This attention to mobility is consistent with Epstein’s broader reliance on intermediaries who facilitated access, introductions and movement across borders.
Taken together, these elements suggest that Tunisia functioned not as a destination in itself, but as a peripheral node within a transnational system that combined travel logistics with model scouting to enable recruitment and circulation across regions with limited visibility.
With the US Department of Justice now confirming that no further prosecutions will be pursued in relation to the Epstein network, attention has increasingly shifted away from prominent figures toward the intermediaries who sustained these mechanisms.
It is within this space, between legitimate modeling circuits and opaque recruitment practices, that Daniel Amar Siad’s role becomes central to understanding how Epstein’s network operated across cities, countries and decades.
Do All Roads Lead to Epstein?
In a moment where art intersects with real life, fashion model Julienne Davis, who played the character Mandy in Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, told Inkyfada that she believes a model scout arranged for her and others to briefly visit Jeffrey Epstein’s Paris residence in 1994.
In an interview, Davis recalled that a “junior model scout who worked for Metropolitan” in Paris picked her up during Prêt-à-Porter Week and, while driving toward the Bain Douche nightclub, suggested a detour.
"We have some other models staying with an American businessman friend of mine. Do you mind if we stop by and see if they want to come with us?"
Davis’s recollection of the year 1994 aligns with court deposition records indicating that Epstein is reported to have met his first underage victim that same year. Testimony from Epstein’s former pilot further confirms that between 1994 and 1997, Epstein traveled frequently to Europe by Concorde and commercial airlines when his private jet was unavailable.
Davis described Epstein, then in his forties, as “very low-key, with very low lifeforce, almost oddly calm,” adding that “nothing seemed to excite him. Just doing the bare minimum and possibly sizing things up.” She recalled an “odd, light handshake,” demonstrating it to emphasize how uniquely unnerving it was and described the Paris apartment as spacious, with high ceilings but otherwise sparse and bare.
“He seemed like someone who drew energy from other people rather than himself, an energy sucker. He wasn’t interested in me because I was too old.”
According to Davis, the memory resurfaced years later after Epstein’s activities became public and photographs of his Paris residence circulated widely in the media, triggering recognition of both the apartment and an American businessman with a distinctive “oversized jaw.”
When asked about the models staying with Epstein and whether they appeared distressed, Davis recalled them as “American and young, approximately 17 or 18 years old. Their room had two mattresses on the floor,” adding that they didn’t seem uncomfortable.
Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, a film widely interpreted as exploring elite secret societies, power, and the exploitation of young women, notably cast working fashion models in several roles at the director’s insistence.
Reflecting on the broader modeling ecosystem, Davis suggests that the reason why “someone like Epstein would be in Paris or Milan in the summer time, specifically, is because “that’s when high-school-aged girls (14 to 17) were getting their model books filled, during school breaks.”
While Davis does not allege wrongdoing during the brief encounter, emphasizing that she was already over 25 at the time and Epstein and the models declined to join them, her account highlights the early and informal proximity between model bookers and Epstein’s social environment in 1994, a proximity that would later solidify into a documented, transnational predatory network that spans decades and cities.
The correspondence related to the Look Model Search International Final held in Tunis in 2009 at the Golden Tulip Carthage Hotel, reveals that Daniel Amar Siad, also known as Amar Siad and Siad Amar, an international model scout with ties to other industries such as fingerprinting technology, was passing on information about the Tunis event to Epstein.
More revealing however, is the fact that a March 3, 2016 correspondence describes Daniel Siad as “a scout or recruiter of girls and/or women for J. Epstein,” was submitted as sealed evidence by the Ghislaine Maxwell legal team, as part of Exhibit O in United States District Court, Southern District of New York, United States of America v. Ghislaine Maxwell.
There were only 8 exhibits submitted in that court file, of which one was significant enough to include reference to Siad. The material appears to remain under seal, which means that the court has ordered that the exhibit remain confidential.
Understanding Siad’s role first requires situating him within an already documented precedent: the relationship between Epstein and Jean-Luc Brunel, founder of MC2 Model Management, a Paris-based agency now demonstrably established as financed by Epstein.
The Brunel–MC2 Precedent
Despite his dramatic arrest in 2019, warning signs surrounding Brunel and his modeling agency MC2 had surfaced years earlier. In a 2014 email, Brunel wrote to Epstein about growing media scrutiny: “In Miami, dealing with significant problems associated with MC2 model’s image on the internet. Then I go for a holiday…”
Epstein responded with advice and an apology: “Sorry, sorry. I expect this natural disaster of a media shit storm will last the month. Like a hurricane or tsunami, little can be done to affect it.”
In a follow-up message and despite the seeming reassurance, Epstein instructed Brunel:
“Destroy this communication and all copies thereof, including all attachments. Copyright—all rights reserved.”
Earlier still, in 2012, Brunel had written ominously:
“Blanket on everything related with MC2,” foreshadowing the collapse of the Brunel/Epstein operation and offering critical context for understanding Daniel Siad’s later role.
Unsealed court documents which include a hand written account dated 2.29.2016 by an FBI agent reveal that Brunel was already cooperating with the FBI as early as 2016 to supply evidence against Epstein.
Who is Daniel Amar Siad?
