Epstein Data Wiki

Jean-Luc Brunel

Properties2
tagsperson, france, modeling-industry, mc2, epstein-associate
aliasesJean Luc Brunel, Jean-Luc Brunel, JLB

19 min read

AgenciesKarin Models; MC2 Model & Talent Miami, LLC; MC2 Model Management d/b/a Karin Models123
Business partnerJeff Fuller, MC2 Model Management USA; reported in 2010 to hold 15 percent of MC2456
U.S. proceedingsNamed as an alleged associate in civil complaints but not a defendant in them; deposition sought and not obtained, 2009–2010789
French proceedingsDetained December 16, 2020; charged in December 2020 with rape of a minor over 15 and sexual harassment; died in custody February 19, 20221011

Jean-Luc Brunel (died February 19, 2022) was a French modeling agent who ran the Paris agency Karin Models and owned the Miami agency MC2 Model & Talent Miami, LLC.12 He described MC2 in his own 2015 pleading as having begun operations in October 2005 with offices in New York, Miami and Tel Aviv, and stated that he and Jeffrey Epstein had known one another since the agency’s inception.2 In April 2005 Epstein’s office was finalizing a letter of credit to be presented to Karin Models’ bank, which would issue a line of credit secured by it; by March 2011 Epstein’s accountant was pressing MC2 over the renewal of a letter of credit with an outstanding balance of $784,000.124 Epstein named Brunel a $2,000,000 beneficiary of one of his trusts in December 2004 and left that bequest in place when he amended the trust in September 2007.1314 Civil complaints filed in the Southern District of Florida in 2010 and 2015 named Brunel among alleged participants in Epstein’s conduct and alleged that he used modeling work as a means of bringing young women and girls to Epstein; The Daily Beast reported in October 2019 that he denied the allegations.7815 Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York recorded in December 2019 that Brunel’s attorney had told them he would not proffer and would invoke the Fifth Amendment if subpoenaed.16 NBC News reported that French police detained him at Charles de Gaulle airport on December 16, 2020, and ABC News reported that he was found dead in a Paris prison cell on February 19, 2022.1011

Modeling agencies

A memorandum prepared for the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in December 2019 describes Karin Models as an agency “owned by Jean Luc Brunel.”1 Immigration and customs database printouts dated March 2, 2006 in the investigative file list, among USCIS petition records, “MC2 MODEL MGT DBA KARIN MODELS” of New York as the petitioner on non-immigrant worker petitions, one of them valid from December 9, 2005 to November 30, 2008.3

In an amended verified complaint he filed against Epstein in 2015, Brunel described himself as “the owner of Plaintiff modeling agency known as ‘MC2 Model & Talent Miami’” and stated that MC2 “began operations in October 2005 and has offices in New York, Miami, and Tel Aviv,” and that he and Epstein “have known one another since the inception of Plaintiff MC2.”2 Jeff Fuller signed MC2 correspondence to Epstein and his accountant as MC2 Model Management USA.45

Financial relationship with Epstein

The letter of credit

A message logged for Epstein on April 5, 2005 reads: “Re the Letter of Credit: Darren had some problems with the letter of credit being too broad and has been working with Morgan to fix the issues, he expects to be done today and then we send It to Mellon bank for their acceptance. Mellon Is Karin Models bank who will issue a line of credit secured by the LOC. I will push to get this done.”12 In his 2015 complaint Brunel pleaded that “Then, in 2006, Plaintiffs received a letter of credit from Epstein at 5% interest. Plaintiffs then made an investment totaling one-million dollars with Elite Paris, to start a company,” and that the venture, “E Management,” formed to work with Elite Models in Paris, closed almost immediately.2

The line remained outstanding for years.4 On March 23, 2011 Epstein’s accountant Richard Kahn of HBRK Associates Inc. wrote: “I am extremely concerned regarding the renewal of the letter of credit. The outstanding balance is currently $784,000. Although the business seems to have bottomed and is starting to improve our debt is behind IRS debt due for NY of $1,200,000 and Miami $600,000. I understand that $150,000 was repaid to the IRS over the past 3-4 months and that resulted in no pay downs on our line. If $1,800,000 needs to be paid going forward how will this line ever be repaid??”4 Jeff Fuller replied the same day setting out how MC2 proposed to allocate its projected profit, and Brunel forwarded the exchange to Epstein:4

MC2 consolidated profit of 650k with the cash to be allocated as indicated below:

