More details are emerging about the arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell, the alleged former madam of the late billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Since her arrest earlier this month, prosecutors are fighting to have her remanded in federal custody without bail.

Daily Mail reported that in a new court filing, prosecutors wrote that Maxwell’s conduct when the FBI arrived at her lavish New Hampshire mansion on July 2 was “troubling,” as she attempted to elude agents.

Close

“As the agents approached the front door to the main house, they announced themselves as FBI agents and directed the defendant to open the door,” the prosecutors wrote. “Through a window, the agents saw the defendant ignore the direction to open the door and, instead, try to flee to another room in the house, quickly shutting a door behind her. Agents were ultimately forced to breach the door in order to enter the house to arrest the defendant, who was found in an interior room in the house.”

In an odd twist, agents also found that Maxwell had a cell phone wrapped in tinfoil, which she somehow seems to have thought would help her avoid detection.

“Moreover, as the agents conducted a security sweep of the house, they also noticed a cell phone wrapped in tin foil on top of a desk, a seemingly misguided effort to evade detection, not by the press or public, which of course would have no ability to trace her phone or intercept her communications, but by law enforcement,” the court filing states.

A security guard working on the New Hampshire property told agents that he had been hired by Maxwell’s brother, who enlisted his services from a company staffed with former British military soldiers.

“The guard informed the FBI that the defendant had not left the property during his time working there, and that instead, the guard was sent to make purchases for the property using the credit card,” the filing continued. “As these facts make plain, there should be no question that the defendant is skilled at living in hiding.”

Maxwell’s lawyers are arguing that she should be released on bond because she is at a greater risk of contracting coronavirus behind bars. Prosecutors, however, are arguing that Maxwell is a fight risk given her multiple passports and her international connections to powerful people.

Maxwell is facing up to 35 years in prison on six different charges related to her allegedly grooming young girls, one as young as 14 years of age, for sex with Epstein.

“The defendant has spent the last two decades without facing consequences for her criminal actions,” prosecutors wrote. “For years before her arrest in this case, the defendant likely believed she had gotten away with her crimes. That illusion has now been shattered, and she has a host of new reasons to use her considerable resources to flee.”

“Moreover, the defendant’s willingness to brazenly lie under oath about her conduct, including some of the conduct charged in the Indictment, strongly suggests her true motive has been and remains to avoid being held accountable for her crimes,” they added.

The opinions expressed by contributors and/or content partners are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of LifeZette.