// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
US federal authorities could have prevented Epstein crimes, report finds
Jeffrey Epstein died in a New York prison cell in 2019
Crimes committed by the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein after 2005 could have been prevented were it not for "failures" by federal investigators and prosecutors, a congressional investigation has concluded.
The Republican-led US House Oversight Committee on Tuesday released its final report into what it described as the "decades-long" mishandling of the criminal investigations into Epstein and his long-term associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
The report's findings are based on interviews and depositions with witnesses, government files, and financial records over a 15-month period.
Epstein died in 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.
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"While some of these failures involved an exercise in poor judgement by the USAO, others appeared to be the result of Epstein's pervasive and wide-reaching influence," the report reads, referring to the US Attorney's Office.
It states that, rather than fully investigating allegations in other states, the USAO for the Southern District of Florida entered an agreement with Epstein in 2007 allowing him to evade federal prosecution.
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Regarding Epstein's death in a New York prison, investigators concluded this was a result of "a series of institutional failures at the facility," which included staffing shortages, overworked employees, poor recordkeeping, and lax security practices.