London - Jeffrey Epstein’s victims have left the door open to sue Prince Andrew after they receive compensation from the dead paedophile’s estate, legal documents reveal.
The women are close to striking a deal with the £513 million estate of the Wall Street financier, who was close friends with the Duke of York.
But lawyers representing the victims, who include Andrew’s accuser Virginia Roberts, say they will not let "certain individuals" escape liability through the agreement. In an explosive email, Miss Roberts’s lawyer David Boies names "Prince Andrew or others to whom our clients were trafficked" among those individuals.
Miss Roberts claims she had sex with the duke three times aged 17 when she was Epstein’s "slave" – claims Andrew emphatically denies. US prosecutors and the FBI have been trying to get Andrew to answer questions about his association with Epstein for months – but say he has failed to respond.
The new documents were filed this week to the Superior Court of the US Virgin Islands, which is handling Epstein’s will.
Lawyers representing dozens of women are negotiating with the co-executors of Epstein’s estate about the terms under which they will receive compensation.
One outstanding issue is a "release" document to be signed by the victims which would protect a number of Epstein’s former associates against legal liability for their actions.
On April 7, Mr Boies wrote to the co-executors that any settlement cannot allow Andrew to be "released" – but the overall terms of the release were acceptable.
He said victims should have in the release "a space to make clear that certain individuals (eg Prince Andrew or others to whom our clients were trafficked) are not released".
This means that if the victims receive payments – expected to be in the millions of pounds – they can still try to pursue the duke.
Lawyers for Andrew declined to comment on Wednesday night.