Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein was taken into custody on Saturday by a team of FBI and NYPD officers after federal prosecutors filed sex trafficking charges against him.
The arrest was first reported by The Daily Beast and CNN reports that the charges were related to allegations of sex trafficking of minors in New York and Florida between 2002 and 2005.
Epstein was reportedly arrested on Saturday at the Teterboro Airport in New Jersey after his private jet landed from France, the Miami Herald reported. A team of FBI and NYPD law enforcement officials also reportedly broke into his Upper East Side mansion in NYC on Saturday to execute a search warrant.
Epstein, 66, is expected to appear in court in New York on Monday, law enforcement officials said.
His arrest comes after unconfirmed reports in recent months that he was being investigated by the Southern District of New York on undisclosed charges.
The arrest also comes months after a federal judge ruled that a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) that Epstein previously secured with federal prosecutors in Miami, under Alexander Acosta, the former U.S. Attorney in Miami and current Labor Secretary, violated federal law.
The controversial plea deal in 2008 allowed Epstein to avoid federal charges and a possible life sentence. Under the deal, Epstein only pleaded guilty to state prostitution charges to avoid federal trial, and he ended up serving only 13 months in jail.
Epstein has faced lawsuits in the past by people alleging that they were sexually abused as minors at his Upper East Side mansion and residence in Palm Beach.
The latest case is being handled by a team of federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York and the Public Corruption Unit of the Southern District. Epstein is expected to be charged on Monday with one count of sex trafficking of underage girls and one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of underage girls, according to The Daily Beast.