## JAMES PATTERSON

A very well-connected group of Spanish families-including members of Spain's royal family-had invested with Drysdale. Those investors stood to lose hundreds of millions of dollars. And Ana's father was one of those investors.

What Ana wanted from Jeffrey Epstein was help in recover- ing her father's money.

"My father, he's done something stupid," she told him.

A Spanish accent. A Brooklyn accent. They blended well together, and Ana was so very lovely.

It turned out that Epstein was willing to help.

"Something stupid, you see, with the money. The family money. Some- -what do you call it? A scheme. He knew some of the people, but they lied to him. And now the money is gone."

People who knew Jeffrey Epstein recall that he was bad off after his exit or ouster-whatever it was-from Bear Stearns. Mov- ing from couch to couch for a while. Sleeping in his lawyer's offices before settling down in an apartment in the Solow Tower, on East 66th Street.

It's a bit hard to believe. After all, Epstein left Bear Stearns with a good deal of money. But Epstein's lifestyle was expensive. He was a man on the make then, and Ana was still in her twen- ties, plying her craft at the Actors Studio-the New York City theater institution that Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson, and Jane Fonda had all been members of.

Epstein told Ana that he'd formed a company, International Assets Group.

To Ana, this sounded very impressive. In fact, IAG was a small operation that Epstein was running out of his apartment.

But if Ana had
already see tha
maintain that 1
who helped se
women he'd cu
whole other kir
Ones that n

Andrew Levan
District of New
Force. He was a
he was building
of Drysdale ex
Epstein bringin
Epstein came tc
The woman
Levander to
lawyer named F
himself, was as:
hunt for the mo
In effect, D(
deadfalls. And
pany were less
to the US attori
had violated th
investments.
This was w
discretion-car
Ana Obregó

102

HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_009253
documents/HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_009253.jpg
{"people":["james patterson","jeffrey epstein","marlon brando","robert de niro","jack nicholson","jane fonda","andrew levander","ana obregon"]}