Bloom, a US lawyer who represents five of Epstein’s accusers, said the duke should “do the right thing”.<\/p>\n She told BBC Newsnight: “I’m glad that Geoffrey Berman has gone public to try to embarrass Prince Andrew, who made one statement and then behind closed doors is doing something very different.<\/p>\n “The five Epstein victims who I represent are outraged and disappointed at Prince Andrew’s behaviour here.”<\/p>\n Buckingham Palace said the prince’s legal team was dealing with the issue and it would not be commenting further.<\/p>\n Ms Bloom added: “If Prince Andrew truly has done nothing wrong then it’s incumbent upon him to go and speak to the FBI at a time that’s convenient for him and say what he knows.<\/p>\n “Perhaps he can help bring other people to justice.”<\/p>\n Another US lawyer representing some of Epstein’s accusers, Gloria Allred, said she had sent a letter to Prince Andrew’s home urging him to co-operate but hadn’t received a response.<\/p>\n She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “No response is the same as zero co-operation. This is ridiculous. It’s just not acceptable.”<\/p>\n She added: “Prince Andrew has a moral obligation to volunteer to speak to law enforcement – that’s what he said he would do.”<\/p>\n The duke has come under fire for his friendship with the US financier, who was jailed in Florida in 2008 for procuring a minor for prostitution.<\/p>\n He told BBC Newsnight in November that he first met Epstein in 1999 and did not regret their friendship – which led to Epstein attending events at Windsor Castle and Sandringham – because it had “some seriously beneficial outcomes”.<\/p>\n However he admitted it was wrong of him to visit Epstein at his home in 2010, after his conviction.<\/p>\n Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s accusers, says she was trafficked to London by Epstein in 2001, when she was 17, and forced to have sex with Prince Andrew.<\/p>\n Prince Andrew emphatically denies any form of sexual contact or relationship with her and says any claim to the contrary is false and without foundation.<\/p>\n He said he has no recollection of ever meeting the woman, who was previously known as Virginia Roberts.<\/p>\n Prince Andrew was accused of lacking empathy for Epstein’s victims in his Newsnight interview and failing to show regret over their friendship.<\/p>\n Shortly after it was broadcast, the prince announced he was stepping back from royal duties for the “foreseeable future” because the Epstein scandal had become a “major disruption” to the Royal Family.<\/p>\n At the time, he said he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.<\/p>\n He also said in the BBC interview he would consider giving evidence under oath “if push came to shove and the legal advice was to do so”.<\/p>\n Prince Andrew accompanied the Queen<\/a>\u00a0to church near Sandringham earlier this month.<\/p>\n It was the first time the prince had been seen with his mother since the week after his Newsnight interview.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n