Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in Cambridge, MA in 2004. Epstein is connected with several prominent people including politicians, actors and academics.

Eleven years after letting Jeffrey Epstein off lightly with a once-secret plea deal, the U.S. government is taking another run at putting the wealthy sex offender behind bars with new sex-trafficking charges that law enforcement officials say involve allegations dating to the early 2000s.

Epstein, arrested over the weekend, is expected to make his first court appearance on the new charges Monday in New York City. Prosecutors are likely to argue that he is a flight risk and should remain in jail instead of being released on bail pending trial.

One law enforcement official told The Associated Press the case deals with allegations that Epstein, a 66-year-old hedge fund manager who once hobnobbed with some of the world's most powerful people, paid underage girls for massages and molested them at his homes in Florida and New York.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the pending case. Court documents related to the case have been kept under seal, and no official announcement of Epstein's arrest has been made.

Epstein's lawyer did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Epstein, whose friends have included President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton, and Great Britain's Prince Andrew, was arrested Saturday at an airport near New York City after his private jet touched down from France.

A task force of federal agents and New York City police officers met the plane at Teterboro Airport and took Epstein into custody, law enforcement officials said. He is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, a federal jail near the Manhattan courthouse where he is due to appear on Monday.

Former federal prosecutor David Weinstein said there's almost no chance Epstein will be allowed to go home after the hearing. Under federal court rules, prosecutors can keep a defendant locked up for three extra days while preparing for a bail hearing without needing a reason. If that happens in Epstein's case, it would mean a bail hearing on Thursday.

"The government is clearly seeking to have him detained," Weinstein said.

"The guy is a millionaire or a billionaire. He has unrestrained assets," he added. "If they let him out on a bond, he may take off, go to a jurisdiction where they don't have extradition and they may never get him back."

Epstein's arrest, first reported by The Daily Beast, came amid increased scrutiny of the 2008 non-prosecution deal that allowed Epstein to plead guilty to lesser state charges while maintaining a jet-set lifestyle, which includes homes in Paris and the U.S. Virgin Islands and a pricey Bentley.