Nadia Marcinko, a former girlfriend of the late billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, is facing renewed scrutiny and could be summoned to give evidence as U.S. lawmakers intensify their investigation into Epstein's network. Marcinko, a 41-year-old Slovakia-born ex-model, dated Epstein for seven years after his relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell ended.
Victim or Accomplice?
Marcinko has never been charged with or accused of any crime, and her lawyers maintain that she was one of Epstein's victims. They claim he controlled every aspect of her life, including her weight and clothing. She also told investigators that Epstein was physically violent, choking her and throwing her down a flight of stairs, according to the BBC.
However, a heavily redacted document released by the U.S. Justice Department does not name Marcinko, but five pages of testimony match details she has shared. Emails revealed that Epstein and Marcinko wanted to start a family, and evidence suggests he asked her to recruit other women for his sexual desires. In a 2006 email to Epstein, Marcinko wrote: "I will try to find girls whenever we are in New York." Victims in Florida told police that Marcinko participated in the abuse, raising questions about whether an Epstein victim can also be an accomplice.
Relationship Timeline
Marcinko met Epstein in 2003 at a birthday party for model scout Jean-Luc Brunel, who was later accused of sex trafficking. She was 18 at the time. She told investigators that Brunel arranged a visa to bring her to the U.S., where she was invited to Epstein's Palm Beach mansion. Epstein financially supported Brunel's agency, which sponsored her visa, and Marcinko said Epstein could have her deported with a single phone call.
Epstein wrote in emails that he was "in love with Nadia," but he was also controlling. In one email, he instructed her to learn to cook eggs, run a house, read great books, and only keep beautiful things in the home. Her dependence on Epstein waned over time.
End of Relationship and Aftermath
They split in 2010 but remained friends. That year, Marcinko invoked her Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination when questioned by lawyers for Epstein's alleged victims. In 2011, she started an aviation company, Aviloop, with Epstein's financial backing. By 2018, they had stopped communicating, and she turned against him. Since then, Marcinko has disappeared from public view.
Potential Questioning
Marcinko is one of four women named as "potential co-conspirators" in a plea deal that granted them immunity. Republican congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna wants Marcinko and ex-assistant Adriana Ross to be probed by the House Oversight Committee, alongside assistants Sarah Kellen and Lesley Groff. Luna stated, "All of these women engaged in the trafficking of minors as adults. They were working and complicit with Jeffrey Epstein's operation."
