Prosecutors Accuse Jeffrey Epstein Of Witness Tampering

Accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein attempted to pay $350,000 last fall to two potential witnesses, federal prosecutors alleged in court on Friday.

The documents filed by the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan asks that Epstein be denied bail.

The payments ― one for $250,000 and the other for $100,000 ― are proof Epstein might try to influence witnesses if he isn’t detained, the federal prosecutors argued, according to The New York Times.

The convicted sex offender sent the money to the potential witnesses in late November and early December, right after the Miami Herald published an investigative report about the secret deal made with Florida officials that allowed him to avoid federal prosecution.

Epstein was charged Monday with sex trafficking minors. He pleaded not guilty in the New York City courtroom.

He is accused of paying dozens of girls as young as 14 to engage in sex acts with him in his homes in New York and Florida from 2002 to 2005.

Authorities also say Epstein “conspired with others” to sexually abuse and exploit the girls, and paid his victims to recruit others, court documents allege.