A FORMER US cop claims the FBI may be helping cover up Prince Andrew's alleged role in the Jeffrey Epstein sex abuse scandal.

John Mark Dougan - who fled to Moscow following a raid by the Feds on his home - also says he has hundreds of hours of footage from the billionaire paedo's Florida mansion.

4 John Mark Dougan has been in Russia since he sought asylum to avoid arrest in the US for alleged computer hacking Credit: Facebook

MI6 sources fear Dougan, who is also a former US Marine, may have passed compromising information about the Duke of York to the Kremlin.

However the 42-year-old has told The Times it was “ridiculous” to suggest he would hand over any information to the Russian authorities.

“I’m certain the FBI is involved in some kind of cover-up over Epstein,” said Dougan, who has been in Russia since he sought asylum to avoid arrest in the US for alleged computer hacking.

“That could absolutely include Andrew’s role, or it could be that senior FBI people visited the house and don’t want to reveal that.

“The FBI got hold of all the data I have when they raided me. My copies of the files will never be released unless something untoward happens to me.”

4 Prince Andrew pictured going for a stroll through New York with Jeffrey Epstein in 2010 Credit: Jae Donnelly

4 The Duke of York was pictured with Virginia Roberts Giuffre in 2001 Credit: Rex Features

When asked by the Mail Online about what information he has on the Prince, Dougan said: "'Do I have dirt on Prince Andrew? I have lots of things.

"But I'm not a Kremlin agent and I did not share any materials with the Russian Government. I don't intend to blackmail anyone with my information. It's against my principles."

Prince Andrew has said that he never took part in, witnessed or suspected any suspicious or unlawful behaviour during his friendship with Epstein.

A previous Buckingham Palace statement said: "The Duke of York has been appalled by the recent reports of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged crimes.

"His Royal Highness deplores the exploitation of any human being and the suggestion he would condone, participate in or encourage any such behaviour is abhorrent."

Mr Dougan said he had about 200 hours of video from inside Epstein’s properties - including scans of documents seized by the cops.

4 Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell while awaiting his sex trafficking trial

He says he has only watched only snatches of the video, which showed the interior of rooms from several angles.

Dougan claims the data was given to him in files by a Florida detective working on a case against Epstein over the procurement of minors.

However, he says his files are encrypted and the secret codes to open them are held by friends all over the world.

"The Epstein files will stay secure and unreadable to everyone", he said. "I do not have a physical copy in my immediate possession, because of security reasons.

"The files are safe and the people who hold them have no idea what is on them."



LEAK FEARS

The Times has reported that MI6 is worried about how much Dougan knows of the original police investigation into the paedo’s activities .

It is particularly concerned what information the ex-cop might have already shared with spooks in Russia.

An unnamed source told the paper: “His knowledge of the Epstein case would have been of great interest to Russian intelligence.”

Prince Andrew has long been criticised for his friendship with Epstein, a convicted paedophile who was jailed for soliciting underage prostitutes in 2008.

Epstein, 66, killed himself last month while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges of underage girls.

After his death, the shamed financier's victims told how they were groomed for sex by him and were abused by him while in their teens.

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One of the girls trafficked by Epstein was Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who claimed she was flown to London and had sex with Andrew when she was 17.

In a TV interview broadast in the US last week Roberts Giuffre, now 35, said she was given vodka before having sex with the duke in a bathroom.

Buckingham Palace has refused to comment on the latest claims having earlier issued denials about Andrew's involvement with Roberts Giuffre.