In SDNY Epstein Indictment Unsealed
Presentation Due 2 PM Then Judge Berman
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
July 8 – That
Jeffrey Epstein,
now in the Metropolitan
Correctional
Center by
Foley Square,
will be denied
bail later
this week is
widely
reported. So
far, the
previously
sealed indictment 19-cr-490,
seemingly
among those
signed last
week by SDNY
Magistrate
Judge Barbara
Moses, has
been released
before an 11 am
press
conference by
U.S. Attorney
Geoffrey
Berman, indictment
on Patreon
downloadable
here.
Inner City
Press asked to
which SDNY
Judge the
sealed case(s) and
warrants were
wheeled out,
but no answer
was given.
While
reporters
began assembling
outside the
same
Magistrates
Court where at
least two
accused pedophiles
have been
bailed this
year, see
below, it is
now understood
that Epstein
will be
presented
around 2 pm on
July 8, then a
conference
before Judge
Richard Berman
to whom the
case is being
assigned. Recently
Berman took a
gun
plea; and
imposed
sentence for
an attempted bombing.
Inner
City Press
will be there.
And
here: "There
will be a
press
conference
today at 11:00
a.m. to
announce
charges
against
Jeffrey
Epstein for
sex
trafficking of
minors and
conspiracy to
commit sex
trafficking of
minors,
including
creating and
maintaining a
network and
operation
enabling him
to sexually
exploit and
abuse dozens
of underage
girls, and
paying victims
to recruit
other underage
girls." Watch
this site.
As
Inner City
Press has
reported from
the
Magistrates
Court of the
U.S. District
Court for the
Southern
District of
New York this
year, at least
two accused
pedofiles have
been released
on bond, with
conditions.
One,
Donnie
Fetters, was
bailed by
Magistrate
Judge Ona T.
Wang on May 10
and allowed to
fly back to
Iowa from
whence he came
to Laguardia
to meet an
underage girl,
or what he
thought was an
underage girl.
See the Inner
City Press,
the only media
that day in
the Magistrate
Court, story
here.
Fetters
remains free;
most recently
his appearance
before SDNY
Judge Victor
Marrero was
waived. This
case is now US
v. Fetters,
19-cr-387
(VM).
On May
30 SDNY
Magistrate
Judge James L.
Cott granted
bond to Bryan
Pivnick,
accused of
grooming an 11
year old boy, see
Inner City
Press story here:
now Pivnick is
asking for
greater access
to the
Internet in
New Jersey,
ostensibly to
pay his
student loans.
This case is
now US v.
Pivnick,
19-cr-00464
(PKC). More on
Patreon, here.
Certainly,
conspiracy to
commit sex
trafficking
charges are
different. But
these two
recent
bailings, and
the SDNY's
continuing
usually
ignored
proceedings,
merit
reporting,
which Inner
City Press
will continue
to do, perched
as for months
over the PACER
terminal in
the 500 Pearl
Street press
room, if it is
available, as it
continues its
"Murky
Mag Court"
series.
Back
on March 6
when the
question of
releasing or
at least
reviewing
sealed Jeffrey
Epstein
documents was
taken up by
the U.S. Court
of Appeals for
the Second
Circuit, Inner
City Press
story here,
Alan
Dershowitz was
there.
Afterward by
the elevators
in 40 Foley
Square Inner
City Press
asked
Dershowitz,
what he'd
thought of
Judge Sweet's
decision. He
began to say,
Judge Sweet
made a mistake
- when first
his lawyer
gestured that
they should
go, and then
the clerk of
court asked
everyone to
leave the
floor.
Now it's
reported not only that
on July 8 Epstein will be
presented and indicted on sex
trafficking charges but also
that a search warrant was
executed on Epstein's
Manhattan mansion at 8 East
71st Street on July 6. Epstein
is in the Metropolitan
Correctional Center, photo here,
along with among others
convicted UN briber, Antonio
Guterres linked, Patrick Ho of
CEFC.
