A former prime minister's daughter was just the sort of social credentials Katherine Keating needed to gain entry to the inner sanctum of one of New York's richest and most controversial men.

But 24 hours after the globe-trotting 37-year-old was dragged into the scandal surrounding the now-deceased billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, Keating's friends in Sydney were not overly surprised by her indirect association with such a controversial figure.

Katherine Keating appears to leave Jeffrey Epstein's house. Credit:Internet

"She has always had a knack for getting into high-profile circles, ever since she was a young girl ... but I have to say some of those choices now appear questionable," one of Keating's oldest Sydney acquaintances said on Tuesday.

A woman bearing a striking resemblance to Keating, right down to the beauty spot on her left cheek, can be seen in a video – filmed in 2010 and published around the world on Monday – leaving Epstein's New York mansion.