Less IRS NY 240k

Less IRS MiA 180k

Less LC Repayment 180k

Leaving Emergency cash Reserve 50k

On September 13, 2011 Fuller reported “the balance on the creditline is 734,598.24.”5

Payments and trust bequests

A Deutsche Bank presentation to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, dated September 12, 2019, lists in its timeline of payments of $10,000 or more to or on behalf of alleged co-conspirators three wires from Epstein accounts to MC2 Model Management: $25,000 on December 4, 2013, $29,440 on December 10, 2013 and $25,000 on January 21, 2014.17 A footnote to the table states that “Jeffrey Epstein has been accused of conspiring with the owner of MC2 Model Management, Jean Luc Brunel, to lure young European models to the United States for illicit purposes” and that the two “allegedly housed the models in apartments located at 301 East 66th Street, New York, NY.”17 On May 1, 2014 Epstein wrote to Kahn under the subject line “Jean Luc Brunel”: “please send jean luc, the amount of money owed to be wired in ny in dollars. and where.”18

The Second Amendment to the restated Jeffrey E. Epstein 2001 Trust Two, executed December 3, 2004, directs that on Epstein’s death “Two Million Dollars ($2,000,000)” be distributed “to JEAN LUC BRUNEL, if he is then living.”13 The Third Amendment, executed September 5, 2007, raised two other bequests to $4,000,000 each and left Brunel’s at $2,000,000.14 Epstein revoked and terminated the trust on October 24, 2012.19

Travel and residence

A Hyperion Air, Inc. passenger manifest for January 1, 2005 (aircraft N909JE, a Gulfstream G-1159B) lists “JEAN LUC BRUNEL” among the passengers on a flight from Wallblake, Anguilla to West Palm Beach with Jeffrey Epstein.20 A summary sheet headed “Passenger Lists for Palm Beach Flights 2005,” produced in the same Palm Beach County public records release, lists Brunel on that flight and on one other 2005 flight.21

In May 2010 plaintiff’s counsel filed portions of Epstein’s probation file in the Southern District of Florida, noting that a section of the Written Monthly Report requires the defendant to “List full names, ages, and your relationship to all persons who resided at your residence this month,” and that Epstein’s reports from December 2009 through February 2010 identify Brunel as residing with him.9

Allegations in civil litigation

A complaint filed in the Southern District of Florida on September 17, 2010 against Epstein and one of his assistants alleged that Epstein operated a hierarchical criminal enterprise, and named Brunel, together with several Epstein employees, among the associates said to have performed roles within it.7

A corrected joinder motion filed on January 2, 2015 by Bradley J. Edwards and Paul G. Cassell in the Crime Victims’ Rights Act case Doe v. United States named Brunel among alleged participants in Epstein’s conduct.8 It alleged that Brunel was one of Epstein’s closest friends and a regular traveling companion with wide international contacts, that he had worked for years as a model scout, and that he brought girls to the United States and offered them modeling work as a means of making them available to Epstein and his associates.8 These are allegations made in a civil filing, not findings.8

In a January 2015 exhibit filed in the same court, Edwards alleged that message pads recovered from Epstein’s Palm Beach residence in police trash pulls included many messages from Brunel, and that Brunel ran MC2 with financial support from Epstein.22 Edwards further reported that MC2 employees had told him Epstein’s condominiums at 301 East 66th Street in New York were used to house young models, and that he had been informed that Epstein paid for Brunel’s legal representation during the civil process, along with that of several other Epstein employees.22

The 2009–2010 deposition dispute

Edwards had Brunel served in New York with a notice of deposition, and stated in the 2015 exhibit that Brunel’s counsel sought to delay the date and told him in January 2009 that Brunel had left the United States for France with no plans to return.22 In a May 17, 2010 notice of supplemental authority supporting a motion to compel the deposition, Edwards and Cassell wrote that counsel had again said in January 2010 that Brunel would be out of the country until the end of March, and filed the Written Monthly Reports from Epstein’s probation file for December 2009 through February 2010, in which Epstein listed Brunel among those residing at his residence.9 The filing said it did not believe Brunel’s attorney had made the representation intentionally.9 Edwards moved for contempt; the same 2015 exhibit states that the motion was never ruled on because Epstein settled the case.22

Brunel’s suit against Epstein

Brunel and MC2 Model & Talent Miami, LLC sued Epstein and two other defendants in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County, Civil Action No. 14-21348 CA 01; an amended verified complaint was e-filed on January 26, 2015.2 The complaint alleged that publicity linking the plaintiffs to Epstein’s conduct was false and had cost the agency business, and listed relationships with photographers, scouts and overseas agencies said to have been lost as a result.2