Cursory
research revealed not only
Epstein as a member of the
Council on Foreign Relations,
but bragging about his
financial support to CFR,
through the Jeffrey Epstein VI
Foundation. Photo here.
What will CFR say? Will they
belatedly be returning the
money?
While some call
it a pink hued building on a
dead end street, his mansion
is at 9 East 71st Street - one
block, it turns out, from the
Qatar royal family mansion
which has hosted human
trafficking covered up in the
SDNY, see Inner City Press here,
and below.
The July 8
presentment will presumably be
in Courtroom 5A of 500 Pearl
Street, or perhaps a larger
room to accommodate the
interest. In Courtroom 5A as
the July 1-3 work week ended
Inner City Press alone in the
gallery observed Magistrate
Judge Barbara Moses signed sealed
indictments and warrants,
even with what some called sleight
of hand of saying there
would be no action until 8 pm
then, when Inner City Press
ran to the PACER terminal in
the press room, ending the
day's business at 7:45 pm with
no press present. Expect on
July 7 another
Geoffrey Berman press
conference as well -- Inner
City Press will be there.
The rights
or lack of rights of victims
have been highlighted for some
in this case - but the
violation of rights of less
prominent people has been
happening every day,
from before March until now in
the SDNY including its murky
Magistrates Court. Inner City
Press was in the 2d Circuit in
March and will be in the SDNY
July 8, based from a PACER
terminal, documenting the
disparities. Watch this site.
Back in March all
of the parties - the Miami
Herald's Julie Brown, Mike
Cernovich, Alan Dershowitz and
even Virginia Giuffre -- were
pushing for the unsealing of
the documents, except
Ghislaine Maxwell. Her
lawyer Ty Gee argued that
people had relied on the
commitment to seal the
information. He ended by
saying the U.S. judicial
system is not about democracy.
But by then the
panel of Judges of Cabranes,
Pooler and Droney had made it
pretty clear they will be
remanding the case and the 167
documents back to the U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York.
The only question seems to be
whether Judge Sweet, who
initially agreed to seal them,
will get the case on remand or
if another judge will.
. He challenged
Giuffre to sue him, and of
Judge Cassel was highly
critical, a term of art.
Another term of
art: slut-shamer, a term
applied during the argument to
Mike Cernovich but one that
the judges mocked, with Judge
Pooler asking if there was a
"slut-shaming cabal." The
wider point was that there is
in the United States no system
for certifying journalists,
that as the Ninth Circuit case
Opsidium v Cox has it,
journalist is something you
do, not something you are.
All citizens -
and non citizens, as in the
case of Argentines seeking
information about their
country's debt revealed in a
U.S. case - have a right to
information, a right that
predated the
Constitution. The judges
reserved judgement. Inner City
Press will continue to cover
this and other SDNY and 2nd
Circuit cases - watch this
site.
The Qatar ruling
family's abuse of employees
and laws was exposed
in an off the record initial
conference at
in the U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern
District of
New York on
February 14; Inner
City Press was the only media
present.
Inner City Press
wrote an exclusive story that
day, February 14, then more in
the following few days as more
sources contacted us. Now it
has learned that the UK's
Daily Mail days later on
February 21 false claimed an
exclusive on the story, here.
On June
1 Inner
City Press reported
that the
Qatari royals'
lawyers were on
the cusp of
succeeding in
burying the
case in
mediation by
JAMS. A low-ball
settlement -
except for
attorneys
fees -- was
submitted
to SDNY Judge
J. Paul Oetken
on June 1. The
total is
$150,000,
fully half being
attorneys'
fees;
it is signed
by the royals
without any
admission.
And
now on June
10, this:
"ORDER: The
proposed
settlement at
Docket Number
36-1 is
approved, and
the case is
hereby
DISMISSED WITH
PREJUDICE. The
Court shall
retain
jurisdiction
solely to
resolve any
disputes
arising from
the settlement
agreement and
the settlement
of this
action. The
Clerk of Court
is directed to
close the
case. SO
ORDERED.
