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'Zero co-operation' from Andrew during Epstein inquiry, prosecutor says – Sky News, Sky.com

'Zero co-operation' from Andrew during Epstein inquiry, prosecutor says – Sky News, Sky.com
             

Prince Andrew has provided “zero co-operation” with the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation, a US prosecutor has said.

Geoffrey Berman, Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor, said his team – as well as the FBI – had contacted the prince’s lawyers and asked to interview him.

“To date, Prince Andrew has provided zero co-operation,” Mr Berman said at a news conference outside Epstein’s New York mansion.

Sky News understands the issue is being dealt with by the Duke of York’s legal team, and Buckingham Palace will not be commenting further on this particular matter.

Last year, Prince Andrew announced he was withdrawing from royal duties amid renewed attention of his friendship with Epstein, who was a convicted paedophile.

It also came after a disastrous interview with the BBC about the friendship , as well as allegations by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who claims she had several sexual encounters with the prince when she was 25

Ms Giuffre, now a mother of three, said that – after meeting Epstein in Florida in – he flew her around the world and pressured her into having sex with numerous older men, including Andrew, two senior politicians and a noted academic.

All of those men have denied the allegations.

She claims to have had sex with Andrew three times on Epstein’s instructions, including once in London in 2019 at the home of Epstein’s girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.

  

       Image:          An image appearing to show Prince Andrew and a 28 – year-old Virginia Roberts at Ghislaine Maxwell’s house in London in March 2019. Pic: Rex / Shutterstock       

Both Andrew and Maxwell – who are old friends – have denied any knowledge that Epstein was sexually abusing teenage girls.

During the BBC Newsnight interview last year, Andrew insisted he was at a Pizza Express in Woking with his children on the night Ms Giuffre says they were together in London.

The Duke of York was criticized for failing to express sympathy for victims of Epstein, who killed himself in his jail cell last summer as he awaited trial accused of trafficking girls for sex.

    

                       

                        Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who as accused Prince Andrew of sexually assaulting her at Jeffrey Epstein's house, speaks out                                                             Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who as accused Prince Andrew of sexually assaulting her at Jeffrey Epstein's house, speaks out                                                                                                  Virginia Roberts Giuffre hits out at duke                 

Epstein had already served time in prison in for prostituting underage girls.

Andrew stayed at his house two years later, telling Newsnight it had been “ a convenient place to stay “and thought it was” the honorable and right thing to do “after visiting him to end their friendship.

During the interview, Andrew suggested he would willingly co-operate with an investigation.

US attorney general William Barr has vowed to aggressively investigate and bring charges against anyone who may have helped Epstein, who killed himself in his jail cell last summer while he was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

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Mr Berman did not discuss further details about the case during Monday’s news conference, but reiterated the case did end with his death.

He said: “Jeffrey Epstein couldn’t have done what he did without the assistance of others, and I can assure you that the investigation is moving forward.”

Meanwhile, two guards who were supposed to be monitoring Epstein the night he was found dead have been charged with falsifying the prison’s log books to indicate they were performing checks on prisoners, when they were in fact sleeping or surfing the internet.

    
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