Law360 reported on April 24, 2019 that Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal had held that service of the complaint on an office supervisor at Epstein’s U.S. Virgin Islands business address did not comply with Florida law and that the suit should be dismissed without prejudice.23 The report quoted the court: “Brunel and MC2 attempt to excuse strict compliance by arguing that the legislature could not have contemplated a lifestyle like Epstein’s,” the Third District said. “But Brunel and MC2 never tried to serve Epstein at his place of abode.”23 The appellate case is Epstein v. Brunel et al., No. 3D18-1997.23

On October 24, 2012 Brunel forwarded to Epstein’s personal account an email he had received from a Florida attorney, enclosing a sworn statement given in one of the civil cases against Epstein.24

The U.S. investigation, 2019

An investigative planning table in the FBI file for the Epstein case, listing individuals by role, known counsel and when to approach them, records Brunel as a “suspected co-conspirator” to be approached in the “Week of Arrest.”25 A December 19, 2019 memorandum to U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman on the “Investigation into Potential Co-Conspirators of Jeffrey Epstein” records, under the heading “Counsel for Jean Luc Brunel”: “In August and September of 2019, we had multiple phone calls with an attorney for Jean Luc Brunel. On our last call, the attorney indicated that Brunel was not willing to meet with us for a proffer and would invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination if subpoenaed to testify in the grand jury.”16 The witness accounts the memorandum summarizes describe Brunel as a close friend of Epstein’s.26

A Daily Beast article of October 29, 2019, forwarded within the Department of Justice the same day, reported that French authorities were “looking into sexual misconduct claims against talent scout Jean-Luc Brunel, accused in civil court filings of procuring young models for Epstein to exploit,” and cited a 2015 affidavit by an Epstein accuser.15 The article carried Brunel’s response: a statement denying the claims and saying that he never participated “directly nor indirectly, in the actions Mr. Jeffrey Epstein is being accused of.”15

A Daily Beast article of March 22, 2010, also in the investigative file, reported that Jeff Fuller owned the remaining 15 percent of MC2, that Epstein “had made a $1 million wire transfer to Brunel’s offshore bank account in September 2004, just as he was setting up MC2,” and that whether this was “a gift or a loan or a backdoor investment in the new venture is unknown.”6 It quoted Epstein on Brunel: “I’m 100 percent convinced that he doesn’t traffic children.” It also stated that Brunel had never been charged.6

The French investigation

On November 19, 2019 an officer of the Office central pour la répression des violences aux personnes (OCRVP) of France’s Direction centrale de la police judiciaire, who described himself as “the deputy of the Central Unit for the protection of Minors in France (OCRVP)” and wrote that “My unit is in charge of the french side of the Epstein/Brunel Case,” emailed an intermediary asking to be put in contact with a victims’ lawyer.27 The intermediary forwarded it to Sigrid McCawley of Boies Schiller Flexner, who spoke with the officer and connected him to prosecutors in New York; McCawley wrote on November 21 that the French officers had “reached out to certain government officials in the US to try to coordinate your efforts but had not received any substantive communication or assistance.”27

NBC News reported that French police arrested Brunel at Charles de Gaulle airport on December 16, 2020 as he was attempting to board a flight to Dakar, and that the Paris prosecutor’s office said he was held on suspicion of rape, sexual assault of a minor and trafficking of minors.10 ABC News reported that he was charged in December 2020 with rape of a minor over 15 and sexual harassment and was remanded in custody.11 Later that month, in a bail brief in the Southern District of New York, Ghislaine Maxwell’s counsel argued that any incentive she had to flee to France was greatly diminished by Brunel’s recent arrest there.28

A January 2021 email thread among an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, Justice Department colleagues and the DOJ attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Paris records the attaché’s readout of a meeting with the French investigating magistrates.29 It reports that “There are three investigating judges assigned to this case, which is pretty unusual…and suggests its importance for them,” and that “They can hold Brunel for 18 months initially, but with a neutral judge’s approval, can likely keep him for up to 3-4 years while the investigation continues.” The French asked for access to records and images from the U.S. database built from the searches of Epstein’s residences and devices, and “made it quite clear that they are not going to help SDNY unless we show a good faith effort to help them, and begin sending evidence their way.” An MLAT request was drafted and sent on January 8, 2021.29 The same thread records what the Justice Department planned to offer: “DOJ has awareness of two non-French adult victims who were abused … in relation to Epstein; neither allege specific illegal conduct involving Brunel, one of them definitely met Brunel at some point.”30