(Signed by
Judge J. Paul
Oetken on
6/10/2019)
(jca)."
So the issue
of human trafficking
has been buried,
for money, in
the SDNY.
Tellingly,
the
cover letter
stated
that
"Defendants –
who are
members of the
royal family
of Qatar –
noted that if
they received
certification
from the State
Department,
they would
potentially be
considered
diplomats
entitled to
full immunity,
resulting in
immediate
dismissal of
the litigation
for lack of
subject matter
jurisdiction." So the
Qatar royals used
the threat of
support from
the U.S. State
Department to
cover up human
trafficking.
We'll have
more on this - and there is
more on
Patreon, here.
Earlier
the
Qatari royals'
lawyer
complained of
a text message
from Benjamin
Boyd.
Judge Oetken
noted to
"uncertainty
as to how
Defendants
caught sight
of the
offending text
message in the
first place,"
left it open
to pursue the
issue later,
without
prejudice.
On April 17
the Qatari
royals'
lawyers filed
a motion to
stay the
proceeding
past the June
14 return
date, for
mediation by
JAMS. Judge
Oetken's order
on the motion
is listed but
no live in the
docket.
The
plaintiffs' lawyers, Pardalis
& Novavicka through
Araidne Panagopoulou engaged
in other mundane FLSA
litigation in front of Judge
Oetken even on May 20, here,
seem unaware of the explosive
human rights aspects revealed
/ revealable in this case.
It's one in which the public,
through the Press, must stay
alert, and on Notice - watch
this site.
On April 10 we
reported that these Qatari
royals, stating that they are
diplomats, are seeking to
further extend the case,
writing that "Defendants
Sheikh Jassim Abdulaziz
Al-Thani and Sheikha Al
Mayassa bint Hamad Al-Thani
(“Sheikh and Sheikha”) are
Qatari residents and
diplomats, and as a result,
frequently travel to Doha for
reasons pertaining to their
diplomatic duties and their
participation in other civic
engagements. At the moment,
Sheikh and Sheikha (and
members of their staff, many
of whom are anticipated to be
document custodians in the
litigation) are scheduled to
be in Qatar for the remainder
of the month of March, through
the beginning of April to
prepare for and attend the
formal opening of the Qatar
National Museum (as Sheikha is
the Chairperson of Qatar
Museums). The parties have
actively participated in
written discovery thus far;
they have already exchanged
document requests and
interrogatories, and they are
in the process of negotiating
a confidentiality stipulation.
However, as a result of Sheikh
and Sheikha’s (and their
staff’s) travel schedules,
Defendants anticipate some
subsequent delays in the
upcoming stages of discovery,
especially pertaining to data
collection of ESI from
custodians (as requested by
Plaintiffs) and the scheduling
of their depositions (which
are currently noticed for
April 16, 2019). In order to
ensure that Defendants are
able to collect, process,
review and produce ESI
responsive to Plaintiffs’
document requests, and
schedule mutually agreeable
dates for depositions to take
place in New York thereafter,
Defendants respectfully
request that the current
discovery deadlines be
modified as follows: Current
Deadline Proposed Deadline
Deposition Completion Date May
1, 2019 July 1, 2019
Completion of all Fact
Discovery June 10, 2019 August
9, 2019 Status Conference June
14, 2019 August 16, 2019 (or
any other date that is
convenient for the Court)."
Back to August? Since
its exclusive
report that day, Inner
City Press has been contacted
by more employees and
whistleblowers and a range of
apparent legal violations by
the Qatar royal family has
come to light.
Beyond the
failure to pay overtime which
was the subject of the
February 14 proceeding, Inner
City Press is now informed
that others of the Qatar
royals' workers are brought in
through JFK airport on private
jets, into limousine that
drive onto the tarmac. These
employees are then made to
work long hours with no
protections in the mansion at
9 East 72nd Street in
Manhattan.
