A woman claims that the head of an agency sent her to photo shoots at the sex offender's beach house.
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Caption, Roza says that, after the photo shoots at Epstein's house, he raped her for three years. By Oana MarocicoBy Sheida KiranBy Haya Al BadarnehAuthor's title, BBC Eye Investigations teamPublication date 25 minutesReading time: 7 minA woman raped by Jeffrey Epstein says the head of the modeling agency that represented her put her in danger by sending her to two photo shoots at the convicted sex offender's Florida home. At the time, in 2009, Epstein was serving a prison sentence for sex crimes against a minor, but he was allowed to work daily from his home."My agency's job was to protect me, and they failed. In fact, they put me in danger. And for that, they should be held accountable," she tells the BBC World Service. Roza was 18 years old when MC2 Model Management's US branch first sent her to Epstein's Palm Beach home, barely a month after she had arrived in the US from Uzbekistan. The then-president of MC2 in the US, Jeff Fuller, now runs another American modeling agency called The Source Models."My agency knew exactly where I was. So Jeff knew exactly where I was going," Roza says. Image source, Fashion TVCaption, Jeff Fuller now runs the modeling agency The Source Models. She shows us an expense record suggesting that Fuller himself booked her return flight home from Palm Beach, after her second photo shoot at Epstein's house. Fuller has previously stated that he did not know Roza was going to Epstein's house. Skip Most read and continue readingMost readEnd of Most readAccording to her, the photo shoots led to her being hired as Epstein's assistant. Other survivors have explained how the financier used the hiring of assistants as an elaborate scheme to continue abusing young women. Roza says Epstein went on to rape her systematically. US$1 million donationFuller did not give his version of events when contacted by the BBC. He had previously stated that he did not know Roza was being abused. Through documents related to Epstein released by the US Department of Justice, we discovered that 10 MC2 models met or communicated with Epstein after his conviction. The files also show that Epstein donated US$1 million to MC2 in 2005, even though the agency's owners told a US publication two years later that Epstein had no relationship with their company. The testimony shared with BBC Eye also raises questions about the role played by two other people who were active in the modeling industry and who, according to Department of Justice files, had close relationships with Epstein: former agent Ramsey Elkholy and agency director Faith Kates. A Department of Justice statement from last year, which said no evidence had been found to justify further investigation into "unindicted third parties," is now being questioned by Zellnor Myrie, a New York State Senator. Myrie introduced an anti-sex trafficking bill to give police greater powers to investigate Epstein's alleged accomplices. Caption, Myrie told the BBC he wants those who knew, or should have known, about Epstein's abuses to be held accountable before the law. Sara Ziff, founder of Model Alliance, an organization fighting for greater protections for models in the US, approves."Often, [modeling agencies] are the problem. They are the nexus between the model and these predatory men," she argues. A close relationshipRoza says the person behind the camera at the photo shoots MC2 sent her to was not a professional photographer, but Epstein's girlfriend at the time, Nadia Marcinko. Roza describes the situation as "strange" because "there was no stylist" and points out that the photos were never used. Since then, she has been convinced that the photo shoots were orchestrated by Epstein and MC2. An email found in the Department of Justice files, sent by Fuller to Epstein, makes clear the close relationship between the agency and the financier. "If it weren't for you, we would have fired her months ago," Fuller writes about another model in March 2012. "And I would be careful, because she gossips," he adds. A month after Epstein's second arrest in 2019, MC2's US branch was dissolved and Fuller opened a new agency, The Source Models, which is still operating. The BBC found that 50 MC2 models were transferred to his new agency. We asked The Source Models to comment on our findings, but received no response. The modeling agencies were useful to Epstein, says Sigrid McCawley, the lead attorney for more than 100 of Epstein's victims."Epstein told many people he wanted three different girls a day. Think about those numbers (…) The [model] scouts were essential because they were the ones who identified the type of woman Epstein liked." In the case of former agent Ramsey Elkholy, BBC Eye found that he tried to connect 34 women with Epstein, including an 18-year-old who was still in school. The experience of one of the women highlights how assistants were co-opted and incorporated into the structure of abuse. According to Department of Justice files, Elkholy suggested to Epstein that one of the financier's assistants befriend this woman before introducing her to Epstein. We spoke with that woman, and she revealed that at her first meeting with Epstein, when she was 19, he sexually abused her at his New York home. In response to the allegations, Ramsey Elkholy told the BBC: "I categorically reject any accusation that I knew of or facilitated abuses of any kind (…) At the time, I had no knowledge of any abuse and only knew his [Epstein's] own version of his [legal] case from 2008, which I mistakenly believed." "The records and published reports show that women were often manipulated by other women in his inner circle. I was never part of that circle, nor did I participate in any such activity (…) my intention was to help models find career opportunities by introducing them to a person with excellent connections," he continued. Attorney Sigrid McCawley asserts that these female assistants would have had "no choice" in how they behaved."These young survivors were abused regularly. Their livelihood was at risk (…) They had to do what they were ordered to do," she says."We have been left with deep trauma"Another model we spoke to, Simona (a pseudonym), from Eastern Europe, told us that Epstein raped her more than 200 times."People believe we gained something, that we accepted this abuse to obtain some benefit, whether financial or influence, but that is not true. We have been left with deep trauma," says Simona. According to her account, the first time she met the financier, at age 20, she was already signed with a modeling agency in New York, and he offered to introduce her to his "good" friend Faith Kates. At the time, Kates was the director of Next Management, one of the largest modeling agencies in the world. She left that executive position in December of last year, but legally she still appears as a director of the company. Image source, Getty ImagesCaption, Simona recounts that Faith Kates, pictured here, met her at Epstein's request. Simona recalls that, at that meeting, Kates suggested she undergo plastic surgery and sent the details of a surgeon to Epstein. After her encounter with Kates, Epstein convinced her to stop being a model, Simona says. And like Roza and other victims, she became his assistant. She says he raped her and controlled every aspect of her life for nearly two years. Department of Justice files show that Epstein asked Kates to meet with five other models, although it is unclear how many of these meetings took place. Faith Kates' lawyers told the BBC: "Jeffrey Epstein was a master of manipulation (…) Kates was one of the people Epstein gravely deceived. If she had known then what she — and everyone else — knows now, she would never have had anything to do with him." The lawyers added that she never asked a model to undergo plastic surgery. We contacted Next Management for comment, but they did not respond."When this bill becomes law, if you are an individual who was leading an agency and you were sending models to Epstein, and you knew what Epstein was doing, or should have known what he was doing, you will have to be held accountable," Myrie said about his initiative. Roza hopes that sharing her story will encourage others to come forward."There are so many survivors who never speak because they are afraid. So to all my survivor sisters... you already know me. You know my name. I tell them: Contact me!"Additional reporting by Annika GrosserThis article was originally written in English and we used an artificial intelligence tool to translate it. BBC journalists reviewed the text before publication. More information on how we use AI. Download the new BBC World Service app. Choose BBC News Mundo and receive news alerts, documentaries and analysis, all in one place. Important: the new app is not available in the UK or the US. You can also follow us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X and on our WhatsApp channel. And don't forget to subscribe here to our newsletter to receive a special selection of our best content every Friday.