DEEPER AND DEEPER
Prince Andrew dragged even further into Jeffrey Epstein paedo scandal as FBI expands investigation to identify more victims
The Sunday Times has reported the FBI expects to interview 100 alleged trafficking victims — most of whom were aged between 14 and 15 when allegedly trafficked.
This will take place over the next two months and Scotland Yard is ready to help.
Citing unidentified sources from the US Department of Justice, the paper says the FBI are looking to "several" potential victims.
Investigators hope they can provide more details about Prince Andrew and his links to the Epstein case.
The source said: “They are not going to dismiss it [claims relating to Andrew] because he is a royal.”
The report quotes former head of royal protection at Scotland Yard, Dai Davies, saying a full investigation would be in the Duke’s best interests.
Mr Davies said: “I would have thought it's in Prince Andrew's interests to clear this matter up.
"Any residue of doubt or innuendo should be cleared up by a clear, unequivocal, structured investigation."
Scotland Yard had previously held an investigation after one of the women caught up in the scandal, Virginia Giuffre, made allegations against the Duke of York, but that probe was dropped in 2015. This is now being reviewed by the FBI.They are not going to dismiss it [claims relating to Andrew] because he is a royal
FBI source
Her allegations, which Andrew strongly denies, were struck from US civil court records in 2015 after a judge said they were "immaterial and impertinent".
Last week Ms Giuffre claimed she had sex with Prince Andrew in a toilet when aged 17 after the royal plied her with vodka at a posh nightclub.
Buckingham Palace refuted this, saying: "It is emphatically denied that The Duke of York had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Virginia Roberts.
"Any claim to the contrary is false and without foundation."
The Sunday Times reports the claims by Ms Giuffre that she was ordered to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was 17 are not the only allegations against the royal being reviewed by the FBI.
He has denied all allegations against him as "false" and "without foundation".
The Epstein probe is continuing after the disgraced financier took his own life last month in a New York prison cell where he was detained on charges of sex trafficking teenage girls.
The American billionaire committed suicide in a New York prison cell last month, soon after arriving from Paris in one of his private jets.
'I SAW PRINCE ANDREW THERE'
A caretaker of Epstein's Paris property has now sensationally revealed: “I saw Prince Andrew there”.The key witness – who cannot currently be named for legal reasons – told The Sun on Sunday: "Prince Andrew stayed a number of times at the Avenue Foch address, including when Epstein was not there."
Reports in France say the Duke is expected to avoid travelling to the country while the investigation is ongoing amidst royal aides fears he could be hauled in for questioning.
Asked about the developments in France last night a Buckingham Palace spokesman refused to comment.
In a previous statement made by Prince Andrew he has said: "At no stage during the limited time I spent with him did I see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction. "I have said previously that it was a mistake and an error to see him after his release in 2010 and I can only reiterate my regret that I was mistaken to think that what I thought I knew of him was evidently not the real person, given what we now know."