Epstein, Prince Andrew, and the Race to Control Libya's Billions

In October 2010, Epstein emailed a royal aide: "i want to go to tripoli lets organize with pa" (EFTA02421931-0). PA was Prince Andrew, then Britain's trade envoy. The aide replied the same day: "Spoke to PA. Tripoli can be organised, he wants more details" (EFTA02421891-0).

In a separate thread from July 2010, Andrew had forwarded Epstein his full correspondence with Terence Allen, a UAE-based investment banker at Allied Investment Partners. Allen was arranging a loan from Libya to Dubai worth "around 3 b" and told Andrew: "you need not be involved officially," that it could be arranged "quietly and discreetly" if Andrew provided a reference (vol00009-efta00736900-pdf-0). In the same exchange, Andrew referred to Gaddafi's private office as "the private office of Brother Leader."

A few weeks after the Tripoli request, Andrew wrote to Epstein directly: "I will call you later this evening after I have had my chat with my Libyan contact to see what we can arrange for you in Tripoli" (EFTA01795765-1). The next day: "Tried to ring but left message. No joy through the hotel! Libya fixed. Call me whenever" (EFTA02417055-0).

Nine months later, Gaddafi was dead. His government had collapsed under NATO-backed rebel forces in the summer of 2011. By June 30, Gregory Brown, Chairman of GlobalCast Partners LLC, was in Epstein's inbox with a new proposition: get to the Transitional National Council before anyone else. Libya had roughly $80 billion in state funds frozen internationally, $32.4 billion of it in the US. Brown estimated the real total, including misappropriated assets, was three to four times that.

The pitch had a structure. Asset recovery on contingency, receiving "10% to 25% as compensation." Brown wrote that he had "friends, formally with MI-6 and Mossad willing to help identify stolen assets and get them recovered" (EFTA01776887-0). He invited Epstein to fly to Benghazi with him (EFTA01994452-0). On July 16: "you and I could end up being their go-to guys and make hundreds of millions if not billions in the process." Epstein had replied: "not simple" (EFTA01995819-0). Brown kept sending. Epstein kept responding, through the Paris Libya Summit in September 2011 and through Libya's first post-war election in August 2012.

Whether any of this made it past email is not established by the documents. Epstein didn't go to Benghazi. The Libyan Investment Authority's assets are still frozen, still contested between rival governments.