From Bratislava to Brooklyn: How Epstein Built a Recruitment Pipeline Across Eastern Europe

The girl from Kosice arrived in America around the year 2000. She was approximately fourteen years old. Jeffrey Epstein told associates he had "purchased" her from her family. Her name was Nadia Marcinkova, and she would spend the next two decades in Epstein's orbit, first as a victim, then as a pilot of his aircraft, and finally, in 2018, as a cooperating federal witness who traded information about Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell for help with her immigration status.

Marcinkova's journey from eastern Slovakia to Epstein's Palm Beach mansion was not an isolated event. It was the prototype for a continental recruitment operation that extended across Central and Eastern Europe, exploiting the economic desperation of post-communist societies and the infrastructure of an international modeling industry that had learned to treat young women as commodities.

The Flight to Prague

On May 10, 2004, Epstein's Boeing 727 flew from New York to LKPR, the international airport code for Prague. The passenger manifest listed Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, Nadia Marcinkova, Sarah Kellen, and pilot Larry Visoski. Three years later, on January 21, 2007, a smaller Gulfstream carried Epstein, Kellen, and Marcinkova from Paris Le Bourget to EDDM, Munich.

These are the documented flights. FBI investigators specifically questioned Epstein's pilots about flights involving Prague and Turkey, suggesting the Bureau suspected these cities served as hubs in the trafficking operation. Epstein's bank records show he stayed at the Marriott Prague hotel, and photographs released by the DOJ show him visiting the Old Jewish Cemetery in the city.

The 2004 Prague flight is notable because it carried three of the four women later named as co-conspirators in Epstein's 2008 non-prosecution agreement: Maxwell, Kellen, and Marcinkova. The fourth, Adriana Ross, was Polish.

The Ukrainian Agencies

The documents reveal that Epstein's associates were actively engaged with the Ukrainian modeling market. An email in the files identifies two agencies as the "best in Kiev": L-Models, owned by a man named Stas, and Linea 12, owned and directed by Masha Manyuk. The sender described "all the other small agencies" as secondary (EFTA00876711).

A separate document shows a Linea 12 representation contract being forwarded to Epstein's network, with the subject line "LINEA 12 UKRAINE / NY schedule + representation contract" (EFTA02415791). The contract included a New York schedule for the agency's models.

Jean-Luc Brunel, who ran Karin Models in Paris and co-founded MC2 with Epstein's funding, was documented discussing "work plans" for a Ukrainian model he had met in Paris, offering to organize a job in the USA and writing that he was interested in the girl coming to New York through his MC2 agency. The pattern was consistent: identify young women in Eastern Europe, bring them westward through modeling contracts, and channel them toward Epstein's properties.

An investigation by the Ukrainian outlet Babel found that both L-Models and Linea 12 remain operational in Kyiv as of 2026 and have faced no legal consequences. Masha Manyuk continues to run Linea 12, her denials unchallenged by Ukrainian authorities.

The Scout Pitch

The recruitment operation was not limited to agencies. In one email, an associate pitched Epstein a freelance recruiter: "I found super scout for you, the guy serbian 25yo, doing just this, placed in ny, london, paris. you will love what he has" (EFTA02005478). The message described a 25-year-old Serbian man whose entire professional activity was scouting models across three cities. The identity of this individual has not been established.

The Slovak Diplomat

The intersection of Epstein's Eastern European interests with diplomatic power is best illustrated by the case of Miroslav Lajcak, Slovakia's former foreign minister and later national security adviser to Prime Minister Robert Fico. Introduced to Epstein in 2017 by Norwegian diplomat Terje Roed-Larsen, Lajcak maintained email correspondence with Epstein through 2019.

The released messages are damaging. In October 2018, Lajcak wrote to Epstein from Kyiv: "Just want to confirm that girls are beautiful here as always." In other exchanges, Epstein offered Lajcak women, noting he "could also take their sisters." Lajcak also proposed connecting Epstein's associate Steve Bannon with PM Fico, writing: "By the way, I have someone in Slovakia for him, my former prime minister Fico. He wants to play Steve's game."

Lajcak resigned on January 31, 2026, telling Slovak public radio: "When I am reading the messages today, I feel like an idiot."

Documents also show Lajcak helped arrange employment for a woman connected to Epstein, extending the pattern of using professional opportunities as tools of recruitment and control.

The Scope

A search of the Epstein files reveals the geographic breadth of the Eastern European connection. The word "Slovak" appears in 1,539 documents. "Czech" appears in 1,364. "Ukraine" in 2,703. "Romania" in 1,443. "Prague" in 910. "Budapest" in 587. The phrase "Eastern Europe" itself appears in 797 documents.

Among the specific details: a property near Bratislava, described as "newly renovated with a big garden," was discussed in the files as being "close to an airport in Zilina" (EFTA00774568). An associate mentioned stopping by "the Slovakian restaurant" near Epstein's New York residence to bring him food. A young Czech woman wrote to Epstein in 2009 explaining she had financial difficulties and requesting a loan.

Czech police announced in February 2026 that they are investigating Czech connections in the files, including allegations that minors were transported from the Czech Republic. Turkish prosecutors reviewed allegations that Epstein trafficked children from Turkey, the Czech Republic, and Asia. The Polish prosecutor's office opened its own investigation in March 2026.

The FBI Knew

An FBI declaration to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, written in support of Nadia Marcinkova's visa application, stated that she "was recruited, harbored and obtained by Jeffrey Epstein and others for purposes of a coercive sexual relationship." The FBI described her as a human trafficking victim who could not safely return to Slovakia.

Between 2018 and 2022, Marcinkova cooperated with federal investigators, providing information about both Epstein and Maxwell in exchange for immigration assistance. She had spent nearly two decades in a country where she had no legal status, brought as a child by a man who claimed to have bought her, flying his planes and carrying a name that was not quite the one she was born with.

The pipeline that brought her from Kosice ran in both directions. Young women came west. Money, contracts, and job offers went east. And the modeling industry provided the infrastructure for both.

Source Documents

• Flight log: May 10, 2004, JFK to LKPR (Prague) with Epstein, Maxwell, Marcinkova, Kellen
• Flight log: January 21, 2007, Le Bourget to EDDM (Munich) with Epstein, Kellen, Marcinkova
• Flight log: November 7, 2018, destination LZTT (Slovakia), passengers redacted
• EFTA00876711: Email identifying L-Models and Linea 12 as top Ukrainian modeling agencies
• EFTA02415791: Forwarded Linea 12 Ukraine representation contract with NY schedule
• EFTA02005478: Email pitching 25-year-old Serbian model scout
• EFTA00774568: Property near Bratislava with garden, close to Zilina airport

Profiles for Nadia Marcinkova, Miroslav Lajcak, and Daniel Siad are available in the Epstein Exposed database.