Inner City Press
is informed, tellingly, that
one female worker from the
Philippines in forced to sleep
in front of Sheikh
Jassim bin Abdulaziz
Al-Thani's bedroom room so
that she can be ready to bring
him food or water or even give
massages at any hour. His wife
Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad
Al-Thani, the sister of
Qatar's ruler, buys art for
Qatar's museum and runs the
"Reaching Out To Asia" foundation.
Meanwhile her workers have
their hair pulled and a tooth
broken by her son. When
workers are fired they are
urged to fly to Doha where
they would face arrest.
The scams work
this way: the Qatari royals'
employees signed contracts in
Doha and then are told that
their visas to the US, unless
they are smuggled / trafficked
in through the JFK Airport
tarmac, are under the control
of the royals. While waiting
to be processed at JFK they
are presented with a new less
favorable contract and told if
they do not sign it, they will
not be admitted. If they work
for the family in Qatar, they
face imprisonment for any
disagreement.
In New York the
family's close protection
guards, some without visas,
brandish illegal large knives.
NYPD was called when the
royals sought to have one
fired employee, Chantelle
McGuffie, removed from her
apartment at 221 East 50th
Street near the UN. Still this
family, these systematic
crimes, have yet to be acted
on by authorities including
the U.S. Attorney for the
Southern District of New York
despite the facts dragged
through the SDNY court.
Inner City Press,
in reporting this despite
threats - at the UN, Qatar's
state media Al Jazeera has
worked with UNSG Antonio
Guterres' spokesman Stephane
Dujarric to have Inner City
Press roughed
up and banned,
see Columbia Journalism Review
here
- aims to put an end to this
impunity. Watch this site.
Background: the
sister of the ruler of Qatar
is being sued by at least
three employees who say they
were made to work six days a
week without being paid
overtime, and were retaliated
against. Inner City Press was
the only media present at the
initial pre trial conference
on the case in the U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
on February 14, and was
tempted to object when the
Qatari royal's lawyer from the
Proskauer law firm urged SDNY
Judge J. Paul Oetken for a
confidentiality order.
Royals of a
gas-rich emirate that has
locked up poets for
criticizing them, seeking to
cover up their retaliation and
refusal to pay overtime? It
remains to be seen how much
will be covered up in the
case. The defendants are
Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad
Al-Thani and Sheikh Jassim bin
Abdulaziz Al- Thani.
From the answer
to the Complaint: "Defendants
admit that Mr. Bancroft began
his employment in Doha, Qatar
and that he accompanied
Defendants when they moved to
New York, but otherwise deny
the allegations in
Paragraph 39 of the
Complaint. 40.
Defendants deny the
allegations in Paragraph 40 of
the Complaint. 41.
Defendants admit that Mr.
Bancroft accompanied
Defendants on their European
travels in various countries
during the summer of 2016, but
upon information and
belief, otherwise deny
the allegations in Paragraph
41 of the
Complaint.
42. Defendants admit that Mr.
Bancroft accompanied
Defendants on their trip to
Qatar in the summer of 2017,
but otherwise deny the
allegations in Paragraph 42 of
the Complaint. 43.
Defendants admit that Mr.
Bancroft accompanied
Defendants on their European
travels in various countries
during the summer of 2018, but
upon information and
belief, otherwise deny
the allegations in Paragraph
43 of the
Complaint.
44. Defendants admit that Mr.
Bancroft traveled with the
family to Miami and Boston."
This is the
life of corrupt royals and
diplomats, such like those at
the UN up to and including its
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres who lives alone in a
$15 million mansion on
Manhattan's Sutton Place (where
he favors Qatar state media Al
Jazeera, using it to oust
the independent Press which
questions him.) This is the
world of immunity and impunity
and now, it is urged,
confidentiality. Inner City
Press, now covering the SDNY
daily, will have more on
this.
***
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