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Jeffrey Epstein wired $150,000 to Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York, in 2001, according to newly released financial records, after helping her to cash in share options earned from her work for Weight Watchers.
A statement for an account Epstein held at JPMorgan shows that on November 13 2001, the late sex offender sent the funds “FAO THE DUCHESS OF YORK”.
A spokesperson for Ferguson said the money related to share options she had earned as an “ambassador” for Weight Watchers, the diet and fitness business that went public that year.
“[Epstein] put the initial money to facilitate the transaction which was then repaid to him 48 hours later together with the profit on the transaction which was the 150k paid to her,” the spokesperson said.
“It was a big transaction and with share options, you have to pay for them before you can get the profit . . . it was the only time she has ever done any dealings with him,” they added.
The transaction is the latest evidence of the extent to which the prominent former royal forged a close friendship with Epstein.
Ferguson also received flights from the disgraced financier in 2009 for herself and her daughters which were worth over $14,000 at the time, other documents released by the US Department of Justice show.
The ex-wife of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor that year separately wrote to Epstein in March 2009, thanking him for his kindness and saying “thank you Jeffrey for being the brother I have always wished for”.
On January 30 2010, she further wrote to the disgraced financier, calling him a “legend” and saying: “I really don’t have the words to describe, my love, gratitude for your generosity and kindness. Xx I am at your service. Just marry me.”
Epstein was released from prison in the summer of 2009 after a lenient stint in jail after admitting to soliciting minors for prostitution.
Last September, seven charities dropped Ferguson as a patron or ambassador after an email from 2011 revealed that she called Epstein her “supreme friend” and seemed to apologise for her public criticism of him.
The new revelations, from a huge trove of documents released by the justice department showed Epstein in July 2009 organising flights for “The Duchess and the girls” — a reference to her two daughters with Mountbatten-Windsor — from Heathrow to Miami and from New York to Heathrow.
The flights cost $4,835.94 for the children in economy class and $9,244.16 for Ferguson, who flew business class, according to the documents.
Ferguson had asked for herself to be in first class for the flight back to the UK, a request that Epstein ignored, the emails suggest.
The spokesperson for the former duchess declined to comment on the flights.