How the Daughter of a Russian Intelligence Officer Became a Recruiter for Epstein’s Trafficking Network

Lana Pozhidaeva’s biography stands in sharp contrast to the typical stories of young women from poor families in post-Soviet countries who became victims of the influential American financier Jeffrey Epstein. According to the official account, Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail cell after U.S. authorities charged him with sexual exploitation of minors and human trafficking.

Pozhidaeva was born and raised in Moscow in a well-off family. From an early age, Svetlana — her full name — played tennis, but ultimately chose a career in finance: she graduated from MGIMO with honors, learned English, French, Italian, and Spanish, interned at the Russian Foreign Ministry and at Lukoil, studied in France, and immediately after graduation began working as an analyst at Credit Europe Bank, later moving on to Russian investment firms.

However, in 2008, Pozhidaeva abruptly changed career paths and tried modeling: at age 24, she submitted photos to a Maxim magazine competition and unexpectedly reached the finals, she told journalists in 2018.

“My parents said: you’re crazy. When someone tells me I’m crazy, I take it as a compliment, because the worst thing for me is being told I’m boring or ordinary,” Pozhidaeva explained.

The MGIMO graduate signed her first modeling contract with the Milan-based agency Elite Models and then moved to Europe. At the same time, in the United States she was represented by MC2 Model Management, an agency founded with Epstein’s money by Jean-Luc Brunel, a close associate of the financier. Brunel was widely considered a key supplier of underage girls to Epstein’s network and was himself accused of raping minors. After Epstein’s death in 2019, Brunel was arrested in France and in 2022 was found dead in his prison cell.

Pozhidaeva’s introduction to Epstein took place in 2008: documents published by the U.S. Department of Justice include an email from Epstein’s assistant sending him Lana’s phone numbers and asking him to call the Russian model. From then on, Pozhidaeva became closely acquainted not only with Epstein but also with other influential figures in the United States. By at least 2010, she had begun helping the financier — accused of pedophilia — recruit young women in former Soviet countries.

After the U.S. Department of Justice released millions of documents from the Epstein case, Pozhidaeva drew attention from leading global media outlets. A week ago, she spoke publicly to reporters from The Wall Street Journal, saying she had been manipulated and abused by Epstein and that she recruited young women for his network against her will. She denied any ties to Russian authorities.

However, in that interview Pozhidaeva left out many details about her cooperation with Epstein, as well as aspects of her biography, which begins in Moscow’s notorious House on the Embankment — a building where many prominent Bolsheviks and security officials once lived before being sent to labor camps or executed.

Important Stories uncovered previously unreported details about Pozhidaeva’s life and explains how a woman from a family of Russian intelligence officers built a career within the sex-network of a powerful American financier.

House on the Embankment

Pozhidaeva was born and raised in Moscow in a Stalin-era apartment building near Begovaya, but part of her family has lived for generations in the House on the Embankment. The apartment there was allocated to her maternal grandfather, Colonel Marcel Platonov, a well-known Soviet military surgeon and gynecologist. Platonov worked in Kremlin and General Staff clinics and became one of the leading gynecologists of the Soviet Ministry of Defense.

Svetlana’s parents — Yuri and Irina — graduated from the Military Institute of Foreign Languages in Moscow, colloquially known as a “spy school.”

Graduates of the institute often went on to serve in the KGB’s First Chief Directorate (foreign intelligence) or in the military attaché corps, a source who served alongside interpreters from the institute in conflict zones told Important Stories. The institute was also one of the few military schools that admitted women.

Among its well-known graduates are arms trafficker Viktor Bout and Yuri Drozdov, head of the KGB’s illegal intelligence network from 1979 to 1991 and deputy head of the First Chief Directorate, who in 1962 organized the exchange of Soviet spy Rudolf Abel for U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers.

Pozhidaeva’s father, Yuri Pozhidaev, trained as a Persian-language military interpreter and in 1978, on the eve of the Soviet invasion, was sent to Afghanistan as part of the military advisory corps. During the war, he remained in Kabul working within the office of the chief military adviser (a structure tied to the General Staff). Little is known about his later career except his rank — lieutenant colonel. It appears that both of Lana’s parents left service in the late 1990s.

As Pozhidaeva’s relationship with Epstein grew closer and her role in his network became more significant, she began introducing her relatives to her boss and his influential associates.

Her father and the FSB

In the spring of 2015, Pozhidaeva’s brother Sergey traveled to the United States. She tried to place him in companies linked to Epstein and to Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the former head of the global logistics giant DP World, who was dismissed earlier this year following reports about his ties to Epstein.

In December 2015, Pozhidaeva’s parents also traveled to the U.S., as confirmed by both correspondence and Russian border-crossing records. Ahead of their visit, Epstein transferred more than $237,000 from his offshore Butterfly Trust to Lana’s account “for the family.” The parents stayed with her in New York and later moved to Epstein’s Florida residence.

