A Turkish woman whose name has repeatedly appeared in English and Turkish media reports in connection with Jeffrey Epstein has denied the allegations, while the New York court hearing the lawsuit filed by one of the sex offender’s accusers issued a statement saying reports claiming the Turkish woman was one of the victims were false, Voice of America’s Turkish edition (VOA Türkçe) reported on Wednesday.
Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008. He took his own life in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
“It has come to the Court’s attention that several articles have been published in the domestic and international press asserting that a woman identified as “Banu Kucukkoylu” is “Doe 102″ in this case. Material submitted to the Court under seal persuades the Court that Ms. Kucukkoylu is not Doe 102. Ms. Kucukkoylu has reported that these attributions (that is, the assertions that she is Doe 102) have endangered her life and caused her to live in fear. The Court is also persuaded of the danger to Ms. Kucukkoylu from these false reports. It is the Court’s hope that the false reporting will cease,” the statement from the US District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) read.
Küçükköylü’s name was in Turkish media reports as the case made headlines in Turkey after a SDNY judge released hundreds of documents as part of a lawsuit filed in 2015 against longtime Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
One of the documents was a 2010 deposition in which lawyers for one of Epstein’s victims questioned former model Adriana Ross about the alleged sex-trafficking ring of the sex-offender billionaire.
Ross was asked whether she was aware that the billionaire had transported minor girls from Turkey.
Some Turkish media outlets that reported on the deposition falsely attributed it to another alleged Epstein co-conspirator, while some pro-government media outlets embellished the story with conspiracy theories, including alleged trafficking of minors from Turkey after a major 1999 earthquake in the country that killed thousands.
Epsetin’in fuhuş adasında ismi açıklanan ilk Türk kadın; Banu Küçüköylü #Epstein pic.twitter.com/OfURyZK3pv
— Kevîn (@revolutiee) January 10, 2024
As the story gained traction in the Turkish media, allegations emerged about Turks involved in the case, either as victims or possible co-conspirators of Epstein.
Küçükköylü’s name was first reported as one of the persons who frequented Epstein’s flights to his island.
Then, other reports suggested that she was a victim, specifically that she was the woman born in Turkey who in 2021 filed a lawsuit accusing Epstein and Maxwell of raping her in front of her eight-year-old son and trafficking her for sex with other men. The lawsuit claims the incidents took place in 2008 in Florida.
However, Küçükköylü denies both reports and claims she will sue those who spread the false allegations.
Her name first appears with Epstein’s in a 2019 report by the Daily Mail, about allegations that were made in a 2016 deposition by Epstein’s former pilot, David Rodgers.
On April 11, 2001 Rodgers flew Epstein’s Gulfstream from Teterboro airport in New Jersey to the Caribbean island of St. Thomas. Epstein’s private island of Little St. James lies just off the coast of St. Thomas. According to the passenger manifest, handwritten by Rogders in 2001, aboard the jet that day were “JE, GM, AP, BK, VR, Joann.”
“On that flight, Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, Prince Andrew, Banu [Küçükköylü], Virginia Roberts and Johanna?” Rodgers was asked in the deposition, according to the Daily Mail.
Later on, The Sun reported in 2021 that a mystery Epstein associate was thought to be “investment worker Refia Banu Küçükköylü.”
Küçükköylü works as an international investment consultant. She was crowned winner of a 1991 beauty pagent in Turkey.
Küçükköylü maintains that there is no factual basis for linking her to the allegations.
She emphasizes that the mention of her name in the flight logs is a result of a mere coincidence of names and that she has no involvement in the case.
Küçükköylü also expressed her intention to take legal action against those responsible for spreading false information about her.
The US court statement is remarkable because apart from a few pro-government Turkish media outlets, there is no significant reporting that confuses Jane Doe 102 with Küçükköylü.
Newly unsealed court documents identify Jane Doe 102 as Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s victims who filed a civil lawsuit against longtime Epstein associate Maxwell in 2015.
Another Turkish national who was reported by Turkish media as having connections to Epstein was Turabi Fırat, who has also strongly denied any association with Epstein, asserting that they have never crossed paths, speaking to VOA. Fırat has also made clear his intention to pursue legal action against those responsible for spreading untrue information about him.