NEW YORK: Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite facing criminal charges she helped procure girls for the late financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse, has renewed her request for bail and is proposing a US$28.5 million bail package.
In a filing made public on Monday night with the US District Court in Manhattan, Maxwell proposed a US$22.5 million bond co-signed by her and her spouse, who according to the filing married in 2016, and secured by all of their assets. Most of the remaining bail would be posted by friends and family.
The filing also said Maxwell “vehemently maintains her innocence and is committed to defending herself”.
A spokesman for Acting US Attorney Audrey Strauss in Manhattan declined to comment.
Maxwell, 58, has pleaded not guilty to helping Epstein recruit and groom underage girls as young as 14 to engage in illegal sexual acts in the mid-1990s, and not guilty to perjury for having denied involvement under oath.
She is scheduled to stand trial from July 2021. The charges carry up to 35 years in prison.