Ghislaine Maxwell files lawsuit against Jeffrey Epstein estate

Lawsuit claims Epstein made promises to financially support Maxwell

Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at a New York function in 2005 (Getty)

Ghislaine Maxwell has reportedly filed a lawsuit against the estate of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, seeking reimbursement for legal and personal protection costs.

Fifty-eight-year-old Maxwell, the former girlfriend and long-time employee of Epstein, has been accused by some of the late financier’s victims of facilitating his abuse.

She is named as a defendant in a number of civil lawsuits related to Epstein's alleged abuse, but her whereabouts has been a mystery for some months now.

Ms Maxwell's lawsuit, which was filed in the US Virgin Islands, claims that Epstein made promises to support her financially, according to ABC News.

“Maxwell reasonably and justifiably relied on Epstein’s promises and put her trust in Epstein that he would fulfill his promises,” the lawsuit said, according to ABC.

Epstein, 66, killed himself in his New York City prison cell in August after he was arrested on sex trafficking charges. He had pleaded not guilty to sexually abusing girls as young as 14 and young women in New York and Florida in the early 2000s. In lawsuits, women say the abuse spanned decades.

Ms Maxwell, the daughter of British publishing magnate Robert Maxwell, has been accused in lawsuits of being a recruiter of young girls for Epstein.

Ms Maxwell's lawsuit alleges that she “received a typewritten letter from Epstein with a handwritten note asking Maxwell to remain in Epstein’s employ and promising that no matter what Maxwell chose to do, Epstein would always support [her] financially.” It also states that she "had no involvement in or knowledge of Epstein’s alleged misconduct.”