Jeffrey Epstein Facilitated Gates Foundation Funding and Assistant Placements at International Peace Institute

More than three dozen health experts and diplomats gathered at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on September 12, 2015, for a day-long conference on preparing for pandemics hosted by the International Peace Institute. Among those in attendance was Svetlana Pozhidaeva, who was 31 years old and had been a so-called assistant to Jeffrey Epstein for about five years.

She wore a dress Jeffrey Epstein had bought her in Paris.

Jeffrey Epstein told Svetlana Pozhidaeva she would be working closely with both the International Peace Institute and the Gates Foundation to orchestrate the September 12, 2015, pandemic conference. Terje Rød-Larsen, who was CEO of the International Peace Institute in 2015, signed a personal recommendation letter for Svetlana Pozhidaeva’s visa application.

The letter stated she held an active and lead role coordinating follow-up meetings for the 2015 pandemic event and that without her extraordinary efforts the fundraising would not have reached the levels it reached.

Svetlana Pozhidaeva visited the Gates Foundation with Jeffrey Epstein around September 2015 but was not allowed in the meeting. She recalled feeling like a fifth wheel at the Palais des Nations event, with attendees asking what she was doing there. "I felt like I was so out of place," she told Fortune.

In March 2013 he introduced Bill Gates to IPI’s senior leadership at a meeting at the residence of then-Nobel Committee chair Thorbjørn Jagland. Boris Nikolic was Bill Gates’ then-advisor who regularly interfaced with Jeffrey Epstein.

In August 2013 Boris Nikolic wrote in an email that they were trying to accelerate the grant-making process for IPI which typically took six to nine months. Within one month of the August 2013 acceleration email, several IPI staffers flew to Seattle to meet with the Gates Foundation. 5 million was wired.

The Gates Foundation committed $5 million to IPI to support polio eradication in 2013. Jeffrey Epstein emailed Boris Nikolic the wiring instructions for the $5 million Gates Foundation grant to IPI. 5 million to IPI according to public records.

The Gates Foundation donations made up more than 20% of IPI’s annual donations between 2013 and 2015 according to IRS records. At the time of the 2015 conference the Gates Foundation made up some 20% of IPI’s contributions. Jeffrey Epstein was involved in gifts totaling $950,000 from Leon Black to IPI.

In 2014 Leon Black made two personal donations totaling $950,000 to IPI. Epstein sponsored a fellowship with IPI in 2012. He served on IPI’s Mongolia Presidential Advisory Board where he and others gave direct advice to then-Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj.

Terje Rød-Larsen visited Jeffrey Epstein’s house in New York City, stayed in his home in Paris, and visited his island by 2011. Terje Rød-Larsen personally borrowed $130,000 from Jeffrey Epstein in 2013. The International Peace Institute was affiliated with the United Nations and worked to settle and prevent armed conflicts.

After his 2008 conviction for soliciting an underage woman for prostitution, Jeffrey Epstein began recruiting young-looking foreign women over the age of 18 on the promise of jobs, education, and career opportunities. Jeffrey Epstein helped women obtain visas and paid for their accommodation, clothing, and education while demanding gratitude and obedience.

U.S. Visa recommendation letters for at least four women in his orbit. Svetlana Pozhidaeva and another assistant told Fortune they were repeatedly sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein. "Being able to meet tech executives or prime ministers when you come from a small country or from Russia or Ukraine—it changes your perspective," Pozhidaeva told Fortune.

Fortune confirmed two of Epstein’s assistants, including Svetlana Pozhidaeva, held roles on staff at IPI. Svetlana Pozhidaeva worked at IPI on and off between around 2012 and 2016. She has a degree from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and had been modeling for a European fashion brand before meeting Jeffrey Epstein.

U.S. visa and housing. A Russian model and Epstein assistant named Ada worked at IPI as an intern, then a full-time employee in a newly created external relations assistant position, then as a volunteer for more than two years.

Total expense to IPI for Ada’s employment between October 2016 and July 2018 was an estimated $71,000 according to an email to Terje Rød-Larsen. Jeffrey Epstein bankrolled Ada’s salary at IPI himself. Ada co-published an article about water conservancy on IPI’s site in April 2018.

In August 2018 Marna texted Jeffrey Epstein that the Swiss Embassy in Washington had not approved her student visa papers. Within 15 minutes of Marna’s August 2018 text, Jeffrey Epstein messaged Terje Rød-Larsen about helping with the visa. Terje Rød-Larsen responded he would reach out to an ambassador and ask him to speak to the Consul General regarding Marna’s visa.

Jeffrey Epstein instructed Marna in August 2018 to tell Swiss officials she had been working for the International Peace Institute under Terje Rød-Larsen if called. U.S. Department of Justice containing testimony from an IPI employee about short-term trainees from Eastern Europe between 2014 and 2016.

Terje Rød-Larsen resigned as president and CEO of IPI in 2020. An IPI spokesperson stated that the think tank continues to be very troubled by the documents released recently by the US Department of Justice relating to Jeffrey Epstein and joins with those around the world who have expressed solidarity with the survivors of Epstein’s wrongdoings.

The Gates Foundation stated that the harm Epstein inflicted on women and girls was horrific and that it is deeply troubling that, without their knowledge, Epstein used the Gates Foundation’s name to further his agenda.

A representative for Leon Black did not respond to Fortune’s requests for comment. @FortuneMagazine reported these details.