Files released on Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice in connection with the late Jeffrey Epstein include photographs of an Austrian passport that expired in 1987 and was found in 2019 by FBI agents in a safe at Epstein’s New York townhouse, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The photographed passport bears a picture of Epstein but is issued in the name Marius Fortelni. Saudi Arabia is listed as the holder’s place of residence.
Issued in 1982
According to the document, it was issued on May 21, 1982, by the Vienna Federal Police Directorate. However, Epstein’s photograph was not officially certified with a stamp.
The passport contains several entry and exit stamps, including French and Saudi stamps. Epstein’s lawyers argued in 2019 that the financier had received the passport from a friend, allegedly to protect himself from kidnappings while traveling in the Middle East. They said Epstein never used it.
“No records” of entries or exits
In a parliamentary response in March 2022, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said investigations had so far been unable to confirm the existence of the Austrian passport in question. As a result, there was no information on who issued it or under what circumstances.
A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry told APA that there are also “no records” of Epstein entering or leaving the country using the passport. The stamps date from the 1980s, before the Schengen Area existed.
New turbulence
The Epstein case has recently triggered fresh controversy in the United States. President Donald Trump defended individuals appearing in photos from the newly released files, including former Democratic President Bill Clinton, whom he had previously criticized. Clinton’s spokesperson called for all photos involving Clinton to be made public. U.S. media also reported that documents related to the Epstein case were published and then shortly removed.
