Jean-Luc Brunel appeared prepared to turn against the man who had for years been his patron and close associate. The French modeling agent was reportedly willing to disclose to U.S. prosecutors what he knew about Epstein’s sex-trafficking network.

According to files from the United States Department of Justice recently made public in the high-profile case of the financier, Brunel was secretly negotiating in 2016 with lawyers representing Epstein’s victims. His attorney, Joseph Titone, reportedly indicated that his client had recruited girls on Epstein’s behalf and possessed incriminating photographs. A date had even been discussed for Brunel to appear at the office of the federal prosecutor in New York in exchange for immunity.

In handwritten notes dated February 2016, a federal prosecutor recorded: “One of Epstein’s friends, Jean-Luc Brunel, has helped find girls. He wants to cooperate. He fears he will be prosecuted.” Shortly thereafter, however, Brunel disappeared from view.

Epstein found out

Documents indicate that Epstein learned of Brunel’s negotiations with authorities. On May 3, 2016, he emailed Kathy Ruemmler, a lawyer with whom he was in regular contact, stating that Brunel intended to go to the prosecutor’s office and that a friend of his was asking for $3 million so that he will “not go.” Ruemmler replied that he should call her, and the following day wrote that she would speak with Gregory Poe, Epstein’s attorney in Washington. Poe has said he never discussed the Brunel matter.

It remains unclear why Brunel ultimately fell silent. He did not cooperate with authorities, and Epstein remained free for another three years, until his arrest in 2019. As is widely known, he died in a New York jail in August of that year, in a case the medical examiner ruled a suicide.

A central figure in Epstein’s circle

Brunel is considered a key figure in Epstein’s inner circle. Through MC2 Model Management — a company he founded in 2005 with up to $1 million in financial backing from Epstein — he secured work visas for young women from abroad, creating the appearance of legitimate employment. The files include emails in which Epstein asked for women to be placed “on the payroll” of the company with annual salaries of $50,000. Brunel frequently traveled on Epstein’s private jet and visited him even while he was serving a sentence in Florida in 2008.

The network also used other “hunters,” such as Daniel Sjad, who in correspondence with Epstein compared recruiting girls to fishing. The financier requested detailed information about the girls — names and origins — and covered the costs of recruitment trips. He also appears to have used the information he gathered to sabotage victims’ personal relationships. One notable case involved a model who tried to escape by starting a relationship with Joshua Fink (son of the CEO of BlackRock), which Epstein allegedly managed to end in order to maintain control over her.

New revelations show that as early as 2016, federal prosecutors had been informed of the scope of the network, with references to dozens of underage girls allegedly recruited by Brunel, Ghislaine Maxwell, and others. However, no formal investigation was opened at the time. The case regained momentum following investigative journalism in 2018.

Arrested in 2020, found hanged in 2022

Brunel was eventually arrested in France in 2020, where he faced charges of rape and trafficking of minors. In February 2022, he was found hanged in his cell in Paris. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 and is serving a 20-year sentence. Prosecutors in Paris recently announced they will re-examine the case, forming a special unit to investigate possible involvement of French nationals.

The case reveals how Epstein leveraged his wealth and connections to penetrate industries such as fashion, building a network for recruiting and controlling young women. As attorney Brad Edwards, who represented more than 200 victims, stated: “Epstein found in Jean-Luc a like-minded predator with whom he could conspire daily to recruit and control the lives of countless young women.”