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Epstein probers tighten focus on Prince Andrew as they seek more of the billionaire’s underage victims

Prince Andrew’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein could see him more deeply engulfed in scandal as US authorities seek victims of the late American billionaire pedophile.

The Sunday Times reported the FBI has expanded its investigation to identify alleged human trafficking victims of Epstein, who could provide information on the Duke of York.

The report says the US law enforcement agency expects to interview alleged trafficking victims over the next two months, and that Scotland Yard is ready to help.

Citing unidentified sources from the US Department of Justice, the paper says the FBI is looking to “several” potential victims in the hope they can provide more details about Prince Andrew and his involvement in the Epstein case.

The report quotes former head of royal protection at Scotland Yard, Dai Davies, saying Prince Andrew should welcome the expanded investigation.

“I would have thought it’s in Prince Andrew’s interests to clear this matter up,” Mr Davies, who headed Prince Andrew’s protection in the late 1990s, told the Sunday Times.

“Any residue of doubt or innuendo should be cleared up by a clear, unequivocal, structured investigation.”

jeffrey epstein accuser lives in Australia

Australian woman Virginia Roberts (nee Giuffre) who made explosive allegations about Jeffrey Epstein.

Scotland Yard had previously held an investigation after one of the women caught up in the scandal, Australian Virginia Roberts, then known by the family name Giuffre, made allegations against Prince Andrew, but that probe was dropped in 2015.

Her allegations, which Andrew strongly denies, were struck from US civil court records in 2015 after a judge said they were “immaterial and impertinent”.

The Sunday Times reports the claims by Ms Roberts that she was ordered to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was 17 are not the only allegations against the royal being reviewed by the FBI.

Prince Andrew has denied all allegations against him as “false” and “without foundation”.

The paper said around 100 sex-trafficking victims are expected to form part of the FBI’s investigation into Epstein, most of whom were aged between 14 and 15.

The Epstein probe is continuing after the disgraced financier took his own life last month in a New York prison cell where he was detained on charges of sex trafficking teenage girls.

-with AAP

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