Three months before Jeffrey Epstein was arrested at a New Jersey airport for alleged sex trafficking, his business partner Jean Luc Brunel was looking for models in Brazil who could add to Epstein’s wealth.
Brunel, a 72-year-old top talent scout in the modeling world back in the 1980s, was on a month-long journey through the South American country looking for the latest and the greatest talent in the area, the New York Post reported Sunday.
Brunel visited hundreds of modeling agencies in different areas of the country and interviewed hundreds of girls, according to one Brazilian modeling agent.
“He spent more than two hours with us,” said the agent, who owns a talent firm. “I brought my wife and 7-year-old daughter to the meeting. I knew nothing about what he had been accused of doing. I still don’t quite believe it.”
Brunel had been implicated in court documents surrounding the Epstein controversy because he was accused of finding prostitutes for his multimillionaire American friend, who committed suicide in his Manhattan jail cell on August 10 awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre, a long time Epstein accuser, alleged in court documents that Epstein “farmed out” aspiring models to Epstein and other men for sex.
France’s high court announced Friday that it would conduct a preliminary investigation into Epstein’s associates, with a special focus on French victims and suspects who are French nationals.
Brunel is expected to be one of the first people French investigators are looking to question.
Brunel, who has not been charged with a crime, had previously denied all the allegations against him and continues to work as a scouting agent for MC2— a company Epstein once invested in.