Like the NXIVM cult, the twisted apparatus of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking scheme worked like a Ponzi scheme.
The more young women (preferably looking like teenagers) you delivered to the fiendish hedge fund manager, the less likely you’d be forced to have sex with him.
Aside from disgraced socialite Ghislaine Maxwell , the highest you’d climb is “assistant.”
‘I am so exhausted’
Former Russian model Svetlana Pozhidaeva became one of the uber-creep’s “assistants” from 2008 to 2019, but she was also sexually abused by Epstein, who topped himself while awaiting trial for sex trafficking in 2019. She has changed her name.
But when the files started dropping, her name appeared.
“I am so exhausted. I haven’t slept or eaten properly for weeks,” she told The Wall Street Journal . “I’d rather tell this embarrassing story myself and get it over with once and for all so I can finally be free and close this chapter.”
After his 2008 conviction, Epstein started targeting grown women, albeit ones who looked like teens. Pozhidaeva was sexually exploited under the guise of assistant and her sick boss controlled every aspect of her life: Her immigration status, finances, where she lived. Her job was to find models for Epstein to have sex with.
“It’s been hard for me because for many years I’ve been so embarrassed that I wasn’t underage when I met him. I was in my early 20s,” she said. “I kept thinking that I was at fault for putting myself in this situation.”
Before Epstein’s mysterious death in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019, the feds had planned to expand the indictment beyond his sex crimes against underage girls. Adult women would be included in the next round.
And most of the post-2008 women lured into Epstein’s vile web were young models from Eastern Europe. They looked like kids but were legal. They were reeled in with promises of modelling gigs, bogus jobs and the famous connections in his black book. The Journal reports that Epstein seldom delivered on his promises.
Imprisoned sexual serfs?
And those famous massages he fancied? They turned into sexual assaults.
There was no way out for his “assistants.” True, Epstein gave them and their families loans but that made the women beholden sexual serfs. Epstein was running a scheme like NXIVM’s Keith Raniere and co. with victims pressured to find new recruits.
For Epstein victims it became a matter of them or me. His move toward adult women after 2008 provided cover for his sex-trafficking operation. As the Journal noted, “the strategy largely worked.”
“He drew very little scrutiny from law enforcement,” lawyer Brad Edwards said. “There was a DEA investigation opened, so it drew some attention, but not much.”
Compromising photos
Pozhidaeva was introduced to Epstein in 2008 by Daniel Siad, a modeling scout who told her Epstein could arrange a Victoria’s Secret audition. Siad’s lawyer had no immediate comment. Siad said he knew of no wrongdoing.
But Epstein sorted the young Russian beauty’s visa and housed her at at Upper East Side house, alongside other victims. He closely monitored Pozhidaeva and took compromising photos of her. He wanted to be informed about other men. And he sent spending reports on what they owed him.
Pozhidaeva feared Epstein’s tentacles in Russia and worried for her family. Only after he died did she realized she had been played by the pedophile.
Released were emails about a job for her brother while others reveal Pozhidaeva suggesting other women to Epstein. Included were photos and modeling profiles.
‘I feel ashamed’
“I feel ashamed and think about those other women all the time,” Pozhidaeva said. “That’s the hardest part of all of this — I was too consumed by my own abuse to see beyond it. I had to appear happy, to keep smiling, while privately I was battling eating disorders, depression, and insomnia.”
She added: “I was bullied and controlled for more than 10 years by Jeffrey Epstein. I have to learn to stand up for myself now. I am done being bullied by anyone.”
bhunter@postmedia.com
On X: @HunterTOSun