According to a review of the files, Siad, of reportedly Algerian, French and Swedish nationality, operated scouting and modeling activities across Paris, Ibiza, Marrakesh, Barcelona, Havana, Stockholm and Hong Kong. His bank account records reveal he later resided in Palm Jumeirah, a luxurious residential complex situated on an artificial island in Dubai.
The correspondences also document some of his other jobs, including the logistical support he provided to Mom Luang Rajadarasri Jayankura, a Thai royal figure and his involvement with a fingerprint scanning company.
Furthermore, a 2009 communication reveals that Epstein organized the first meeting between Brunel and Siad, connecting both modeling agents. Siad in turn offered to connect another modeling scout referred to as Tigran, who used to “scout for Trump’s modeling agency” according to an email sent to Epstein.
In 2011, following growing disagreements with Brunel, Siad was communicating only with Epstein:
“Hello Jefftrey are you in Paris I have a girl arriving tonight from London if you could see later tonight,”
Emails and Skype exchanges show him arranging logistics, repeatedly negotiating fees, forwarding photographs, organizing meetings and handling payments, but more importantly supplying profiles of models he recruited directly to Epstein’s email account.
For example, in a 2014 exchange, Epstein asked Siad to arrange a return ticket for a woman seeking to leave, although the circumstances are not clarified.
“I just received a message from (redacted). She wants a ticket home. You can buy it for her and I will give you the money. I don’t want to talk to her,”
Siad replied to Epstein hours later:
“I gave her before the money for the ticket. I thought she left. I think she came back. I just get an email from her. I’m going to find out.”
Examples of Daniel pitching model profiles and enticing models to meet with Epstein are abundant in the files. In a 2015 Skype exchange, Siad wrote to Epstein:
“I try to send this model that I would like to place in NY. [redacted]. She is a new face with Ford Paris. Please check her picture on the website.”
Later in the same conversation, he followed up:
“Can you send me some money please, thanks a lot.”
Epstein replied that the payment had already been sent.
As confirmed by a review of the communications, Siad would also regularly set up meet-ups with women on behalf of Epstein. In 2014 for example, Siad wrote:
“I have one girl who is from NY she is 25 years, French. She II be there until the 5th”, to which Epstein replied without hesitation: “will be in Paris tomorrow please organize, i appreciate it and hope you are feeling better.”
Regularly updating Epstein of his scouting trips and new models, in September 2017 Siad wrote:
“I am here in Barcelona. I have girls staying with me, of Australian and Croatian origin. You can speak with her, very sweet.” He added: “I am looking to place her here and in Paris. Also her dream is NY, of course.”
Siad then sent photographs, stating that the woman was 23 years old, hastily adding that she had a 20-year-old sister. This specific exchange was followed by a skype call with Epstein and one of the women. Following the skype call, Siad was invited to organise a meeting between the woman and actor Woody Allen, who appeared to also be in Barcelona at the time, according to the email exchange.
Across hundreds of reviewed messages, the structure remains consistent: images are sent, comments are made, meetings are proposed and money requests are made. Epstein’s remarks on physical features, ethnicity, youthfulness and appearance recur throughout the correspondence.
Tunisia and The Look Model Search, 2009
In 2009, Siad forwarded promotional material for the Look Model Search International Final 2009, held in Tunis at the Golden Tulip Carthage Hotel to Epstein, including an email from Wolfgang Schwarz, CEO of Look Models International, requesting assistance in sourcing models from specific countries.
There is no evidence in the files that the event organisers were aware their correspondence had been forwarded to Epstein, nor is there confirmation that Siad attended the event in Tunis or that Siad had ties with Epstein. On its own, the exchange does not suggest wrongdoing by the organisers. Requests for assistance in sourcing models are routine within the industry.
However, when viewed within the broader pattern documented in the files, the Tunis event illustrates how legitimate international modelling competitions could intersect with opaque sex-trafficking networks, without the knowledge of all parties involved.
Taken together, the documents depict Daniel Amar Siad as a recurring intermediary who monetised access to aspiring models under the cover of legitimate industry activity.
“26 but look she looks 18, very interesting person… I meet amazing new cute beauties, will keep you updated,” he repeatedly reassured Epstein during communications spanning just under a decade.
Financial transfers, repeated disputes over late payment, and the systematic circulation of nameless profiles, whose age and appearance were explicitly emphasized, mirror the recruitment dynamics previously associated with the Brunel–MC2 operation.
Whereas Brunel instigated legal proceedings against Epstein in 2015 and accepted to cooperate with the FBI in 2016, Siad continued sending profiles up until Epstein’s arrest.
The Skype exchanges reveal not only Epstein’s predatory behaviour and callous commentary on the women’s appearances, but also the vulnerability of the aspiring models involved.
While many of the women referenced in the correspondences between Epstein, Brunel and Siad likely believed they were pursuing legitimate modelling careers, the nature of correspondence generated on the strength of their profile pictures alone suggests they were also being unknowingly funneled into a parallel shadowy casting system where sexual access was the real currency.
Increasingly, citizens, journalists and Youtubers world-wide are scrutinizing the geographic footprints and logistical details embedded within the correspondences, whilst legal proceedings have recently been launched in at least ten countries.