After visiting the mansion, Lana’s mother wrote to Epstein:

“My son asked me: "How's the house"? I said that it's like "Great Getsby"; "No,- he said,- it's not Great Getsby , it's Great Jeffry!" So, for our family you are a Great man!’”

A few days later, Lana told Epstein that she had introduced her parents to her then-boyfriend Pen King:

“Dad shared some stories from his FSB part, Pen loved it.”

After the family became close to Epstein, Yuri Pozhidaev’s career in Russia advanced rapidly. In December 2017, the retired lieutenant colonel began working at Technopromexport (part of the Rostec holding, the main producer of the Russian arms) and frequently traveled to Tehran, where the company was building energy infrastructure.

In 2018, while continuing to receive a salary from Technopromexport, he became deputy head of security in the Iranian division of Russian Railways International, which was building the “North–South” transport corridor linking Russia, Iran, and India — a major international government project involving billions of rubles in investment.

Moreover, in 2020, while still formally employed by Russian Railways, Pozhidaev became deputy general director for security at Caspian Services, the main contractor for Russia’s Ministry of Transport on the same corridor project. He remained in that role at least until early 2026.

The types of positions Yuri Pozhidaev held in state corporations are typically reserved for security service officers — often so-called “seconded personnel” (APS) from the FSB. Orders assigning such officers to companies, banks, and ministries are signed by the FSB director; the officers receive formal positions related to security but remain in active service and report back to the agency.

Investigative journalists from the Explainer project found that in 2022 Yuri Pozhidaev sent three letters to the address at 20/2 Bolshaya Lubyanka — home to the Moscow regional FSB pension department.

A family of recruiters

Correspondence between Epstein and Pozhidaeva differs from his communication with other models from the former Soviet Union: in his emails, Epstein does not flirt with Lana, and she, unlike many others, does not appear to harbor romantic illusions about their relationship.

At the beginning of their relationship in 2009, Epstein helped Lana with visa issues and invited her to events at the United Nations and the World Economic Forum in Davos alongside Maria Drokova, a former commissar of the pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi who later worked as Epstein’s PR agent. But within a year, Pozhidaeva began sourcing young women for Epstein from post-Soviet countries, traveling to Kyiv and Moscow and introducing her friends to him.

In several emails, Epstein expressed dissatisfaction that the women she found appeared older than he preferred. In one case, Pozhidaeva offered to arrange a meeting with a 17-year-old girl (we are not publishing the link to that file because the U.S. Department of Justice did not redact the victim’s identifying details).

Before sending women to Epstein’s island, Lana arranged for some of them to take lessons in foot massage so they “would know how to do it.”

Starting in 2016, Pozhidaeva began recruiting under the alias “Julia Santos” — the name of a character from the popular American soap opera All My Children, played by Santa Barbara star Sydney Penny, a cultural reference familiar to a child growing up in 1990s Moscow.

Investigators were able to link the alias to Pozhidaeva by cross-referencing emails from “Santos” mentioning meetings with her parents, visits from her brother, or references to her boyfriend, and matching those details with travel records and emails sent under her real name.

We found messages indicating 18 women whom Pozhidaeva, under the name Julia Santos, recruited for sex parties or meetings with Epstein. The vast majority were from Russia and Ukraine. In one case, the woman was from Odesa and had been a victim of child pornography as a teenager. In another, Epstein instructed that a trafficking victim not be allowed to keep food in the refrigerator because she “needed to lose six kilos” to spend time with him.

In May 2017, Pozhidaeva sent Epstein a photograph from a party in Barbados: a Ukrainian woman is seen standing next to “A” — likely British Prince Andrew, who in 2025 was stripped of all titles due to his ties to Epstein.

“I have heard super druggy,” Pozhidaeva wrote of her.

After her parents met Epstein, they also began offering women for his network. For example, Lana’s mother attempted to “offer” a woman from Ukraine who, in her words, was “in a really bad situation.” Her father, Lieutenant Colonel Pozhidaev, sent Epstein photos of young women without comment (in both cases, victims’ names were not redacted in DOJ documents).

Feminism funded by a sex offender

“I feel ashamed and think about those other women all the time. That’s the hardest part of all of this — I was too consumed by my own abuse to see beyond it. I had to appear happy, to keep smiling, while privately I was battling eating disorders, depression, and insomnia,” Lana said in her interview with The Wall Street Journal.

Her work was well paid: Epstein wrote that at the beginning she earned about $30,000 per year after taxes — roughly the median salary in New York at the time. From at least 2017, DOJ materials show payments to Pozhidaeva of $8,333 per month through Epstein’s Enhanced Education foundation, set up as automatic transfers.

