Ghislaine Maxwell steps out of the shadows A new documentary sheds light on Maxwellâs rise to infamy and suggests her defence may be that she was as much under Jeffrey Epsteinâs control as the girls he abused. Ghislaine Maxwell with her father, British media tycoon and fraudster Robert Maxwell, in 1987.  Apha Press/Australscope Save Share Ghislaine Maxwell is sitting on a bench in New York in 1992, fresh-faced and vulnerable. Filmed by an Israeli camerawoman, this will be the only taped interview she gives after the mysterious death of her father, tycoon Robert Maxwell, the year before. She has fled here to reinvent herself as a Manhattan socialite after it has emerged that Maxwell siphoned £500 million from his companiesâ pension funds. Yet, when asked what that notorious surname means to her, a grieving Ghislaine declares: âIâm proud of it â I shall remain proud of it forever.â