Three further Department of Justice items bearing the subject line “Brunel,” dated January 12 and 20 and February 12, 2021, are one-page records consisting of routing headers for those messages; a fourth is a more heavily redacted copy of the January 2021 thread.31

Death

ABC News reported that the Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed Brunel was found dead in his cell at La Santé prison at about 1 a.m. on February 19, 2022, that his lawyers said he had hanged himself, and that the prosecutor’s office declined to confirm that detail.11 Agence France-Presse, cited by Al Jazeera the same day, reported, citing an unnamed source, that he had been found hanged; Paris police opened an investigation into the death, and his lawyers said he had always maintained his innocence.32

Named in the House record

On August 31, 2026 Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky was recognised for one minute in the House of Representatives, under the heading “Bring Epstein Perpetrators to Justice.” He said that a year after the Epstein Files Transparency Act was signed “the government continues to withhold over 3 million files,” and that a second bill, the Epstein Files Transparency Act II, had been introduced. He then said: “We want perpetrators of these crimes to be investigated and prosecuted, men like:” and read a list of thirteen men and one woman; of Brunel he said, “Jean-Luc Brunel, conveniently dead by suicide in prison.” He closed: “Perhaps hearing these names will shame the Department of Justice into delivering justice.”33 The other thirteen names are not reproduced here. This is a Member’s statement made under privilege on the floor of the House. It is not a charge, a referral, an indictment or a finding, and being named in it is not evidence of anything. Massie’s characterisation of the manner of Brunel’s death is his own; it does not displace the sourced account above, that his lawyers said he had hanged himself and that the Paris prosecutor’s office declined to confirm that detail. Brunel died in February 2022; no response to these remarks from him is possible, and none is recorded.

Coverage

  • The Daily Beast, March 22, 2010, and October 29, 2019 (the latter by Kate Briquelet and Pervaiz Shallwani), both preserved in the Justice Department release.
  • Law360, April 24, 2019 (Carolina Bolado), preserved in the Justice Department release.
  • NBC News, December 17, 2020 (Nancy Ing and Sarah Fitzpatrick), on the arrest.
  • ABC News (Ali Dukakis and Aicha El Hammar Castano) and Al Jazeera/AFP, February 19, 2022, on the death.

Footnotes

  1. Memorandum to U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman, “Investigation into Potential Co-Conspirators of Jeffrey Epstein,” Dec. 19, 2019, p.44. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02731082 ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. Jean-Luc Brunel and MC2 Model & Talent Miami, LLC v. Jeffrey Epstein, Tyler McDonald, and Tyler McDonald d/b/a Yi.Org, Civil Action No. 14-21348 CA 01, Eleventh Judicial Circuit, Dade County, Fla., Amended Verified Complaint e-filed Jan. 26, 2015. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00599855 pp.5–9. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  3. USCIS CLAIMS petition record for “MC2 MODEL MGT DBA KARIN MODELS,” receipt EAC0604952681, in a March 2, 2006 immigration and customs database printout in the investigative file. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01683110 p.62. ↩ ↩2

  4. Richard Kahn to Epstein, and Jeff Fuller’s reply, Mar. 23, 2011, forwarded to Epstein by Brunel. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01870235 pp.1–3. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  5. Jeff Fuller, “credit line balance,” Sept. 13, 2011, forwarded to Epstein. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01855372 ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  6. “The Billionaire Pedophile’s Sex Den,” The Daily Beast, Mar. 22, 2010, printed into the investigative file. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01688916 pp.20–22. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  7. M.J. v. Jeffrey Epstein and Sarah Kellen, Case 9:10-cv-81111-WPD, Complaint, S.D. Fla., filed Sept. 17, 2010, ¶12. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00616147 p.3. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  8. Jane Doe #1 and Jane Doe #2 v. United States, Case 9:08-cv-80736-KAM, Document 280, “Jane Doe #3 and Jane Doe #4’s Corrected Motion Pursuant to Rule 21 for Joinder in Action,” S.D. Fla., filed Jan. 2, 2015. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00021553 pp.6–7. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  9. Jane Doe v. Jeffrey Epstein, Case 9:08-cv-80119-KAM, Document 547, “Notice of Supplemental Authority on Plaintiff Jane Doe’s Motion for an Order to Show Cause and for an Order to Compel,” S.D. Fla., filed May 17, 2010. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00728483 pp.1–3. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  10. Nancy Ing and Sarah Fitzpatrick, “Modeling agent Jean Luc Brunel arrested in Paris in Epstein probe,” NBC News, Dec. 17, 2020. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/modeling-agent-jean-luc-brunel-arrested-paris-epstein-probe-n1251589 ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  11. Ali Dukakis and Aicha El Hammar Castano, “Jeffrey Epstein associate Jean Luc Brunel found dead by suicide in prison,” ABC News, Feb. 19, 2022. https://abcnews.go.com/International/jeffrey-epstein-associate-jean-luc-brunel-found-dead/story?id=83001807 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  12. Epstein office message log, Apr. 5, 2005, entry timed 11:27 am. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01304411 p.2. ↩ ↩2