Over the years, Lana accumulated enough money to purchase two small apartments in central Moscow.

She now claims she was a victim like the underage girls, arguing that Epstein controlled her immigration status, housing, and finances. She says she could not leave because large payments were structured as loans. Important Stories found no confirmation of this in the available files.

Epstein also supported her business ventures. He donated more than $50,000 to the Education Advance foundation she co-founded in 2017 with her boyfriend, New York venture investor Pendleton King Jr. Investigative journalists later found that the funds went to a Buddhist organization at MIT. The ultimate purpose of the project remains unclear.

Another initiative she launched with Epstein’s support was WE Talks — a platform modeled on TED Talks, aimed at bringing together ambitious women. The name stood for “Women Empowerment.”

The project was registered at Epstein’s address, funded by him, and Lana discussed its operations with him directly.

Its co-director was Viktoria Drokova, sister of Maria Drokova. Maria herself also participated.

In correspondence, Lana described how they were brainstorming ways to reshape Epstein’s public image:

“We are brainstorming with Masha how we can turn the discussion around and ask why money should not be taken for a good cause just because sth had happened 10+ years ago and that you had funded great projects and probably saved many lives. Hope this can be good.”

In 2019, Pozhidaeva and the Drokova sisters began holding WE Talks events in Moscow, but Epstein’s death disrupted their plans.

Pozhidaeva also claimed she feared retaliation if she tried to leave Epstein — not for herself, but for her family in Russia. She suggested Epstein could pressure her parents through connections in Russian leadership, including Sergey Belyakov, an FSB officer and former deputy minister of economic development.

Belyakov was indeed a long-time contact of Epstein in Russia. According to the Dossier Center, Epstein advised him on economic issues and helped bring high-profile guests to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, while Belyakov introduced Epstein to senior officials in Russia’s Finance Ministry and Central Bank.

According to Novaya Gazeta Europe, Belyakov helped Epstein obtain a Russian visa in 2011 via an FSB veterans’ organization. Epstein wrote that he planned to visit Moscow, but there is no evidence he did.

Pozhidaeva herself helped facilitate contacts between Epstein and Russian officials, including preparations for meetings with Finance Ministry and Central Bank representatives. In 2014, Belyakov wrote a recommendation letter supporting her U.S. visa extension.

“Snow White” and America’s power elite

Over ten years working for Epstein, Pozhidaeva gained access to some of the most powerful people in the U.S. and globally.

In 2010, paparazzi photographed her leaving Epstein’s Manhattan mansion on a day when Prince Andrew was present. She later identified herself in photos with Bill Gates and Norwegian diplomat Terje Rød-Larsen, who also stepped down from positions after his ties to Epstein became public.

Their interactions appear to have been professional, including helping organize visits and meetings.

However, her name also appears in correspondence linked to sexual encounters involving prominent individuals.

In one email exchange, Epstein requested a Snow White costume for a party.

“Brett Rattner is going to film a big movie Snow White, I would love to take photos of you in a snow white costume. You can get it from the costume store,” he wrote.

Afterward, Barclays CEO Jes Staley wrote:

“That was fun. Say hi to Snow White.”

Pozhidaeva a few hours later reported:

“the snow white was f..ed twice as soon as she put her costume.”

In the early 2010s, Pozhidaeva had a relationship with Joshua Fink, son of BlackRock founder Larry Fink — one of the most powerful figures in global finance. 

In 2012, Epstein introduced her to Elon Musk and attempted to arrange meetings in Paris, promising Musk “a lot of fun” with her.

He also tried to match her with Saudi businessman Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel, though unsuccessfully. However, Pozhidaeva later claimed she had a sexual relationship with his son, Hassan Jameel.

After Epstein

Six months after Epstein’s death, Pozhidaeva changed her identity. Now 42, she goes by Sofia Platt and has changed her name in her Russian passport.

She continues to work from the United States. In San Francisco, she co-founded Bridge Funding Global, a fundraising platform focused on women entrepreneurs, and contributes to business publications such as Forbes.

Melinda French Gates spoke at the opening of one of her events.

Pozhidaeva says she also mentors children in foster care and invests in private credit. She describes her past work as consulting for social enterprises.

She has largely withdrawn from public view and now identifies herself as a “victim of human trafficking.”

On her website, she states:

“I have already told my story. In order to preserve my mental well-being and the integrity of this process, I will not accept further media requests or give interviews.”

She says she is currently undergoing recovery through a mental health program in the U.S. Virgin Islands — where Epstein’s island is located.

Important Stories attempted to contact Pozhidaeva-Platt and her family. Her attorney, Kyle Stroup, responded:

“Ms. Pozhidaeva declines to provide any further comment or information at this time and is not looking to engage in further interviews. Accordingly, we respectfully request that you cease contacting her or her family.”