solrize@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I don’t see anything in those articles that’s particularly in conflict with the stuff that was all over the press around the time of the Epstein and G. Maxwell busts. Everyone knows Robert Maxwell was an obnoxious Rupert Murdoch type who nonetheless did a lot of philanthropy. Epstein also did philanthropy. The articles don’t say Robert “trafficked” kids in the sense that Epstein did. He got a bunch of them taken to Israel (per the article–I hadn’t heard this story before but it doesn’t seem sensational) and lent his personal plane for the operation, no big deal. The stuff about him abusing Ghislaine is new to me but I guess it fits the general picture.
I don’t particularly remember about Epstein committing financial fraud though I didn’t pay close attention. It sounded to me more he had a bunch of ultra rich people investing with him and he also trafficked teenagers to them and maybe blackmailed them too. Those are very serious crimes but not financial fraud per se. The investments themselves made money, which was very easy to do in that era as financial markets in general were doing very well. I saw a news article claiming that Epstein pretended to be an investment genius and his clients treated him as a wizard, but in fact he just put everything in index funds like a common sense retail investor would. The index funds made money so the clients were happy.
LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Right, this would be speculation/fact-finding to get more info on this aspect of Robert Maxwell (his connections to moving at risk people around). Imo it’s super weird that he has these ties to “refugees” yet no refugee has come forward to thank him? And it’s actually pretty hard to find articles about it? Yet it seems to somehow be somewhat common knowledge.
He named his boat after Ghislaine. Reeks of parentification/making her his spouse. He had 9 children total so it’s super weird.
Epstein is known for being a fraudster and a thief. Including by his buddy Les Wexner, who claims Epstein “misappropriated funds.” And he was fired by Bear Stearns for similar issues.
I think Ghilsaine would keep quiet as this information not only implicates her, but her dad and entire family. It does nothing to benefit her and may cause her to have more charges brought against her. Critical thinking and analyzing public health risks like human traffickers isn’t “voyeurism.”
solrize@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Well, there is not much that can be done now about Robert (dead) or Ghislaine (locked up). You’re better informed about Epstein than I was. As for the refugees thanking Robert, has anyone asked them? They were kids, it was decades ago, etc., but probably some of them are still around and would remember. I don’t see how “Robert abused Ghislaine” implicates Ghislaine and if anything seems like something she could have used in a plea for lighter sentencing. I don’t know what parentification is but yeah it’s well known that Ghislaine was Robert’s favorite. I read some of the news coverage when the story was all over the press, but don’t know any more than what little I remember from that.
LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I mean, their victims deserve justice. The families of the victims deserve to know what happened if that is something that happened. Kinda absolutely wild that you are saying, “So what if they trafficked people?” Lol. Kinda matters.
If you would like, please go ahead and try to find them and ask them. Thanks for suggesting that on your part, seems natural you should be the one to do it since you suggested it.
I was looking for the term “emotional incest” and not “parentification” earlier, two very very closely related concepts. Basically, it means he made his kid his wife. Often this is done before physical incest occurs. As someone who speaks with survivors a bit, Robert Maxwell’s relationship with Ghilsaine does seem incestuous and likely sexual given Ghilsaine’s later involvement with raping minors. Showing “favoritism” like that is a pretty big sign because she’s not a favorite, she’s his wife.
Abuse victims have 2 choices when faced with their abuse: agree or disagree. The vast majority of abuse victims disagree with their abuse and do not go on to perpetuate it. However, I do not think Ghilsaine was one of them, clearly.
Yes, she did try to use “I was abused,” as sympathy for her sentencing, that’s in the linked articles in the OP. It doesn’t excuse her actions over decades and as a 50 year old.
Thank you for sharing what you remember. If you see the title of this thread, my question wasn’t asking if you personally felt like this was true. It was asking if anyone had more sources about this aspect of Robert Maxwell’s life so I can read more info about these people he supposedly helped.
solrize@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Oh I see, I didn’t realize what you were getting at about the kids on the airplane. No I didn’t see any indication that Robert “trafficked” them, so I took the news story at face value.
As for the title of the thread, it sounded to me like you were skeptical of the news reports you linked to, so I responded that they seemed consistent with other stuff I had seen.
As for your suspicions about the kids on the plane, and about Robert/Ghislaine, it all sounds pretty speculative. Of course almost anything is scientifically possible, and you’re probably better than I am about reading past surfaces about this type of stuff. But, without actual evidence, it doesn’t seem like something to discuss in public. If you think there is something to go on, it’s probably better to relay your info to investigators. They might want it since I believe Ghislaine still has court cases in progress…