  13. Second Amendment to Restated Trust, The Jeffrey E. Epstein 2001 Trust Two, executed Dec. 3, 2004. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01266346 pp.2–3. ↩ ↩2

  14. Third Amendment to Restated Trust, The Jeffrey E. Epstein 2001 Trust Two, executed Sept. 5, 2007. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01266350 pp.1–3. ↩ ↩2

  15. Kate Briquelet and Pervaiz Shallwani, “Federal Prosecutors Are Lining Up Witnesses Against Jeffrey Epstein’s Cronies,” The Daily Beast, Oct. 29, 2019, forwarded within DOJ the same day. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00023920 p.7. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  16. Memorandum to U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman, Dec. 19, 2019, p.65. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02731082 ↩ ↩2

  17. Deutsche Bank, “Presentation to the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York,” Sept. 12, 2019, Exhibit N, “Timeline of Payments to (or on Behalf of) Alleged Co-Conspirators (Payments ≥ $10,000).” https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01681865 p.29. ↩ ↩2

  18. Epstein to Richard Kahn, May 1, 2014, subject “Jean Luc Brunel.” https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01928143 ↩

  19. Revocation and Termination of The Jeffrey E. Epstein 2001 Trust Two, Oct. 24, 2012. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01266357 ↩

  20. Hyperion Air, Inc. passenger manifest, N909JE, Wallblake (Anguilla) to West Palm Beach, Jan. 1, 2005, in Palm Beach County Public Records Request No. 17-295. https://epstein-data.com/DOJ-OGR-00032040 p.105. ↩

  21. “Passenger Lists for Palm Beach Flights 2005,” in Palm Beach County Public Records Request No. 17-295. https://epstein-data.com/DOJ-OGR-00032568 pp.35–36. ↩

  22. Exhibit 16 to Case 9:08-cv-80736-KAM, Document 291-15, S.D. Fla., entered Jan. 21, 2015, ¶¶62–67. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00081180 pp.24–25. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  23. Carolina Bolado, “Epstein Ducks Modeling Agency Suit Over Improper Service,” Law360, Apr. 24, 2019, circulated by email Apr. 25, 2019. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00010249 pp.1–3. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  24. Jean Luc Brunel to Epstein, Oct. 24, 2012. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02031998 ↩

  25. FBI/SDNY interview-planning table, “Individual / Role / Known counsel? / Possible Location.” https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01682078 p.2. ↩

  26. Memorandum to U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman, Dec. 19, 2019, p.48. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02731082 ↩

  27. Email chain, OCRVP (Direction centrale de la police judiciaire, Nanterre) to an intermediary, forwarded to Sigrid McCawley of Boies Schiller Flexner, Nov. 19–21, 2019. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00020911 pp.1–3. ↩ ↩2

  28. United States v. Ghislaine Maxwell, 20 Cr. 330 (AJN), Reply Memorandum in Support of Her Renewed Motion for Bail, n.8. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00019291 p.14. ↩

  29. Email thread, subject “Brunel,” Jan. 5–12, 2021, among SDNY, the Criminal Division and the DOJ attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Paris. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00021720 pp.2–3. ↩ ↩2

  30. Same thread, points prepared for the Jan. 7, 2021 meeting with the French judges. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00021720 p.4. ↩

  31. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00021719 (Jan. 12, 2021), https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00020904 (Jan. 20, 2021), https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00030892 (Feb. 12, 2021), and https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00030842 (redacted copy of the January 2021 thread). ↩

  32. “Jean-Luc Brunel: Ex-Epstein associate found dead in French jail,” Al Jazeera (with AFP), Feb. 19, 2022. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/19/modeling-agent-close-to-epstein-found-dead-in-french-jail ↩

  33. Congressional Record, August 31, 2026, p.H5349, “Bring Epstein Perpetrators to Justice” (Mr. Massie). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2026-08-31/html/CREC-2026-08-31-pt1-PgH5349-3.htm ↩

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