Daniel Siad: Jeffrey Epstein's Network in Barcelona and Beyond, According to Declassified Documents

Spain - Ekhbary News Agency

Daniel Siad: Jeffrey Epstein's Network in Barcelona and Beyond, According to Declassified Documents

Jeffrey Epstein's shadow stretched far beyond the mansions of Palm Beach or the private islands of the Caribbean. A recent declassification of thousands of documents by the U.S. Department of Justice has brought to light the figure of Daniel Siad, a Franco-Algerian national who operated as a key piece in the magnate's intricate sexual exploitation network, with Barcelona as one of his operational hubs. These files not only confirm the global scale of Epstein's activities but also detail the modus operandi of his collaborators.

Daniel Siad, who presented himself as a figure with connections in the fashion world and boasted on social media of knowing personalities such as Jean-Marie Le Pen, François-Henri Pinault, or Benjamin de Rothschild, was dedicated to identifying and supplying young women to Epstein. His relationship with the financier, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking, was characterized by a systematic pattern: Siad located young women, took their photographs, and sent them to Epstein for his approval. The exchanged messages reveal the crude and dehumanizing evaluation Epstein made of the girls' physiques, even writing explicit comments such as: “She is pretty but her breasts are horrible. She will have to get them redone.” This correspondence underscores the transactional nature and total lack of scruples in their operations.

According to the documents, Siad settled in Barcelona around 2016, after residing in Paris. From the Catalan capital, he contacted Epstein via Skype to propose sending a woman (whose identity remains classified) to help him recruit girls in the city. In his communications, Siad tried to entice the magnate with descriptions of Barcelona as a city “full of life” and with a “very calm” atmosphere, ideal for his purposes. He also mentioned his collaboration with local modeling agencies, suggesting how he used his facade in the sector to facilitate his illicit activities. A later message, from April 2017, reveals that Siad already had “several models camped out” in his apartment, ready to send photos to Epstein.

The professional relationship between Siad and Epstein was not gratuitous. The declassified files indicate that Epstein remunerated Siad's services through an account in Dubai, pointing to a sophisticated financial structure designed to conceal payments and avoid tracing. Evidence suggests that some of the young women recruited by Siad were not only evaluated remotely but came into direct contact with Epstein, with messages alluding to financial payments and sexual demands. One of the most chilling communications shows Epstein demanding of a young woman during a video call: “Lower the phone, even between your legs,” an order that illustrates the depravity of his practices.

However, Barcelona was not the only epicenter of Siad's operations. His scope of action was truly global. In December 2016, for example, he traveled to Cuba for Fidel Castro's funeral, and from there, he contacted Epstein to express his interest in opening an agency in Havana, where he had found “new and beautiful girls.” A few months later, during Ramadan, he was in Marrakech, Morocco, again searching for more candidates for the magnate. These trips were not mere personal displacements but active recruitment missions, funded and driven by Epstein's insatiable demand.

The documents also reveal that Siad's activities date back years before his arrival in Barcelona. In May 2009, he wrote to Epstein from Poland, claiming to have “some girls ready” and requesting at least 4,000 euros. In the same message, he highlighted Slovakia as a promising location, with plans to meet “more than 45 models” in Košice before traveling to Budapest. A year later, in July 2010, Siad was in Ibiza with a contact named Tigrane and “eight top girls,” inviting Epstein to join them in a “huge house” to build a partnership. Although that meeting apparently did not materialize, these episodes paint a clear picture of an individual deeply immersed in facilitating sexual exploitation on an international scale.

The revelation of the extensive network of 'fixers' like Daniel Siad adds a crucial layer to understanding the reach of Jeffrey Epstein. He was not a lone predator but the apex of a pyramid of collaborators who allowed him to operate across multiple continents, exploiting the vulnerability of young women with promises of opportunities in the fashion world or simply through payments. These documents not only close some gaps in Epstein's story but also reinforce the need for constant vigilance and coordinated global action against sex trafficking and exploitation networks.

Ekhbary News Agency