Jeffrey Epstein ordered staff to install hidden cameras in his home after being told “the Russians may come in handy”, it is claimed.
According to the latest emails in a huge tranche of documents released by US authorities the paedophile financier made secret recordings at his property empire.
Epstein asked his pilot, Larry Visoski, to buy “three motion detected hidden cameras, that record”, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Visoski, who also worked as a technician and general handyman, replied confirming that he had already purchased the surveillance equipment and started “installing them in Kleenex boxes now”.
He said cameras were bought from a spy shop in Fort Lauderdale, Florida was “figuring out how they work as we speak”, an email to Epstein on February 5 2014 reveals.
On the same day, Epstein received an email from someone else, whose name is redacted, saying: “Remember what we spoke about if you want to put cameras in the house. It will have to be very discreetly done. The Russians may come in handy.”
There is no further discussion of Russians in the email traffic relating to the hidden cameras.
It is claimed that Epstein may have been working with Russia’s intelligence services, collecting so-called “kompromat”, compromising information, with which to blackmail, discredit or manipulate the rich and famous.
It comes as The Prince and Princess of Wales said they have been “deeply concerned” by the ongoing revelations from the Epstein scandal involving William’s uncle Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
William and Kate responded for the first time to a crisis that has engulfed the monarchy and Westminster.
The prince was en route to Saudi Arabia for the start of a three-day tour of the Middle East country.
Ahead of the visit, a Kensington Palace spokesperson said: “I can confirm that the Prince and Princess of Wales have been deeply concerned by the continued revelations.
“Their thoughts remain focused on the victims.”
Much of the work of the royal family in recent weeks has been overshadowed by the Department of Justice’s document dump.
These sparked a string of allegations against the former Duke of York and led to the Metropolitan Police launching an investigation into Lord Peter Mandelson over alleged misconduct in public office.
Among the claims are that a second woman was sent to the UK by paedophile Epstein for a sexual encounter with Andrew, and also that the former prince and Epstein asked an exotic dancer for a threesome in the billionaire’s Florida home.
The latest allegation is that Andrew shared confidential reports of official visits to Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Singapore in his role as the UK’s trade envoy. Police are assessing the claims.
The former duke, who was stripped of his titles by the King last year, has always denied any wrongdoing, including having sex with Virginia Giuffre when she was 17, and last week he finally left Royal Lodge for the Sandringham estate.
The Duke of Edinburgh was the first royal to publicly speak out since the Epstein documents were released, saying last week that it was important to “remember the victims” when asked how he was “coping”.
