Teens forced to die in sick ‘snuff’ films & babies snatched in brothels – my dark journey into world of sex trafficking
In her landmark book on the case, Perversion of Justice, Julie K. Brown explained how Epstein was able to get away with the crimes.
“He didn’t do this alone,” she said. “He had a whole ecosystem that he created that allowed this to happen.”
The same is true of all traffickers – they do not operate in isolation but rely on wider networks.
The ecosystems that enable trafficking in both upper and under worlds involve many parties and touch on other industries, from financial services to the travel industry.
Many of those who had been trafficked in Epstein’s vile operation, including Prince Andrew’s accuser Virginia Giuffre eventually came forward and won settlements from his estate.
In underworld trafficking, most victims’ best hope is survival.
They will never be reimbursed for the sale of their bodies or their labour.
The flow of money from these sales is gaining interest in big banks. In 2020, Deutsche Bank in New York and the Virgin Islands agreed to pay £116 million in penalties for facilitating Epstein’s sex trafficking.
In 2023, they agreed to a further £58 million settlement with the victims.
Another big bank, JPMorgan, settled a similar suit tied to Epstein’s sex trafficking charges, paying some $290m in penalties.
Dozens of other banks and subsidiaries earned money from Epstein’s criminal behaviour, ignoring red flags for the sake of millions in profits made both through Epstein and his clients who channelled money to him for the use of the girls he procured.
Anti-trafficking groups have long been pressurising big banks to stop turning a blind eye to shell accounts that allow traffickers to launder money unabated.
But they struggle to apply pressure to financial institutions to take stronger action in identifying accounts tied to traffickers, even when there are obvious indicators of money laundering.
They urge in-person bank employees to keep an eye out for suspicious activity like adults opening new accounts with a “chaperone” accompanying them, or account holders who have no tax number or who deposit curious sums.
Banks and financial institutions are required to play a major role in hunting out tax evaders, terrorists and money laundering tied to drug and arms trafficking.
Yet they often give human traffickers a pass.
Airbnb brothels
It is not only traffickers who make money from sex victims; so too do hotels where they are taken to meet clients and Airbnb owners, whose properties are commonly used by traffickers because of the anonymity they offer.
Anti-trafficking groups say if owners took a different approach, they could actively try to stop trafficking.
In 2019, one landlord did raise the alarm, suspecting a teen girl with three “sketchy” men may have been trafficked.
Airbnb did not comment but suggested that any hosts who suspect trafficking should call their country’s national trafficking hotline and can refuse a rental if suspicious.
Many Airbnb apartment hosts never meet the guests, who just use key boxes and other anonymous means to check in.
The potential for abuse of the system is striking – but campaigners say following the money is still one of the best ways we can combat the sick rackets.
Silvija Krupena, director of the London-based RedFlag Accelerator financial intelligence unit at RedCompass Labs, says: “Everyone can and must do more, but the financial sector is uniquely placed to disrupt human trafficking.
“Financial data can reveal human crimes flowing through systems which are often hidden in plain view.”
Every Body Counts: Money, Lies, And The Hidden Trade In Human Lives by Barbie Latza Nadeau was published by Ithaka on March 27 at £20.