Ghislaine Maxwell Asks for $28.5 Million Bail in Latest Bid for Release

Once again, Ghislaine Maxwell has asked to be released from jail while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges, as Bloomberg reported. She proposed a $28.5 million bond, which would be backed by her unidentified spouse. Maxwell claimed that the high amount for the bond would ensure that she will not flee in advance of her trial.

Maxwell was arrested on July 2 of this year at her estate in Bradford, New Hampshire. Ever since her arrest, she has remained in prison. She initially offered to post a $5 million bond and submit to house arrest. However, U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in New York rejected that offer, ruling that Maxwell's "extraordinary" financial resources and "international ties" presented a risk that she would flee. Maxwell's lawyers released a statement on Monday regarding her new bond proposal, which read, "Ms. Maxwell is proposing an expansive set of bail conditions that is more than adequate to address any concern regarding risk of flight and reasonably assure Ms. Maxwell's presence in court."

This bond request was filed on Dec. 8 under seal in Manhattan federal court. Maxwell's attorneys filed many letters in this renewed bid to win release from jail on bail. One of those letters was from her spouse whose identity was redacted in the document but who the lawyers say is a U.S. citizen. The spouse reportedly co-signed a personal bond of $22.5 million. Maxwell and her unidentified spouse were said to have been living a quiet life for more than four years before her arrest. Her lawyers also argued that her spouse is another factor that would prevent her from fleeing the country if she were to be released.

Maxwell was arrested in connection with her former boyfriend, money manager Jeffrey Epstein, and his alleged sexual crimes. According to documents obtained by CNN in 2019, Virginia Roberts Giuffre implicated Maxwell in her allegations against Epstein. Giuffre claimed in a 2015 defamation lawsuit that Epstein kept her as a "sex slave" with Maxwell's help. Another woman also testified to the abuse from both Epstein and Maxwell in those same documents. Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to charges that she trafficked girls with the late money manager. Epstein died by suicide at the age of 66 in August 2019 while he was in a Manhattan jail awaiting trial for charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy.