Prince Andrew provides 'zero cooperation' in Epstein case

Prince Andrew has offered "zero cooperation" thus far with authorities investigating the sex trafficking probe into Jeffrey Epstein, despite requests to do so from prosecutors, a US attorney said Monday.

Attorney Geoffrey Berman said prosecutors and the FBI had contacted the royal's legal team and asked to speak with him. However, those pleas have so far fallen on deaf ears. "To date, Prince Andrew has provided zero cooperation,'' Berman, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, told reporters outside Epstein's New York mansion.

This lack of assistance from the prince comes in spite of promising last year that he would help investigations in any way possible.

The 59-year-old stepped back from royal duties in November, amid scrutiny over a woman's claim that she had several sexual encounters with Andrew at Epstein's behest, starting when she was 17.

Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Read more: British media slam Prince Andrew sex-slave claims rebuttal

The royal heavily denied the claims throughout a much-publicized interview with the BBC about his friendship with Epstein and he said during that dialogue that he was "willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations if required."

The 17-year-old in question, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, said that after meeting Epstein in Florida in 2000, the millionaire financier flew her around the world and pressured her into having sex with a number of men, including Prince Andrew, two US politicians and the attorney Alan Dershowitz, who is now part of President Donald Trump's impeachment team of lawyers. Dershowitz is also well-known for his role in the defense of former US football star and actor OJ Simpson who was accused in 1994 of killing his wife.

All of the accused in the Epstein case have denied the allegations.

Epstein committed suicide in his New York jail cell in August while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

jsi/nm (AP, Reuters)

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