Emails, scheduled meetings, investment projects and loan arrangements reviewed by AFP point to Epstein’s relationship with Karim Wade, son of former Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade.

The documents also reference his ties to Nina Keita, a niece of Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara.

Epstein and Wade reportedly met in 2010 through Emirati businessman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, former CEO of DP World. After their first meeting in Paris on November 15, 2010, Epstein wrote to Wade expressing confidence that they would “have fun,” to which Wade responded warmly.

While the correspondence reviewed shows no link between Wade and Epstein’s sex trafficking crimes, it details discussions about potential ventures in finance, energy and offshore banking. Epstein reportedly introduced Wade to prominent contacts, including former Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak and Chinese businessman Desmond Shum.

Documents from the US Department of Justice indicate that Shum and Wade met in Beijing on May 9, 2011. That same month, Wade arranged a proposed African tour for Epstein covering Senegal, Mali and Gabon.

Legal troubles and financial backing

After Abdoulaye Wade left office in 2012 and Karim Wade faced corruption investigations, their exchanges intensified. Epstein offered Wade and his family access to his Florida residence in Palm Beach, writing, “You and your family are welcome to use my house … you will not suffer.”

Records suggest Epstein may have helped finance aspects of Wade’s legal defence after his 2013 arrest and 2015 sentencing to six years in prison for corruption.

Karim Wade’s lawyer, Mohamed Seydou Diagne, reportedly sent two invoices of $500,000 to one of Epstein’s companies in 2014 and 2015. Other files indicate that Epstein covered at least $50,000 in fees for the US lobbying firm Nelson Mullins, which had been engaged to support Wade’s release efforts.

Epstein also corresponded with Robert Crowe, a partner at the firm, who provided updates on political lobbying efforts in the United States and Senegal. In one June 2016 email exchange, Crowe referenced discussions about a potential pardon from then-Senegalese president Macky Sall. Wade was released from prison on June 24, 2016, and later went into exile in Qatar.

Ivory Coast connections

The documents show Nina Keita acted as an intermediary between Epstein and Wade while the latter was imprisoned. Keita also facilitated contact between Epstein and her uncle, President Ouattara, and members of his team.

Following a visit to Abidjan in January 2012, Keita wrote to Epstein that the president considered him “a very interesting person” and said officials were pleased to host him. She reportedly arranged for Epstein to stay in the ministerial suite at the luxury Hotel Ivoire during the trip.

Emails reviewed indicate that Epstein expressed interest in meeting young women during his travels. In one exchange, after meeting a woman in Paris, he requested additional photographs of her sister, specifying a preference for women “under 25.”

Keita, now deputy general director of the Ivorian petroleum stocks company GESTOCI, was also named in a February 2019 will in which Epstein directed that certain debts owed to him be cancelled upon his death.

AFP said it received no response to requests for comment from Keita, the Ivorian presidency, or Karim Wade’s entourage.

The mere mention of an individual’s name in the Epstein files does not in itself imply wrongdoing.