Living in Hiding
Following Jeffrey Epstein’s arrest in July 2019, Ghislaine Maxwell largely disappeared from public view. For the better part of a year, her location was unknown to the media and, apparently, to federal investigators. She was ultimately found and arrested in Bradford, New Hampshire on July 2, 2020, having been living in a rural compound she had purchased there under limited public attention.
The New Hampshire property — a 156-acre estate purchased for approximately $1 million in December 2019 under a shell company — was bought through a limited liability company that did not have Maxwell’s name attached to it directly. The concealed purchase was the most tangible evidence of deliberate hiding during her fugitive period.
Shell Company Property Purchases
The New Hampshire purchase illustrated Maxwell’s use of shell company structures to obscure beneficial ownership of real estate — the same general technique that has been documented in Epstein’s financial structure. The LLC used to purchase the property was registered with limited public information, giving Maxwell an initial layer of privacy.
Court documents filed in connection with her bail application described a complex financial structure with assets across multiple jurisdictions, much of it difficult to value because it was held through opaque entities. Prosecutors argued this opacity was itself evidence of flight risk — that Maxwell had access to resources that could not be easily identified or frozen.
Bail Denials and Asset Freeze
Maxwell was denied bail twice. Prosecutors successfully argued she was an extreme flight risk given her financial resources, multiple foreign citizenships (British, American, and French), lack of strong ties to any single jurisdiction, and the pattern of concealment evidenced by her year in hiding.
The court imposed asset-freezing orders requiring disclosure of Maxwell’s full financial picture. Compliance with these orders was disputed, with prosecutors arguing Maxwell’s disclosures were incomplete and her attorneys arguing she was providing full cooperation. The asset-freeze litigation continued through her conviction and sentencing.
The Scott Borgerson Connection
Maxwell had been in a relationship with Scott Borgerson, the founder of the maritime data company CargoMetrics. The couple reportedly married privately. Borgerson’s assets and his knowledge of Maxwell’s financial situation became subjects of court inquiry, particularly regarding whether marital assets could be reached to satisfy potential judgments. Borgerson maintained a public profile separate from Maxwell and did not face charges. Questions about the financial structure of their relationship were part of the asset-disclosure proceedings.
Post-Conviction Status
After Maxwell’s conviction and sentencing to 20 years in 2022, the asset-freeze and disclosure proceedings continued. The question of whether Maxwell had hidden assets that could be applied to victim compensation claims remained active. Her appeals also raised the question of whether the prosecution had improperly characterized her financial situation in bail proceedings.