The FBI has arrested British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, an ex-girlfriend of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
She was reportedly arrested in New Hampshire on charges related to Epstein and is due in federal court later.
She has denied any involvement in or knowledge of Epstein’s alleged sexual misconduct.
Epstein died in prison on 10 August as he awaited, without the chance of bail, his trial on sex trafficking charges.
He was arrested last year in New York following allegations that he was running a network of underage girls – some as young as 14 – for sex. His death was determined to be suicide.
Some of Epstein’s alleged victims say Ms Maxwell brought them into his circle to be sexually abused by him and his friends.
One of Epstein’s alleged victims, Virginia Giuffre, has accused Ms Maxwell of recruiting her as a masseuse to the financier at the age of 15.
Details of that allegation against Ms Maxwell emerged in documents unsealed by a US judge last August in a 2015 defamation case.
Ms Maxwell denies wrongdoing.
Earlier this year Ms Maxwell sued Epstein’s estate seeking reimbursement for legal fees and security costs. She “receives regular threats to her life and safety”, court documents in that case said.
BBC NEWS UK
