Virginia Giuffre’s family has raised questions about a “significant amount of missing money” in an ongoing dispute over her multimillion-dollar estate.
Giuffre, 41, is believed to have amassed an estimated $22m (£16.5m) fortune through victims’ compensation funds and settlements in civil suits related to years of abuse she suffered at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein.
This includes an estimated $12m (£9m) payment she received from Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to settle sexual abuse allegations against him in 2022. Andrew has always vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
However, court documents filed on Friday in legal proceedings over her estate in Australia put its value at just A$472,000 (£233,000) – the legal threshold that sets out how assets in Australia are divided in the absence of a will. It may increase as more assets are discovered.
Her lawyers and carers estimate the item is worth at least $501,000 (£240,000). It’s unclear where the money went.
According to legal submissions, the estate consisted of business assets, jewellery, cars, a horse and personal belongings which were found at the farm where she committed suicide in Neergabby, north of Perth.
Giuffre’s family is understood to be privately worried about the estate’s valuation and the possibility of losing millions of dollars.
They are working to prevent her husband, Robert Giuffre, who filed for divorce two months before her death, from receiving the money.
Robert and Virginia Giuffre
Giuffre claimed that her husband was very controlling and sometimes even forbade her from being with other men.
“It’s time for people to focus on Robbie’s control of Virginia,” a source with knowledge of the process told The Daily Telegraph.
The bulk of Giuffre’s settlement is believed to have been deposited into the Witty River Family Trust. The trust was established in 2020, with Giuffre and her husband Robert as co-directors, with equal shares.
If the trust has co-trustees, decisions about the funds must generally be made unanimously.
This has raised concerns that the compensation may have been spent or diverted.
Mr. Giuffre is a former mixed martial arts instructor who has not worked since 2017, Giuffre claimed.
Mr Giuffre could inherit at least a third of his wife’s wealth
Although Giuffre was separated from her husband of 22 years at the time of her death, he could inherit at least one-third of her wealth under the state’s spousal laws.
Friends and family in Australia and the United States argue she did not want her husband to benefit and changed her will after she accused him of domestic abuse. Her sons told a judge on Friday that they did not believe she was mentally well enough to write a will. Her husband has yet to comment.
Giuffre’s family has previously accused him of leading an unstable lifestyle.
“Hopefully the court will order a full forensic audit of her estate,” the source said, adding that if Mr. Giuffre was found to know where the missing wealth was, “he [Robert] There will definitely be some explaining to do,” the source said.
Giuffre’s brother, Skye Roberts, and her half-brother, Danny Wilson, have long challenged Mr. Giuffre’s money rights.
The legal battle over who should be appointed as administrator of the estate was heard in public for the first time in the Supreme Court of Western Australia in Perth on Friday.
Skye Roberts (left) and Danny Wilson challenge Robert Giuffre for money rights – Facebook
The sons are being challenged by Carrie Louden, one of Giuffre’s attorneys, and Cheryl Myers, Giuffre’s housekeeper and caregiver, who said she was like a “second mother” to the sexual abuse survivor in his final years.
The Giuffre brothers deny the validity of their mother’s alleged final wishes, an “implied will” she emailed to PwC’s Lisa Foster in late February.
She said she wanted the money to be given to her children and other family members, with specific provisions.
The heirs will benefit from potential royalties from Giuffre’s memoir “Nobody’s Girl,” which details her alleged abuse at the hands of powerful men.
Mr Roberts and Mr Wilson are also said to have wanted to take control of her charity Speak Up, Act Back, but Giuffre failed to launch it before his death.
Up to $3m (£2.25m) of the settlement paid by Andrew was held in trust by the charity and remains in an escrow account managed by a third party.
Giuffre’s property portfolio includes a six-bedroom home at Ocean Reef in Perth
In addition to Andrew’s settlement, Giuffre also received $500,000 from Epstein in 2009.
She also received an undisclosed payment after settling a civil case with Ghislaine Maxwell in 2017.
The British socialite was convicted of sex trafficking in December 2021 and is seeking a retrial to overturn the 20-year federal prison sentence she is currently serving.
Giuffre also owns four properties, including a six-bedroom beachfront home in Perth’s Ocean Reef and a ranch in Nilgaby.
CNN has reached out to a representative for Mr. Giuffre for comment. He has previously declined to comment on the domestic abuse allegations, citing ongoing legal action.