
British business titan Richard Branson's name is among the rich and powerful men mentioned in newly unsealed court documents Monday by a victim of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Epstein victim Sarah Ransome told a journalist in 2016 that she saw sex tapes of billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew, according to copies of emails submitted as evidence in a civil lawsuit by one of Epstein's victims against Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking minors at his behest.
Ransome, however, later recanted her original allegations.
"We can confirm that Sarah Ransome's claims are baseless and unfounded," a spokesperson for Virgin Group, which was founded by Branson, said in a statement to The Messenger. "Ransome admitted that she had 'invented' the tapes," in a 2019 article in the New Yorker. Neither Branson, Clinton or Prince Andrew have been charged in connection with Epstein's crimes.