In arguing to detain Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged madam/fellow sex trafficker, federal prosecutors contend that the socialite is a severe flight risk in light of the lengthy prison sentence she faces if convicted of felony charges detailed in an indictment unsealed today.

Maxwell, 58, is charged with procuring and grooming underage girls for the late Epstein, a serial predator who committed suicide last year while imprisoned following his federal indictment for sex trafficking.

Like Epstein, Maxwell has been charged in the Southern District of New York, where prosecutors today filed a memorandum seeking her detention in advance of trial on six felony counts. If convicted, Maxwell faces up to 35 years behind bars.

Epstein and Maxwell are pictured above in a photo included in Maxwell’s indictment. Click here to download a PDF copy of the government memo seeking Maxwell’s pretrial detention.

Maxwell, government lawyers wrote, has “extensive international ties” that would “make it exceptionally easy for her to flee and live abroad.” Maxwell, who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2002, is also a citizen of France, where she was born, and the United Kingdom, where she was schooled. “The defendant appears to possess passports” from all three countries, prosecutors noted.

An examination of Maxwell’s finances identified more than 15 bank accounts “held by or associated with the defendant from 2016 to the present,” with combined balances that, at times, exceeded $20 million. Additionally, as recently as last year, Maxwell reported she “holds one or more foreign bank accounts containing more than a million dollars.”

Maxwell’s financial resources “appear to be substantial, and her numerous accounts and substantial money movements render her total financial picture opaque and indeterminate,” prosecutors wrote.

Since Epstein’s July 2019 indictment, Maxwell “has effectively been in hiding for approximately a year” in New England. Most recently, Maxwell was holed up on a 156-acre spread in Bradford, New Hampshire (where she was arrested this morning). The property, seen below, was purchased for cash seven months ago by a “carefully anonymized LLC,” prosecutors reported.

Maxwell’s 4635-square-foot home was bought for $1.07 million in December 2019 by Granite Reality, LLC, which was incorporated a month earlier. According to New Hampshire state records, the company’s address is care of Nutter McClennen & Fish, a Boston law firm. Attorney Jeffrey Roberts, a partner who chairs the firm’s “Private Client Department,” is listed as manager of Granite Reality.

Noting that Maxwell has no ties keeping her in the U.S.--like children, a job, or immediate family--prosecutors argued that “there are no bail conditions that could reasonably assure the defendant’s continued appearance in this case.”

Maxwell is likely to seek bail, which may prompt a detention hearing at which both defense counsel and prosecutors can present arguments to Judge Alison Nathan.