Brazilian Investigation Launches into Jeffrey Epstein’s Alleged Modeling Agency Recruitment Network

Brazilian prosecutors investigate claims Jeffrey Epstein used modeling agencies to traffic women. Read how the visa scheme and local recruiters operated.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 2, 2026, 8:58 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from BBC News

The Mechanics of Strategic Recruitment

New testimonies from Brazilian survivors suggest that Jean-Luc Brunel, a close associate of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, used the veneer of professional modeling to identify and isolate vulnerable young women. According to Gláucia Fekete, who was 16 at the time of her recruitment, Brunel visited her family home in 2004 to persuade her mother to allow her to attend a competition in Ecuador. While the event appeared legitimate, Fekete noted that participants were barred from contacting their families, a tactic frequently used to establish control over minors. Brunel, who later took his own life in a French prison while awaiting trial for sexual assault, is accused of acting as a primary scout for Epstein’s international operations.

Exploiting Vulnerability through Financial Control

Observations from other contestants at the time indicate that Brunel specifically targeted girls from Brazil and Eastern Europe, appearing to exert total control over their finances and movements. One witness, referred to as Laura, described Brunel’s behavior as predatory, noting that he focused his attention almost exclusively on the youngest participants. Files released by the U.S. government corroborate these accounts, placing Epstein in Guayaquil during the competition’s finals. Furthermore, flight records indicate that at least one model under the age of 16 traveled on Epstein’s private aircraft multiple times within that same year, highlighting the blurred lines between industry scouting and organized exploitation.

The Visa Route and Corporate Sponsorship

The investigation revealed that Brunel utilized his agencies, including Karin Models of America and MC2, to facilitate U.S. business visas for women who performed no actual modeling work. A survivor identified as Ana provided the BBC with passport documentation showing a visa sponsored by Brunel’s agency, despite the fact that her only purpose for travel was to visit Epstein. According to Ana, this paperwork was a calculated legal shield used to bypass immigration scrutiny. Court records and testimonies from former employees of Brunel’s agencies support these claims, suggesting that Epstein personally funded the visa applications and the financial infrastructure of the modeling firms.