11.11.2026 04:00
Model Roza, who says she was raped by Jeffrey Epstein, spoke to the BBC. Roza, who recounted that in 2009, when she was 18, the MC2 agency she was affiliated with sent her to Epstein's Palm Beach home for a photo shoot, presented an invoice showing that Jeff Fuller, the head of the agency's US branch, had arranged her return flight. Fuller had previously said he was not aware that Roza had gone there.
A woman who was raped by Jeffrey Epstein says the owner of the modeling agency she was attached to endangered her by sending her to two photo shoots at Epstein's Florida home.
At the time, in 2009, Epstein was serving a prison sentence for sexual crimes against a minor girl, but he was allowed to go to his home every day and work from there. Roza, speaking to the BBC World Service, says: "My agency's job was to protect me, and they did not do that. They even endangered me. So they need to be held accountable."
Roza was 18 when she was sent by the US branch of MC2 Model Management to Epstein's home in Palm Beach. The incident occurred about a month after she came to the US from Uzbekistan. Jeff Fuller, who was then president of MC2's US branch, now runs another American modeling agency called The Source Models.
Roza says: "My agency knew where I was. So Jeff also knew exactly where I was going."
THE RETURN FLIGHT INVOICE HAS COME TO LIGHT
Roza showed the BBC an invoice showing that Fuller arranged her return flight from Palm Beach after the second shoot at Epstein's home. Fuller had previously claimed he was not aware that Roza would go to Epstein's home.
Roza says the photo shoots started the process that led to her being hired as Epstein's assistant. Other victims of Epstein had said that the convicted sex offender hired young girls as assistants so he could continue his abuse. Roza says Epstein raped her systematically.
Fuller has not yet responded to the BBC's allegations. He had previously said he did not know Roza had been abused.
According to Epstein documents released by the US Department of Justice, 10 models from MC2 met or were in contact with Epstein after his conviction. The files also show that Epstein gave MC2 $1 million in 2005. But two years later, the agency's owners told a US broadcaster that they had no connection to Epstein's companies.
Statements shared with BBC Eye, the BBC's investigative journalism unit, also raise questions about the role played by two other people active in the modeling industry and seen in Justice Department files to have close ties to Epstein: former manager Ramsey Elkholy and agency director Faith Kates.
The US Department of Justice announced last year that in the Epstein file there was no evidence that would require further investigation against "third parties against whom no allegations have been made." Now New York Senator Zellnor Myrie has begun to question this statement. Myrie has introduced a new sexual abuse bill that would give police more authority to investigate those alleged to be Epstein's accomplices.
Sara Ziff, founder of Model Alliance, which campaigns for stronger protections for models in the US, agrees with this approach: "Often the problem is modeling agencies. They provide the link between models and these abusive men."
Roza says that in the photo shoots MC2 sent her to, the person behind the camera was not a professional photographer but Epstein's then-girlfriend Nadia Marcinko. Roza says the shoots were "strange," that there was "no stylist," and that the photos were never used; she believes the shoots were a fiction staged by Epstein and MC2.
An email from Fuller to Epstein in the Justice Department files clearly reveals the close bond between the agency and the sex offender. In March 2012, Fuller wrote about another model: "If it weren't for you, we would have fired her months ago. And watch what she lets slip."
A month after Epstein's second arrest in 2019, MC2's US branch was closed and Fuller founded a new agency called The Source Models, which is still operating. The BBC found that 50 models from MC2 were transferred to the new agency. The Source Models did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.
Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer for more than 100 of Epstein's victims, says modeling agencies served Epstein's purposes: "Epstein told many people he wanted three different girls a day. Think about those numbers. Model scouts were really important because they were the ones who found the types of women Epstein liked."
HE TRIED TO INTRODUCE 34 WOMEN TO EPSTEIN
According to information uncovered by BBC Eye, former model manager Ramsey Elkholy tried to arrange for 34 women, including an 18-year-old girl, to have contact with Epstein.
The experience of one of the women reveals how Epstein's assistants were drawn into the abuse wheel. According to Justice Department files, Elkholy suggested to Epstein that one of his female assistants befriend the woman in question and later introduce her to Epstein. This woman, speaking to the BBC, said that at age 19, on her first meeting with Epstein, she was sexually assaulted at his home in New York.
Ramsey Elkholy said in a statement to the BBC: "I completely deny all allegations that I was aware of or facilitated any abuse. At the time I was unaware of any abuse and only knew his own account of his 2008 case and made the mistake of believing it." Elkholy added: "Records and published reports show that women were usually directed by other women in his close circle. I was never part of that circle or any such activity. My aim was to help models find professional opportunities by introducing them to a person with extremely wide connections."
Lawyer Sigrid McCawley says these female assistants had no choice about how to behave: "These young victims were regularly abused. Their livelihoods were under threat. They had to do what they were told."
ANOTHER MODEL SPEAKS OUT
Another model who spoke to the BBC, Eastern European Simona (not her real name), said Epstein raped her more than 200 times: "People think we had an interest, that we agreed to this abuse to gain something like money or influence, but that is not true. We were left with deep trauma."
The young woman says she was 20 when she first met Epstein, that she had a contract with a modeling agency in New York at the time, and that the agency owner offered to introduce her to his "close" friend Faith Kates. At the time, Kates was head of Next Management, one of the world's largest modeling agencies. She stepped down from that role last December but is still listed as a director of the company in legal records.
Simona says that during this meeting Kates suggested she have cosmetic surgery and sent Epstein the details of a surgeon.
Simona says that after meeting with Kates, Epstein persuaded her to stop modeling. Like Roza and many other victims, she became Epstein's assistant. According to her account, Epstein raped her for two years and controlled every aspect of her life.
Justice Department files show that Epstein wanted to meet five more models in addition to Kates, but it is unclear how many of these meetings took place.
In a statement to the BBC, Faith Kates's lawyers said, "Jeffrey Epstein was a master manipulator. Kates was one of those deceived by Epstein. If she had known then what everyone knows now, she would never have associated with him." The statement also said that Kates never asked a model to have cosmetic surgery. Next Management did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.
In a statement to the BBC, Myrie said that if his bill becomes law, "If you are sending models to Epstein and you know or should know what Epstein is doing, you will be held accountable."
Roza hopes that sharing her story will encourage others: "There are very, very many victims who do not speak out because they are afraid. That is why I appeal to all my sisters, all victims. You know me now. You know my name. Contact me."
With contributions from Annika Grosser. We used artificial intelligence to translate this article, the original of which is in English. A BBC journalist checked the translation before publication.
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