新近披露的司法部电邮显示，杰弗里·爱泼斯坦构建了一个以关系为资本的“社会庞氏骗局”。这名出身布鲁克林工薪家庭、大学辍学者，通过精准满足全球最富有和最有权势人群的需求，维持了一个横跨政治、金融、学术和娱乐界的网络。即便在 2008 年因招募未成年人卖淫服刑 13 个月后，他仍持续运作该体系，直至 2019 年被捕并在狱中死亡。照片、引荐、金钱和威胁共同构成了交换机制，使亲密关系转化为资金、信息与保护。
数值数据揭示了规模与不对称性。德意志银行提交的表格显示，对“高知名度人士”的多笔付款，其中 2018 年 3 月一笔向诺姆·乔姆斯基转账 269,159 美元，用途不明。摩根大通处理了与爱泼斯坦相关的 4,700 笔交易，总额超过 10 亿美元，并向彼得·曼德尔森分三次支付各 25,000 美元。另一张表列出 28 名“表面上的外国模特”，合计约 875,000 美元；另有 79,440 美元支付给 MC2 模特公司。最大单一关系来自莱昂·布莱克，2012 至 2017 年间支付 1.58 亿美元，随后在 2023 年与美属维京群岛达成 6,250 万美元和解。
这些数据与时间线显示，爱泼斯坦在刑后多年仍扩大资金流与影响力，并试图通过媒体、政客和律师网络抵御审查。尽管个别人物否认不当行为，付款规模显著高于行业中位水平，且多发生在其定罪之后。2019 年的逮捕与自杀终结了这一体系，但披露出的交易密度、金额分布与跨领域连接，持续重塑公众对精英网络、问责与权力失衡的认知。
Newly released Justice Department emails show that Jeffrey Epstein built a relationship-based “social Ponzi scheme.” A college dropout from a working-class Brooklyn family, he sustained a network spanning politics, finance, academia, and entertainment by precisely meeting the wants of the world’s richest and most powerful people. Even after serving 13 months in jail starting in 2008 for soliciting prostitution from a minor, he continued operating the system until his arrest and death in jail in 2019. Photos, introductions, money, and intimidation formed an exchange that converted intimacy into funding, information, and protection.
Numerical evidence reveals scale and asymmetry. Deutsche Bank tables show multiple payments to “high-profile individuals,” including a March 2018 transfer of $269,159 to Noam Chomsky with no identified purpose. JPMorgan handled 4,700 Epstein-related transactions totaling more than $1bn and sent three $25,000 payments to Peter Mandelson. Another table lists 28 “ostensible foreign models” totaling about $875,000, alongside $79,440 paid to MC2 Model Management. The largest single relationship involved Leon Black, who paid $158mn between 2012 and 2017, followed by a $62.5mn settlement with the US Virgin Islands in 2023.
The figures and timelines indicate that Epstein expanded cash flows and influence years after his conviction and sought insulation through media, political, and legal networks. While individuals deny wrongdoing, payment sizes far exceeded industry medians and frequently occurred post-conviction. His 2019 arrest and suicide ended the scheme, but the density of transactions, distribution of amounts, and cross-sector ties continue to reshape perceptions of elite networks, accountability, and power imbalance.