A New Zealand couple who managed properties for Jeffrey Epstein were former Defence Force members, according to Stuff.
The revelation adds another layer to New Zealand's uncomfortable connections to the Epstein scandal, raising questions about how former military personnel ended up working for one of the world's most notorious criminals.
Mate, this is a uniquely Kiwi angle on the Epstein story. It's one thing for wealthy Americans to be entangled with Epstein. It's another when New Zealand Defence Force veterans end up managing his properties.
The couple's identities and specific roles remain unclear from available reporting. What's known is they had NZDF backgrounds before entering Epstein's orbit as property managers.
This raises obvious questions. How did former military personnel with presumed security clearances and vetting end up working for Epstein? What did they know about his activities? Were there any security or counterintelligence implications?
New Zealand has had other awkward connections to controversial foreign billionaires. Peter Thiel famously secured New Zealand citizenship after spending just 12 days in the country, sparking debate about whether the ultra-wealthy can essentially buy citizenship.
The Epstein case is different - not about citizenship but about how New Zealand citizens ended up employed by someone whose criminal activities were, in hindsight, hiding in plain sight for years.
Property managers have intimate access to their employers' lives and activities. They see who comes and goes, manage logistics, handle sensitive arrangements. For Epstein, whose sex trafficking operation relied on secrecy and logistics, property managers would have been key enablers - whether witting or unwitting.
Whether these former NZDF members knew what Epstein was doing, or were simply employees trying to make a living, remains unclear. But their military backgrounds add another uncomfortable dimension to New Zealand's peripheral role in one of the century's most disturbing scandals.
